Dear Sir Paul McCartney & Stella McCartney, pack enough food if you HAVE to fly Qantas...

What's with Qantas and their inability to provide a proper meal for vegetarians?

And Qantas - please understand
Vegetarian does not mean "small tummy"
It does not mean "ah yes, just a lettuce wrap and an apple for a snack"
it does not mean "just an apple, orange juice and wheat bix with milk for breakfast"
And I dont even want to go into lunch or dinner...

What makes this so hard for you...?

Vegetarians also need a serving of protein, some carbs and some veggies/ fruit
Exactly the same requirements as a meat eater.
And is it so hard to source this kind of a vegetarian combo..?
Aw Come on Qantas get your act together....

Why is it so hard for you to source a proper vegetarian meal in Australia (and rest of the world) for your vegetarian passengers;
when Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines (from personal experience) and even your closest competitor/ rival Virgin manage to provide excellent vegetarian meals?

The breakfast for a vegetarian was appalling in the recent Qantas link flight - Carins (CNS) to Port Moresby(POM).

The vegetarians got
A tiny small apple, 2 small pieces of wheatbix with a 150 ml carton of milk, a quinoa muffin, and a 100 ml of orange juice.  Well you would say it sounds ok.
But trust me it was not filling at all.

And what did the "non vegetarians" get ?
A roll with some meat and veggies, a small snack pack of apricots, a cheese and bikkie,  a tub of yoghurt, juice, milk, i guess i also saw a chocolate bar and a few other things as well.

Now how hard is it to source a tub of yoghurt that does not contain gelatin?
How hard is it to source a proper roll with veggies in it?
How hard is it to source cheese made with non-animal rennet ?
(Even Coles and Woolies home brands make cheese with non-animal rennet - not hard at all !)
How hard is it to throw in a small pack of dried apricots and some biscuits
and some gelatin free-yoghurt as well for a vegetarian?
And hey vegetarians also love chocolates you know...!

The vegetarian snack box on the afternoon Qantas Link flight (POM to CNS) was 1/2 the size of the snack box provided to the "non vegetarians".
And yes, that box had many more things in it - while the vegetarians got the usual cucumber wrap with a quinoa muffin. ..Appallingly small in quantity and number of items.

What is wrong with you Qantas?

Two years ago my husband went hungry on a long haul flight from New York to LA - LA to Sydney , and Sydney to brisbane- 36 hours from door to door and he went starving on Qantas flights.
All he got was an  
"oops there is no vegetarian meal ordered for you..., here bite on an apple and be silent..."
The tickets were booked 5 months in advance, meal requests were made and qantas was reminded three days before the flight and yet one starves....

And not even an apology.
Just a phone call from a lady who kept saying I understand and parrotted a disclaimer "...ah you know special meals cannot always be guaranteed..."
Well how come Singapore airlines and Jet Airways never goof up a vegetarian meal request?

Qantas here is a question for you...
What will you tell Paul McCartney or Stella McCartney if you screw up a meal request of theirs...?
You maybe the spirit of Australia - but you starve vegetarian passengers while the others are well looked after.  And yes, we pay the same fare for the same seats ...!

Airlines need to learn from SINGAPORE AIRLINES and from JET AIRWAYS
on how and what to serve vegetarian passengers especially on long haul flights.
Both the airlines serve fantastic vegetarian food even on short flights of 4 hour duration..

And Qantas - your troubles started the day you starved my husband for over 36 hours....in 2009

Well, you have not changed in 2 years;
Get your act together and learn from other airlines.

Contact me - I will put together a few menu options for you that will please any vegetarian.
And dont give me this "ah its hard to source vegetarian food in Aus...and other parts of the world.."
If Singapore Airlines can do it - so can you...
If Jet Airways can do it - so can you....

Meanwhile Sir Paul and Stella McCartney - Please avoid flying Qantas
And a suggestion for you Sir Paul and Stella;
Fly Singapore Airlines from London to Aus and YOU WILL BE FINE. 
Fly Jet Airways from Brussels to India or Brussels to NYC...
you will love the flight....just for the food.

And finally, Sir Paul and Stella; if you have no option but to fly Qantas to Aus :
Do please pack enough food for yourself and
Please do remember to ask around and share with other unlucky vegetarians....!!!

Mountains of paper...

How does one create mountains of paper...?
I am amazed at the amount of paper one has and creates every day...

There are only two major categories of paper.

the ones that say "you owe us money for services rendered or good consumed"
the others that confirm your possessions
The possessions are
the house, the car, the electrical appliances.

