CURRENT MISSION

Cook for one person from each country of the world. 31 down, 163 to go.

ABOUT ME

After an year of being off from CS, good to be back now. I missed CS !

Okay, let me start from the very beginning.

1500 crore(15 billion) years ago, there was nothing - no space, no time, no matter, just quantum fluctuating in God knows where. No one knows how or why, but this Quantum fluctuation causes a Big Bang. Space and time appear in a burst of radiation - and the Universe is born.

It expands dramatically. Radiation congeals into matter. Hydrogen forms, contracts under gravity and lights up, forming the first stars. In the heart of these massive ovens, hydrogen is cooked into all other elements.

Some stars explode, dusting space with the building blocks of life. Eons later, the debris condense into planets, one of which is Earth.

Ages pass. Self replicating molecules appear. They multiply and evolve to create elaborate survival machines (cells, plants, animals,..). A variety of lifeforms evolve. Sex is invented (Thank God!). Dinosaurs rise and rule. A comet hit wipes them off and clears the deck for small mammals.

Monkeys walk erect, discover fire, domesticate other animals, invent the wheel, language, agriculture and Gods. Civilisations rise and fall. Aryans move into India. Vedas are written. Alexander marches in, but forced to turn back. Jainism and Buddhism rise. Emperor Chandragupta chooses to starve to death. His grandson Ashoka embraces non-violence, turning India vegetarian.

Mongols sack Persia, become Persianised into Moguls, and carve out an empire in India. Europeans follow. East India Company. Pax Brittanica. Independence. Partition. Massacres. The license raj is in full sway. I'm born. Hello world !

China thrashes us. We kick Pakistan's butt, twice. India struggles to find its place. Liberalisation. Monopoly crumbles. More TV channels!. Blasted state TV is dead! Queues for shoddy scooters, cars & telephones disappear.

The Internet! I move from Tirupur to Chennai, fuelled by dotcom millionaire dreams. Start a company. Get high on VC funds. Expand into Malaysia, Singapore and the Middle East. Poof! Dot com bust. Funding dries up. Struggle. Manage to retire.

Discover the joy of cooking. Stop lying. Find pleasure in giving & friendships. Learn to accept people as they are. Discover JK & Osho. Wow !

Life seems a lot less complicated. The world looks a lot more friendly !

PHILOSOPHY

Do what you love doing - the rest ceases to matter !

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I get my rushes from helping people experience a 'first ever experience'. Here are a few samples...

Kavitha's first roof top lounging. Here's the story in her words..
..... Ramki insisted that I get on the roof of the van - and settle myself comfortably on the bean bag that was there. This is a story I shall probably narrate to even my grandchildren - the small joys of life you stumble upon unexpectedly. You, the stranger who reads this blog might never comprehend - you had to be me, to be up there and whizzing by green fields, murky ponds, people with their mouths agape and with the gentle breeze that had been punctuated by a short winter drizzle teasing your face. You had to be me.

Matthias' first sugarcane experience.

Hagen & Inga's first 'just ask for anything' cookout.

Lauraine's first campervan cooking.

Avery & Pavithra's first experience at flying a kite on the beach ( which, for God knows why, is currently illegal)

Mukesh's first Chili cocktail experience.

Rhoda's first exposure to Idli, idyappam & parotta.

Ben's first Malabar Parota cooking lesson.

If you ever surf my couch, be warned you'll experience something you might have never experienced before !

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My couch has been surfed by over 100 CSers and they have left me wanting to host more.

Interests

Cook. Read. Write.Cook some more !

Meditate. Perceive what is. Erase barriers.
Yes, J.Krishnamurthi & Osho.

• animals
• causes
• cooking
• cocktails
• vegetarian
• meditation
• flying
• tv
• cars
• blogging
• survival
• backpacking
• camping
• buddhist
• agriculture
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies : Any movie from Pixar. Disney's Aladdin, Lion King ..... anytime. Sadhi Leelavathi, Kadhaal, Paruthi Veeran ( but for the climax), Nayagan, Sphere.

Music : Old Tamil songs, Violin concertos. Lata Mangeshkar.

Authors : Almost anyone who has something interesting to say . Especially Richard Dawkins, P.G.Wodehouse, Michael Crichton, Martin Seligman, Simon Singh, Asimov, Arthur clarke, Carl Sagan .....

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cooking solo a 10 course South Indian Marriage feast for 500 people in under three hours.

It still amazes me to see so many people work at jobs they hate, in order to buy things they do not need, with which they hope to impress people they do not like !

Cooking for people from Argentina(Nina), America(Rhoda & Rowan & others), Australia( Zachmo), Belgium ( Len), France (Lauraine, Charlotte), Morocco (Kamel), Denmark, UK ( Vicki) , Bahrain (Adnan), India( Numerous), Singapore( Leslie, Bee Gek), Japan, China , Indonesia( Yusuf), Sri lanka ( Ganesh), Portugal( Ciro), Germany( Hagen, Inga, Mathias), Phillippines( ??? ), Poland ( Tony), Canada ( Brian), Taiwan (Cathy), Josef and Laura ( Czech), Mayyee ( Malaysia), Selma(Norway), Nathalie ( Swizerland), Ivan ( Russia),
Gabriel(Barcelona), Adriana, Giovana (Colombia),Liliana Bortolin, (Argentina) Ivan, Maria Sirotkina(Russia), Sauro, Trave (Italy), Isabella ( Austria), Serhat Oran ( Turkey),

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach : Cooking,
Learn : Anything new. Try me !
Share : Camping experiences, Simple living tips, Backpacking adventures.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bahrain, Singapore

Countries I’ve Lived In

India

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