Wild Rices of Sabaha

On the way to Mount Kinabalu, Sabaha, roadside shops were selling colorful packs of rice.

Our cabbie told that they were wild rices of Sabaha! Well, I like brown rice, which is chewy and also healthier than the white rice. Wild black rice?! Definitely I wanted to taste it, so we stopped by one of the shops.

The friendly lady explained that these rices were grown with natural fertilizers. Well, she was naive and didn't know the term 'organic'! However, per kg rice was RM20! Certainly it is expensive when compared to the rice that we buy in supermarkets. Even imported Basmati or Wangi rice costs not more that RM10 per kg.

I wanted to try both brown and black rice, so I requested for 1/2 kg in each of the varieties. That ladies children were playful and at the same time watching us. The minute I took out my camera, the elder one became very shy and ran away, whereas the younger one halfheartedly followed her sister, but turned back and gave a lovely smile!

After coming back from the holidays, first thing I did was, take a close-up of the wild rices along with the basmathi rice!

I was told that the black rice is best suitable for making pulut (a kind of desert). Alternatively, it can be mixed with white/brown rice and eat it with tofu. Here is my version of the cooked mixed rice:

I feel that this wild rice is more fragrant and chewy than the normal brown rice.

Memories of Mama

Every time I say/think of mama, I can clearly visualize his smiling face and 'what next' attitude. He was like a rock to all of us. He was always young at heart and used to enthrall us with his escapades.

It all happened 2 years ago, when he came back from the US. He had lost about 10kgs within 6 months and all of us were naive enough and attributed it to the low fat diet, that too devoid of the daily dose of deep fried stuff like vadai, kaaravadai and bajji, while in US.

At the maximum we thought it might be diabetics. But, all our assumptions were wrong and he was diagnosed with with level 4 stomach cancer. Since then the fight against that deadly enemy started. He was facing it with grace.

It is hard to believe that, even 2 weeks ago, when I was in India, mama was driving, talking and laughing with us. Life is too short. His health deteriorated drastically within a short span and his last 3 days were terrible, for the family.

Though, he was unconscious the thought that he might be silently suffering was terrifying. Yesterday, mama passed away and I was unable to go home and pay my last respect. Direct flights to my home town was fully booked because of Chinese New Year. However, tomorrow morning am going home to India to be with my aunt and give her moral support at this tough time.

During my childhood, like any other electronic items, camera was an expensive stuff and only he had an imported Yashika (B & W) film camera. He was my first inspiration to photography and here is a tribute to him.

Scenic Sunday, SOOC