Masala, Dhal and Rice

After what was months of BRAIN freezing, or just uninspiring days shopping and hanging out in Market St. Meixin Food Court. I found a little breathe of oxygen eating CURRY.

Yesterday, I had my good dose of Masala, Dhal and Rice in little India. It was the eve of Deepavali. We gathered some friends and decided to soak ourselves in the festive mood, by having our fare dose of Indian Thali and Dosas at Madras New Woodlands... (Just opposite Komalas.) They served drinking water on the table. This is one thing I dun get when restaurants require u to buy bottled water or drinks.

I think it is good practice to acknowledge human dignity by serving drinking water with meals.

For those people who only know Komalas for Indian food, I sure hope you look deeper beyond flashy signs and bright colours. After all, the experience of any cuisine, is the full palette of taste, sight, smell, and also traditions and cultures that sink in deeper in ur neurons than "Fast Food".

This is why I HATE FAST FOOD.

It really seems like I am a fanatic about Indian culture, food and Saris. But that is definitely not what all this is about. It's not Indian, or Chinese or Thai or European. It is the richness, the intensity of being somewhere different, and having a mind trippin.

When everything you see and understand is not what it really represents. To a large extent, the order in little India and in my India experience is one that is not easily understood, and some people never get it. ;)

The crowd in what seems like a disorderly fashion, is only what is perceived by me. IT's a big mess. People overflowing from the shops, on the streets, on the roads. IF I was looking for the queue, I would be feeling terribly misplaced. However, when one soon realises that there is actually no order, and that the understood and accepted protocol is simply the mess that is, that our objective is to find a place for ourselves, and not EXPECTING space to be made for you, then you find actually a sense of calmness in it. If we looked around, everybody is pretty much ok with the crowd.

IT's not just being used to it. I can walk everyday in crowded orchard road and complain every single thing about it. "Why the jammed traffic, why people dun cycle instead of driving, why can't we have more places to go!"

IT's about the attitude of embracing.

IT's when Singaporeans start queuing and demanding order then CHAOS become intolerable.

IT's when we think a system is the answer to all our problems, we lose sight of opportunity and real meanings in life.

The point is to beat the system, break down all barriers and meet people face to face. We've set up walls to contain ourselves in righteousness and to separate ourselves from perceived danger. This separation is stifling. This identity needs to be burned.

We turned up at Prince of Wales on Dunlop Street for a quick beer before dinner. As we got nearer, there was an uncomfortable fence separating a small area outside the bar and the streets outside. And "kept" within the fences were beer, "ang-mo" travelers and a pool table.

It look like an animal enclosure to me. To make a sign outside "Protected Mammals Enclosure - Do not Feed" would have been pretty apt.

From the inside, the place is not run by Singaporean locals but white Caucasians. And as a matter of fact, the whole place looked like a concentrated white dot in little India. The sight was appalling. We as customers at the bar was fenced up, while the local residents and ethnic Indian walked along outside and looking inward.

Then I really wonder what all these traveling is about, to come to a new place and then gathering up in pubs and behind fences???

(by saying this, I seriously am not racist, but i dunno how else to put it. It wasn't a pretty sight, and I felt like tearing it all down.)

Each time when I talk about Indians, or visiting little India on Sundays. I get raised eyebrowns, questions about -

"what so fun" "so crowded" "so smelly" "i dun find it interesting to squeeze ard"... "why are you such an indian fanatic?"

OR even commenting "wah, u really into bollywood stuff ah, get an indian boyfriend la!"

guess what, u totally missed the point. :)



Betel Leaves Stand Outside Madras New Woodlands :)