dream a dream...

I had the funniest dream last night....and I still remember most of it is even funnier. I guess it's hard to forget meeting the President even if it were just a dream!

Sis and I were at home...the house was somewhere in DC - this I based on the brickwork of the house and the surrounding streets. We were getting ready to go somewhere. And then came in this jubilant looking gentleman knocking on the door and to be let in. Before opening the door, I peaked out the window and so did sis wondering who it could be as we weren't expecting anyone. We saw a limousine parked outside and the driver leaning back against it. The jubilant looking gentleman was none other than President Obama. Surely, we couldn't keep him waiting any longer and let him into the house. He wanted to get in as soon as possible as not to draw too much attention. He walked in as if it were his own home. Introduced himself, really he did to the two of us and carried on with his work in the living room.

My sis and I of course were starstruck and giggling away like little girls meeting their idols. We were just bouncing about the house (yes, the kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms) in pure joy! We made attempts to talk to him but words that spilled out didn't make that much sense. We were trying really to appear smart and ask him some serious questions but alas words really failed us, or maybe our brains did. He was being friendly and did try to converse with us but I guess he had trouble understanding what we were saying too!

After an hour or so of waiting another limo pulled up in front and it was the Vice President Biden coming up the stairs. Everyone shook everyone's hands and we all, yes, all four of us went for coffee!!

Then the dream completely changed track.... to my dismay. I still couldn't manage a single coherent sentence. Now in the dream we were at a construction site.. just some people and I. We were building a big house and one side of the walls still had to be finished. so, it looked like a doll house where you can see the inside of it all. Suddenly, a UFO flew so closely down to us blowing a lot of debris away. Each of us were given a baby-alien-cocoon to take care of and the aliens informed us that the alien babies will be born in 5 years and the alien ship will come back to get them.

There was obviously such chaos amongst all of us trying to decipher what all this meant. And what entailed "taking care". We just hid the cocoons in the corners of the house and were finishing constructing the place.

I wonder if all these incidents stemmed from briefly watching Obama celebrating his birthday and an ad for an upcoming serial of District 9 or something where aliens reside. But amusing nonetheless.

Dr. Pachauri speaks

In July I attended a seminar where Dr. R. K. Pachauri spoke about Climate Change. It was a real wonderful honour to meet him!
 

photo by/credit: Anne McDonough 

At a time when everyone is talking about Environment, Health, Safety, Climate Change, Responsible Care, Energy Crisis, Economic Meltdown, Sustainability, etc, at a recent sustainability seminar here in DCthat I attended had a talk by Dr.R.K.Pachauri on “Status of Global Climatic Change Negotiations".

The audience included CEOs of MNCs, members of the US Department of State, non-profit/NGOs, members of the Congress and media. His talk could not have come at a better time with the US Congress debating the Climate Bill, the just completed G8 summit, the G20 and the Copenhagen meet coming up, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's India visit!

Honours sit lightly on Dr Pachauri who is the co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace. He also serves as the Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi, India and has recently been appointed to lead the newly established Yale Climate and Energy Institute. A scientist first, he radiates great humility and has the patience to hear out diverse opinions and the capacity to listen without throwing judgements - qualities which make him the ideal candidate for being the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change.

His talk was insightful, the questions from the audience interesting, and his response even more informative that the two hours just wasn't enough to cover the many topics and ideas people had.

( Summary/Highlights from the talk )

comfort food

I am currently reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. Many thoughts come up from it. One thing that stuck out is the reason he and others crave fast food (such as chicken nuggets) is the reminder of childhood comfort. And then I thought about what my comfort foods are that go back to childhood times. And it's mom's simple tomato dhal/pappu. When she makes it the house fills up with the aromatic fragrance of cooking pulses and tomatoes and curry leaves. It makes my mouth water, it makes me hungry, it fills me up with warmth of home.

I have tried very much to replicate mom's recipe. But it never comes out the same. It never fills the house with the same fragrances as when mom cooks it. Mom finds this silly as it's a dish as common as macaroni and cheese in some American homes. She kind of feels insulted that I am craving for such a simple dish when she cooks other more elaborate items ever so deliciously.

I blame the tomatoes. I put three and still don't get the flavour of the fruit. sigh. And now I am hungry and craving for some tomato pappu. And mom is so far away...sigh

What's your comfort food?