And then there is the third category that creeps up - its papers about you, the person
Stuff like life insurance, Super Annuation, medical insurance, eye prescription, dental records, Xrays, Bank statements, credit card statements etc..oh and yes I forgot the mountains of paper needed for the Income Tax office....!!!
Oh and yes, all certificates of Acdemic study and paper work that concerns one's career and all jobs one has done all these years.
Not to mention Deed polls for change of name, passports, dual passports, other cards related to origins or citizenship, membership cards to various clubs/associations...

The bills include - Telephone, Gas, Electricty, Internet, VOIP plans, Water, Quarterly rates payable to local coucil.  The bills for usage of toll roads.  Bills from the doctor's offices for procedures/ medicines/ pathology not covered by medicare or private health insurance.

With just these three categories why does one have Soooooooooooooooo many mountains of paper...?

Oops I forgot all the junk mail that comes every day in the mail box - I love those mails - tells me whats available in the market and whats on sale - must say I have managed to buy a few things on saleby simple careful perusal of the junk mail..(i sometimes have to hide them from the husband)...but I also use up these as liners for the veggie beds...,they serve as good mulch if they are not glossy paper...


I am told in Australia one has to keep every paper/ bill for seven years before it can be destroyed.  In seven years I will probably need a separate room just to store these papers.

Strangely while I safeguard all these papers and yell and scream when I cant find some paper - I never stop to wonder - what if there were no papers at all...? 
What sort of problems can one have because of loss of some paper?
How do I prove my identity?

Most important question - do I even exist without all these papers...?
Perhaps these papers all prove one's presence and existence on earth...eh?
Is that why we hang to all this and more and create more and more mountains of paper...?

The living end

This is from Inside Story - an online journal that I read regularly.
This particular article is one of those blunt narratives that make you stop and think...

http://inside.org.au/the-living-end/

..And then one wonders about the fraility of human life;
The oft confronting fact of one's own mortality and that of loved ones...

As the aurthor says in the end...
"... its often hard to die in peace"

..robbers of the soul...

" i have to lock up the house ..."
Why?
"...to protect myself and my family and all our precious possessions from robbers and miscreants."

We all lock up the house every night..
we lock up whenever we go out
to protect the house, the contents in it...
the precious things gathered and collected over time
the special music collections, the books, the paintings, sculptures
electronic devices, dvds, crockery,jewellery, silverware...

and what about locking ourselves and protecting ourselves from whatever we fear will be robbed from us...?
No- I am not talking jewellery that is on one's person
or clothes for that matter..

What about protecting oneself from robbers of the soul?

Is that why we all have an inbuilt mechanism (also called instinct) by which we shun the company of some and crave the company of others...?

...a simple life....

The pleasures of being simple...and leading a life on my own terms...

Ever so often, i think on the lines of "what have i achieved in life".
we all think this sometime or the other.
fact is; we dont have to acheive ANYTHING to have led a fulfilling life.
my grandfather was a classic example. my grandmother was very very dominating.
She would rule the house with an iron fist. No one dared to do anything that did not meet with her approval.

thatha would not and could not do anything about it.
also, he worked and retired as a bench clerk in the high court of madras.
thats all - it was not an eventful life in any sense of the word.
he went about his work, no big deal, came home, took care of the kids, never raised his voice, never scolded or chided his children (later on never chided his grand children)
Simple life, simple pleasures of eating, work, listening to music and cricket commentary on the radio.

My sister and i stand today in complete gratitude for all the values he instilled in us.
it was the GREATEST LEGACY he could have ever left us...and thats one LEGACY that will always be with us, whether we are rich or poor materially. so, even if the world thinks that his was a simple ordinary life - WE KNOW HOW EXTRAORDINARY HE WAS FOR US.

I will always remember the hot bournvita/ horlicks that he would lovingly make for us and give us in the evening when we came home from school. He would also make dosai for us. While we chattered on and on about what happened in school etc.

I guess the values that we instill in the children today are something that will stand with them throughout their lives. AND THERE LIES my USELFULNESS and YOURs.

"They also leave rich legacies - those that dont leave any money or assets for their children."

YOU may not think you are making a difference to the world...but, in your own way, you are making a world of difference to those that cross your path and those that live in close proximity to you. ...

The tuvar dal takes priority....

How life's priorities change...

All one cares about is the availability of tuvar dal or the availability of ajwain and kasuri methi...
life gets redefined based on what is available around one - more of what is available that one can eat.

