Bad Artists Copy, Good Artists Steal
The title of this post might suggest a lot of things, but this wasn’t quipped by your truly. It’s a Picasso quote. I have my own version of it though. “Bad Artists Copy, Good Ones Steal and the Creatives Ones pave the way for the Bad and the Good ones“. It isn’t the most moral thought but isn’t this what the world is made up of??? What got me to ramble about it on here was the recent Chetan - 3 Idiots standoff.
What surprised me about the incident was its uncanny resemblance to the kitty fights between my old nieghbors Usha aunty and Valsa aunty. Let me explain - Usha aunty was godsend to our culinary cravings and also the only reason why Uncle Boban, her husband had the roundest most largest potbelly in the world. She made the best Fish Moilee in the world; one so good that I would shamelessly lick off the last drop of it from my plate. She was the nicest lady in the world ( I hope amma isn’t reading this). Ok, lets settle for the second most nicest lady in the world.
Introducing Valsa aunty (drumroll) - The only reason she wouldn’t qualify as a vamp on an Ekta Kapoor soap was because she was simply hideous looking. That was the only drawback - I still beleive that she has the most foolproof model of broadcasting gossip. I can bet my life on it. I flunked my 6th standard math mid term, and my Mom knew about it before I could. How??? Her son, Royce was my senior in school, and we had the same Math teacher. The modus operandi??? I have no clue. Do you know who killed Kennedy? Well, you wouldnt know how she gets her news too.
We had an annual cooking competition in the neighborhood. Men aren’t always dumb, as most of the women insist - the men in our area created this competiton so they could have a week of alcohol binging without the usual scare of the “high pitched” sermons every night. The ladies would be busy working on a recipe or on the phone trying to find out what the others were doing. The Men - well, they would meet up at someone’s place planning on turning this into a monthly cookery bonanza!!! And, of course partake in singing hosanna’s to the Jack’s, the Glen’s and the Johnnie’s.
The South East Abbasiya Malayali Christian Association Cooking Fest (we mallus are everywhere, so we had a ton of associations in this little town in Kuwait itself) , had a consistent winning pattern. If we had a plaque with the names of the winners over the years, it would say - Valsa Abraham, Valsa Abraham, Valsa Abraham and Valsa Abraham. Confused??? Well, Usha aunty made the most awesome food, but that remained indoors. Valsa aunty would talk about Usha aunty’s ear-ring like it were hand crafted by Mr. DeBeers himself, and that was all it took to make Usha aunty prepare her prized recipe right in front of her. That was in 1989.
We all knew how much Usha aunty wanted the “coveted” Oscar-of-Abbasiya-cooking-fraternity in her hands in 1990. My amma was her shrink that year; fueled by her hatred for the “creature” (as mom lovingly calls her), who paraded around my 18 out 50 in Math for the mid term exam. Usha aunty’s house was a fortress weeks before show began. Her Fish Moilee was the secret dish. Even though her fish moilee had an epic following, Usha aunty had never presented this at the cook show. In fact, she never participated in it till this time. Amma spoke in her least audible voice about it, like it were the HOLY GRAIL!! Why doesn’t she use that voice when my report card comes home?
Let’s fast forward a bit here. Mrs. Sally Varghese, the judge at the cook fest adjusted the mic to suit her 4′11″ inches stature before she said, “And, tha winner of tha 1990 Cook Fest izzzz….Mrs.Valsa Abraham”. I didn’t look at anyone but my mom. Do you know what a trillion dollars is worth? Amma’s expression was how much it can buy. I let the cartoons play with my head for a while when I saw her jaw protrude out of her face and then drop down till it hit the floor with a THUD. Oh, yes and her eyeballs too!!
Mrs.Valsa Abraham’s recipe to fame - Fish Moilee.
Why and How???? She didn’t bother to ask the other aunties. She made Royce ask Sunil, Usha aunty’s 8 year old son what his mom was cooking. Simple, ain’t it? Valsa aunty dropped this casually in one of her gossip sessions and it was the talk of the town. Usha aunty had a panic attack and Amma went beserk. They decided to change the item. Chettinadu style Duck Curry it was. The dynamic duo (amma and usha), burned the midnight oil, conspired and thought they pulled it off. Ultimately the Fish Moilee made it to the victory stand.
Valsa Abraham took a proven recipe and won the laurels and Usha Boban made a hasty decision to try something different, but it only resulted in a furious and open mouthed Amma.
