An extra mile of attention/care

I was was very much worried in the back ground although I was doing something at work. I was waiting for the clock to trike 3 PM so that I can call up the Italian embassy to check the status of my passport. I submitted my visa application last wednesday and I was not worried about the visa but about my passport. The visa officer asked me if I could come and collect it last friday when it would be ready or to to give them a special delivery envelope so that they could post to wherever I would like them to.
In earlier cases I have sent my passport using the special delivery but was a bit confused because of the Royal mail strike that was going on then. But after thinking for a while I decided to submit a special delivery envelope at the counter. I didnt remember to note the tracking Id - what a stupidity.
My assumption was that if my passport would have been ready by friday the consulate folks would be posting it either on friday or by Monday. I checked the mails on Monday and Tuesday and there wasnt any delivery for me :( I was a bit worried and then decided to call the consulate on Tuesday. The enquiry hours is between 3 PM and 5 PM.
Sharp when my laptop showed 15:00 I called up the embassy....
No Answer..
wait for 2 minutes...
call again....
no answer... hmm.. these Italian are not punctual - that was my thought..
15:10 - ring again..
the line was busy...ahhh atleast somebody is taking the calls...
kept trying and within a minute I got connected..
Me : Hello, I submitted my visa application last wednesday and would like to know if my passport is posted
The officer (Lady) : Can I have your reference number please ?
Me : uhh... I didnt receive any reference number..
Officer : I cant believe it..........but anyway give me ur surname
Me: R as in Roger ...a as in apple ....
Officer : Please wait let me check the computer...
searches sometime.......
Officer: I cant find your name ...???^^^^
Me: Huhhhhh...%%%% what..
Officer: Please repeat your surname..
Me: R as in ........
Officer: (after a 15-20 sec) yes you have been issued a visa on 18th Oct.. ohh have you given a delivery envelope..
Me: Yesssss...
Officer: Let me check the post
Checks for a minute or so...
Officer: Actually I am not able to find it..it is somebody else's work.. give me your number I'll check and get back to you..
Me: Ok..here is my number 079.....
Officer : (repeats the number)
Me: Yes..thats correct..
Officer: I will give you a call back as soon as I get some information...
Me: alright, thank you very much..
Hang up.....

Me --- a bit confused....
with in 2 minutes..my mobile rang...
Me: A... speaking
Officer: Mr. Ra.... I have found your envelope.. we are posting it today..
Me: ohh great thanks...
Officer: here is the address... and do you want to take the tracking number???
Me: yes.. thanks..
officer: (says teh tracking number)
Me: (noted down)..great!!! thanks a lot...
Me:Thanks

I was like relieved. The officer took an extra step of trying to locate my envelope and call me back and she made my day. I was then relaxed that my passport would arrive the next day.
The officer need not have made a note of my number..she might have also said I am busy try to contact me later..but instead her gesture was courteous and I was happy.

I think it would be good to take care of even smaller things.. for her/anybody else it might be a small incident ..but for me I was appreciating the officer who made me feel relaxed and concentrate on other things.

When u want it, it may fail !

Last weekend being the last day of the dusshera festival I was invited (infact I showed more interest) by my colleague to attend the Garba and Dandiya function. 2 years back I have just seen folks playing Dandiya and Garba in Sasken. I generally feel that the North Indians are more extroverts and the south Indians are generally introverts. I like north Indians only for this. They enjoy to the max, have fun and have a strong bonding to their community. Irrespective of their ages they dance,sing and enjoy life.

I participated in the Dandiya and Garba. Though didnt follow the steps ;) (mind that I have two left legs) I enjoyed being there.

Now comes the point that when I wanted it, it failed. I thought of captuirng thr good moments..but my camera battery utterly failed.. no power and it got switched off automatically.

But good that my colleague captured a couple of pictures.

Marinated fish fry - My style

Tried my hand for the first time on a non-veg dish. But to my surprise it turned out to be delicious :)
I prepared this dish at my friend Prem's place for lunch.
Here is the recipe.

Ingredients :
Salmon fish
Yogurt - 3 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1 tbsp
red chilli powder - 1 1/4 tbsp
madras curry powder - 1/2 tbsp
salt - to taste
onions - 1/2 cut lengthwise
green chillies - 1
turmeric powder - 3/4 tbsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
dhania powder - 1/2 tbsp
oil - to deep fry

Procedure :

Cut the Salmon in to reasonable small pieces (e.g like 6-7 cm pieces) after washing thoroughly.
Add turmeric powder,garam masala,red chilli powder,madras curry powder,dhania powder,salt,yogurt and ginger garlic paste to the fish. Mix it well with hands and keep it aside for 1.5 hrs ( cover it woth a foil if available).

Now after 1.5 hrs heat the tawa and pour oil liberally ( dont be too calorie conscious if you wanna tasty dish ;) ).
When the oil is heated put this marinated salmon with the masala on the tawa and fry it for 5 mins. After 5 mins turn the pieces to the other side and fry it well.
Now after 5 mins add the cut onions and chillies and after a minute take the tawa out of the heat and place the fried fish pieces and half fried onion and chillies in a bowl and it is ready to serve.

Unfortunately I didnt take a picture of what I prepared but believe me it was very tasty :).