Myer's winter colletion or the David Jones' Spring collection have no meaning here.its the same 30 degree heat every day, all through the year. Somedays you do not see or feel the humidity and on other days, its absolutely steamy. So, perhaps the fashion industry makes sense only for places where there are distinct four seasons. Not for a place where its hot hotter and hottest...or for Alaska, where it is cold colder and coldest. There is only so much one can improvise on the basic shorts and t shirts. maybe a different version of a spaghetti strapped top every year, but hey, its only two straps or a strapless creation...thats pretty much it.

We went to a local market two months ago, but very late and there was hardly anything left.
But I am pleased that i was able to buy pitpit, a local vegetable that is a favourite with children here. Must say I liked the taste of it when i cooked it with onion, garlic, red chillies and some spicy home made curry powder(i cant beleive I am using the phrase curry powder, its such a misnomer because there are a million types of powders that one uses to make tasty food.).

Its one of life's most beautiful challenges that I enjoy - making food from locally available veggies. What a voyage of discovery that is. I have been cooking with the local banana and banana stem ....and have surprised many PNG nationals...who had no idea one can eat the banana stem..

Anyway, coming back to priorities....its a treasure hunt every time I go to the shop these days..always wondering what I will find on the shelves...whats new, and what stocks are low on the shelves...for a long while my mind was focussed on how to make good idly with the jamine rice that is available here. I am told that the jasmine rice is too glutinous and the idly would be absolutely appalling in taste and texture...therefore, I was on a hunt to find long grain rice, found a packet, they call it "easy cook rice.." made idly...hmmm pretty bad...
then consulted a lady who has been here for many years....
she gave me some ideas and i must say - the idly was not bad at all
not the best but hey who is complaining as long as its soft and nice to eat :)

I might also try making idly with the brown rice that is not glutinous..will probably end up making some super duper highly nutricious idly in the process. fingers crossed....

Anyway, the update is there is no tuvar dal anywhere in PNG at the moment...
I am lucky, i have stock for another 4 months
thanks to someone who went to Melbourne and managed to carry three kilos for me.
The wholesaler who brings in tuvar dal rations it - he sells only one kilo per family - fair enough; there is enough for all - Life's great leveller i suppose..

Such is life...the priority is around the stocks of tuvar dal and the quality of idly...:)

the vase, the lamp and the paraath....

There is this lovely piece of crystal...a beautiful vase that would catch the light and glitter..
I am sure a few roses or orchids will look spectacular if displayed in that vase.

Where was the vase sitting...?

Not in a beautiful living room..
not on the dining table full of food...
not in anyone's grand living room
not in a restaurant
not in a shop..

It was inside a box, kept inside a trunk..
and the trunk was in the attic of a house...
the attic was locked and keys with a relative...
and the house was occupied by wonderful tenants who looked after the house and the attic where all the precious belongings were...crytsal vase being one of them...

Well, if I am lucky and if I have the time and if the tenants accept..I get to open the attic, cough a few times and wait for the fresh air to get inside.
Then i brush aside all the dust that has collected over many years
and then slowly open the trunk and look through it ..
all the time looking only for that box that holds the crystal vase...
...and finally i find it...

I hold the box carefully, open it even more carefully..(dont want to drop the precious piece)
and there it is...the crystal vase...
dusty - but not so bad that a wash with soapy water cant remove.

I hold it in my hands for a few minutes...
and the re-pack the box and leave it inside the trunk
and there it shall remain until I see it next.

Amma has a lamp and a particularly nice round tray(a paraath)
The lamp has been in the family for many years
belonged to my patti and then to amma and now perhaps me..
amma asks me every time if I would like to take it with me...
every year I give the excuse of not having enough baggage allowance...
every year I leave it with her saying I will take it next time.
she dutifuly hangs on to it...carefully dusting it and polishing it at regular intervals
and she hopes I will take it with me next time.

Something stops me from taking it...
I guess I dont want to move it out while she is alive
and want her to enjoy it for as long as she pleases...
but recently she has moved into a retirement community and does not have the space for it anymore...
So at the moment she also does not see it, enjoy it everyday
and neither do i...
i see it once every year...and tell myself - "next year i will take this with me to Australia..."

The round tray - called a paraath ...I keep telling her, "dont ever give this to anyone..i want this..they dont make trays like this anymore..."
the paraath has memories of amma making the world's best Bhalu shaahi's
(aka badushaa in madras...!)
so i know I will make the world's best bhalu shaahis too
when I have the paraath with me...
and yet its too heavy and I leave it again with her...

and amma hangs on to it...

I cant sell it, I cant have it with me...I dont see it all year...
Its just the cockroaches and spiders that get to enjoy the beautiful lamp...
the vase and the paraath ...while they explore around the attic....

....well some creature enjoys the lamp, the paraath and the crystal vase...!!