Flash forward to 2010 and I wake up to a hillariously hysterical Vidhu Chopra screaming “SHUT UP!!”. Star News made my day by putting that clip on an infinite loop. SHUT UP..SHUT UP..SHUT UP. I’ve lapped up this sentence and even replaced the “AAL IZZ WELL” playing on loop in my head. The man had no option when he was confronted with the truth. Who really Cares?? 3 Idiots is a national phenomenon. Chetan Bhagat’s mom’s crying, and he’s blogging and tweeting away to the record books. But who really cares??? 15% or 70% - The world will know 3 Idiots as a Hirani-Aamir combine and nothing more.
I love your Fish Moilee, Usha aunty but I would have to call it Valsa’s Fish Moilee when I talk about it to the world.
What surprised me about the incident was its uncanny resemblance to the kitty fights between my old nieghbors Usha aunty and Valsa aunty. Let me explain - Usha aunty was godsend to our culinary cravings and also the only reason why Uncle Boban, her husband had the roundest most largest potbelly in the world. She made the best Fish Moilee in the world; one so good that I would shamelessly lick off the last drop of it from my plate. She was the nicest lady in the world ( I hope amma isn’t reading this). Ok, lets settle for the second most nicest lady in the world.
Introducing Valsa aunty (drumroll) - The only reason she wouldn’t qualify as a vamp on an Ekta Kapoor soap was because she was simply hideous looking. That was the only drawback - I still beleive that she has the most foolproof model of broadcasting gossip. I can bet my life on it. I flunked my 6th standard math mid term, and my Mom knew about it before I could. How??? Her son, Royce was my senior in school, and we had the same Math teacher. The modus operandi??? I have no clue. Do you know who killed Kennedy? Well, you wouldnt know how she gets her news too.
We had an annual cooking competition in the neighborhood. Men aren’t always dumb, as most of the women insist - the men in our area created this competiton so they could have a week of alcohol binging without the usual scare of the “high pitched” sermons every night. The ladies would be busy working on a recipe or on the phone trying to find out what the others were doing. The Men - well, they would meet up at someone’s place planning on turning this into a monthly cookery bonanza!!! And, of course partake in singing hosanna’s to the Jack’s, the Glen’s and the Johnnie’s.
The South East Abbasiya Malayali Christian Association Cooking Fest (we mallus are everywhere, so we had a ton of associations in this little town in Kuwait itself) , had a consistent winning pattern. If we had a plaque with the names of the winners over the years, it would say - Valsa Abraham, Valsa Abraham, Valsa Abraham and Valsa Abraham. Confused??? Well, Usha aunty made the most awesome food, but that remained indoors. Valsa aunty would talk about Usha aunty’s ear-ring like it were hand crafted by Mr. DeBeers himself, and that was all it took to make Usha aunty prepare her prized recipe right in front of her. That was in 1989.
We all knew how much Usha aunty wanted the “coveted” Oscar-of-Abbasiya-cooking-
Let’s fast forward a bit here. Mrs. Sally Varghese, the judge at the cook fest adjusted the mic to suit her 4′11″ inches stature before she said, “And, tha winner of tha 1990 Cook Fest izzzz….Mrs.Valsa Abraham”. I didn’t look at anyone but my mom. Do you know what a trillion dollars is worth? Amma’s expression was how much it can buy. I let the cartoons play with my head for a while when I saw her jaw protrude out of her face and then drop down till it hit the floor with a THUD. Oh, yes and her eyeballs too!!
Mrs.Valsa Abraham’s recipe to fame - Fish Moilee.
Why and How???? She didn’t bother to ask the other aunties. She made Royce ask Sunil, Usha aunty’s 8 year old son what his mom was cooking. Simple, ain’t it? Valsa aunty dropped this casually in one of her gossip sessions and it was the talk of the town. Usha aunty had a panic attack and Amma went beserk. They decided to change the item. Chettinadu style Duck Curry it was. The dynamic duo (amma and usha), burned the midnight oil, conspired and thought they pulled it off. Ultimately the Fish Moilee made it to the victory stand.
Valsa Abraham took a proven recipe and won the laurels and Usha Boban made a hasty decision to try something different, but it only resulted in a furious and open mouthed Amma.
Flash forward to 2010 and I wake up to a hillariously hysterical Vidhu Chopra screaming “SHUT UP!!”. Star News made my day by putting that clip on an infinite loop. SHUT UP..SHUT UP..SHUT UP. I’ve lapped up this sentence and even replaced the “AAL IZZ WELL” playing on loop in my head. The man had no option when he was confronted with the truth. Who really Cares?? 3 Idiots is a national phenomenon. Chetan Bhagat’s mom’s crying, and he’s blogging and tweeting away to the record books. But who really cares??? 15% or 70% - The world will know 3 Idiots as a Hirani-Aamir combine and nothing more.
I love your Fish Moilee, Usha aunty but I would have to call it Valsa’s Fish Moilee when I talk about it to the world.
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