Bangalore: IT and Idlies

After witnessing the beginning of Holi celebrations in Delhi -- a full *week* before the holiday (no pun intended) itself -- I hesitated to believe my father's claim that "in the south, Holi is nothing more than an afterthought." But he was right: today we've only seen a couple of color-drenched people. I guess we'll have to see about tomorrow, which some say is the real festival day. Today, in any case, it turns out that Eid Milad-un-Nabi (the Prophet's birthday!), with its loudspeaker lectures broadcasted from the mosque down the street, is a far bigger deal.

Bangalore. I haven't had too much time to get out and see the city -- mostly I've been taking advantage of the Super Unbelievably Fast High Speed Internet Access (hello, IT city!) at our hotel to get work done on the ol' laptop. The last time I was in this city was five years ago, accompanied by my best friend A., her dad, and a whole bunch of food fanatics, some of whom I'm proud to call my relatives. Five years ago, my best friend and I walked the city alone: that's how safe it was, and still is. Even now it's a mixture of Honolulu, Queens, and India.

Back to the food. The incredible safety of this "modern" city made its mark five years ago: the meals, even more so. Bangalore is the center of South Indian Vegetarian Everything, served up specially for hardworking IT-types on snappy lunch hours. Above are some visual aids for two distinctly South Indian edibles: sweet milk coffee presented in two metal tumblers, and fluffy rice flour idlies with sambar, coconut chutney, and ghee. The pictures are from the famous Mavalli Tiffin Room on Lal Bagh Road, courtesy of Wikipedia.

And speaking of the best of both worlds (fast-paced, high-tech Internet; fast-paced, low-tech food), tonight my dad and I are going to one of Bangalore's massive malls to finally see the movie "Slumdog Millionaire." I know I'm a little behind the curve on this one, but perhaps it's not too late to ask the Fat Crow audience: what did you think of the movie? Realistic, or "poverty pornography"? How's the acting, and the now-famous A.R. Rahman score? Does it stand up to all the hype?