Ethiopean food

This was the first time I was having Ethiopian food and I must say I was mighty impressed in the variety. Like their site says “come taste and enjoy”

Our friends took us to this place named Walia in San Jose, California. Even though we were late for lunch (as per the normal lunch time) I was surprised that we were served with some excellent and tasty food.

The guys who run the place were warm, friendly and informative.

As we waited for the main course to arrive nursing our drinks, I was observing the ambiance.

I liked the drawings that adorned the walls.

The Injera with mixed vegetables was what we ordered. It comes in a very big plate which was shared among five of us. The items that went into the plate were:

Vegetarian:

Misir Wot (red lentils)

Alicha Wot (split yellow peas)

Shiro (chick peas)

Gomen (collard greens)

Atkilit Wot (cabbage carrot)

As they added the items to the plate our eyes widened.

Poultry:

House Doro Wot (chicken stew)

Lamb:

Yebeg tibs (Lamb tibs)

The Injera is made by mixing Teff flour with water and allowing it to ferment for several days.  It is served in rolls. The brown coloured base that you see in the big plate is also Injera.
The Injera rolls kept coming and we polished them quick and clean.

The five of us made sure that we did justice to the food and this was what was left in the plate.

Joseph was kind enough to give me the list of delicious items that was spread out (reproduced above)
A good place to have food and if I ever visit San Jose again, my first stop will be Walia.

PS:
Mail from Mr Joseph of Walia :

Joe,

Thank you so much for the write up. I can't wait till i put the link or Facebook page. We are very excited. We hope to see you very soon.

Warm regards,

Joseph

Sent from my iPad

Cemeteries in Pune

They say that one of the places to look for the historical path that a city has taken, is the cemetery. There are 146 World War I soldiers burried in St Sepulchers cemetery near Hadapsar Rd, Pune. 

It is very rare that we go to cemeteries to click pictures, but that is what I did this morning.

Had been to this cemetery in Pune a few days ago for the funeral of my friend’s dad, and that was when I noticed the beauty of this cemetery.

It was very spacious, and well organised. There were some tombstones that was really old like the one of Cpl Francis George Gregory from the 11^th Armoured Company who died in 1924. This was probably erected by his comrades as his family must have been back in Britain. 

Or the Dy. Examiner, from Military Accounts Dept who died in 1933. Probably the Dy. Examiner was a big post to be put on a tombstone.

I found that these graves were smaller and realised that it was a section  for infants

 But the best part about this cemetery is the birds. And when I am talking about birds, I mean our national bird.

There were plenty of them and they were freely roaming around. Their favourite place was to perch on the tombstone or the crucifix. Maybe that gave them a better view of their prey on the ground. (I believe they feed on insects and reptiles)

This guy was doing the peacock dance for a long time which gave me a chance to click him from all sides.

I was wondering why he was holding on for so long when I saw these pea hen close by. No wonder. He knows he has to work extra time to beat the tough competition.

This one was peeping from behind the bush to see if I had left the place. (maybe he is suitor number two)

Found this grave with no markings, no dates and no name. But the placement of that neem tree over the grave somehow caught my eye. Gave me a feeling of eternal shelter and protection for the nameless person.  Very poignant.

Some of the tombstones are nice and colourful like this one with four from the same family

Or some with meaningful words

Or some with some pretty statues

Which brings me to the grave of my friend Vilas’ dad.  Mr Prabhakar Bhalerao would have been 90 years old this November.

The irony of the fact is that Vilas lost his mother just eight days after his dad expired.

I remember meeting this elderly couple on Vilas’ 60 th birthday. That was just 10 months ago. I had the privilege of covering the event.

The small speech given by Vilas’ father was very touching. He mentioned about the time when they got lost in the outskirts of Pune while they went hunting (about fifty years ago) and spend the night in the jungle comforting each other.

 When the programme was over, he called me and wifey and spoke to us for some time. Then he kept his hands on our head and blessed us. Believe me, blessings from old people go a long way.

The wordings put on the grave are apt for him “Lived in peace, died in peace”

My next camera

Agfa click III

Isoly -II

Yashica Electro 35

Nikon Coolpix 4300

Canon SX20 IS

These are the (only) cameras that I have used so far (in the same order) and frankly speaking I was really happy with them. 

All the photographs you have seen so far on my blogs are from one of these cameras and they are all point and shoot.

But the fact is that everyone around me, left right and centre has a DSLR and they give me a weird look when I tell them that I don't have a DSLR.

So like the old saying goes "If you can't beat them, join them" I decided that I would buy my first DSLR.

I mean there is no point looking embarrassed when I face a tiger and the tiger asks me "you have come here to click me with that silly camera?"

But before I buy one I wanted to know some finer points of the camera. I realized that the best way to learn was to attend a workshop.

Found this site (toehold) which was holding workshops in all major cities in India and luckily Pune was included in the list.

It was a two day session with some special attention given as to how to operate a camera (especially a DSLR). That was a big plus for me as I am one of those who can't do anything by reading a manual. So a hands on experience with doubts clarified immediately with practical demonstration was something that I liked.

I also discovered some of the functions that were there in my existing camera (Canon SX20) which I was not aware of.  By the way this is the camera that gave me maximum mileage (and the one most abused - look at the score marks)

The cross section of the people who attended the workshop was also interesting. It varied from a Brigadier to a young lad who came all the way from Kolhapur.

While all were engrossed in the lectures I took the liberty of clicking some of the participants.

The disappearing act about to begin, or more commonly known as the “ghost effect”

The second day included some outdoor sessions.

In case you are wondering about this bad picture above, it was my first attempt at panning. 

This is the best I could get. But watch this space. With practice I hope to upload some good panning pictures.  (and it could be yours if you are zooming around on the Pune roads)

Special attention was given to wild life photography as our faculty (Mr Rahul) was basically a wild life enthusiast.

Those who want to have a look at the participants of the workshop, click here.