Finding the joy in what we do

An end to another week and I am starting to get used to the consulting lifestyle; fly in early Monday mornings, take a cab to the clients site, work long hours, make the most of the few hours after work to eat, workout, interact with friends, take care of errands and relax, and then rush to take one of the last flights out Friday to make it back just in time to head out with friends heading out to the bars and clubs. A short weekend packed with meeting friends, catching up on sleep and errands, doing laundry and then heading to that airport again. So far so good!

            Consulting is a glamorous lifestyle; I am not going to lie but some of the perks are pretty neat but at the end of the day we spend many nights in a month working out of a suitcase and the last thing we need is a hunt for food and board. To all those looking on with zealous eyes, it’s not all jet-set clubs and fine dining, but a true art of striking the right work-life balance.

            Of all my friends, I was one of the last ones to start working after college. I took an extra year in college, chose the last possible date I could, and really took the time to prepare myself for the transition from the dynamic nature of university to the structured nature of a career. Many who had started working before I did, described work as just that, work; something that they did through the week to make money to then use towards living expenditures. Mondays were for the other kind of blues and Sundays were doomed even before they began in the dread that was another week. I wondered how such exciting, talented and bright people could find such little joy in what they did. Were the companies to blame? Was the type of work to blame? Were we as individuals to blame?

            One of the key challenges for me and others like me starting their careers is finding the joy in what we do. Time at the office or working for our companies takes up a considerable chunk of the daylight hours of the week and treating them like hours one is just waiting to get over with, would not be wise. What I mean is that we must find ways to get excited about work; whether it be about the people we interact with, service we deliver, initiatives we take or solutions we come up with. College is a wonderful time, almost too wonderful. But it doesn’t last forever and we must move on and embrace this new chapter in life.

            Though I do understand that some jobs are harder, more rigid and less exciting than others, either finding something else to do now or finding a niche at the present job is important to sustain a healthy career. By choice or by chance, we are working in the modern world, where work hours are high and down time low, finding pleasure in what we do is even more crucial than ever before. Simply put, we spend more hours of our waking time working than we do doing other things that we love and cherish. If we can’t find a reason to wake up on Monday morning, then something needs to be reevaluated. If possible, work should not just be something that pays the bills, but also something that has meaning and significance for some reason or the other.

            I am still very new at this career thing and up until now, I have done fairly well. I do love my personal time to do the umpteen other things I enjoy, but I am also waking up with a smile every morning, glad to be doing what it is that I am doing at work. As young educated adults we have much to contribute and much to be glad about. So the next time you have an absolutely shitty day at work, think of the many many other undesirable jobs that people are doing day in and day out. Let’s not complain, let’s find the joy in what we do!

A synergy par excellence

There is seldom a time when I eat a meal that I want to write about. And I have had my share of scrumptious  and lip smacking meals. From home-cooked to restaurant meals, from cheap eats to 5 course dinners, from hole in the walls to established sit down restaurants, from Vietnamese to Southern comfort food, I have licked, slurped and smacked my lips on many an occasion across cities and through years. But every now and then there comes a time, when a meal is more than just food on a plate or grub to fill the belly but the meal is a piece of art, a synergy of textures, flavors and colors that one must pause and ponder over the brilliance that presents itself in the form of food.

There are cities that do food well and then there are cities that dominate the food scene. New York City is undoubtedly a haven for delicious eats, offering something for every taste need there possibly can be. As luck would have it, work has put me in Brooklyn for a project for a few months giving me the opportunity to further explore and discover the culinary delights of this wonder city.

Walking around looking for a restaurant to eat in the West Village on a rainy evening, Sana and I after much indecision, entered a restaurant called 'Samba Sushi'. I had passed by the restaurant in Miami and here in NYC a few times and had been enticed by the name. The orange and yellow decor was urbane and inviting. The waitress informed us that the restaurant was a fusion of Japanese, Peruvian and Brazilian. My mind was ticking..

The menu was pricey and we hesitatingly decided to stay on and indulge ourselves. The menu had various appetizers divided into aperitivos, small plates, anticuchos (skewered meats) and seviches. There were also large plates and special samba rolls which are their unique take on sushi. We ordered the yellowtail taquitos, the ribeye and anji panca anticuchos, the Samba 7 sushi rolls, the BoBo Brazil sushi rolls and a portion of mashed purple potatoes. Here is what happened.

The first dish to arrive was the yellowtail taquito: Two small crispy tacos stuffed with the yellowtail blend placed elegantly on a plate with lemon wedges in a shot glass. The mushy, tangy fish blend complimented the crunch of the taco perfectly. Bite sized portion, enough to whet our appetite.

Next up, the anticuchos: Two skewers of perfectly grilled meat doused in a brown tart sauce served with juicy corn kernels. The meat was tender, the sauce complex and the corn provided the right pop. The stakes had been raised.

Before the rolls arrived, we got our portion of mashed potatoes. Still looking at each other puzzled, we dug into the mash not expecting much. Wrong again. The simplest of things to prepare, the potatoes were soft, creamy and utterly flavorful.

The first roll to arrive was the Samba 7 (Crispy lobster, scallion, cucumber, jalapeno, celery and served with a wasabi-chimichurri creamy sauce). The presentation was brilliant, the claw of the lobster fried with panko with a bit of meat left to nibble on. We took a roll each, put some of the creamy sauce, dipped it in the soy sauce and into the mouth went the roll. It is hard to describe what happened as the food went down my gullet. The flavors burst from every direction, the rice swished in the mouth, the jalapenos fighting the subtle lobster for prominence, the chimichurri and soy tying all the opposing flavors together. We felt silent, soon the plate was clean.

Samba 7 Roll

Mid way through the sushi rolls, we had gone ahead and ordered the BoBo Brazil roll that included Wagyu beef, avocado, shisho, red onion among others. Reeling from the tastebud confusion, arrived in front of us another beautifully presented plate. The thin slices of beef wrapping the rice and avocado within. Again we took a roll each, dipped in the soy sauce and welcomed them in our mouths. I do not exaggerate what I am about to say. The roll went in, the gently soy soaked rice started to melt, the creamy avocado provided resistance, the layer of uncooked top quality beef started to provide the salty balance and the mystery spice drizzled on the roll, took it from being a great tasting morsel to a flavor explosion like I have never experienced before. We looked at each other content to the core. What a mayhem of flavors, what a delight the experience had been!

Despite the magic of the meal, Sana and I were not done and wanted dessert. The streets around West 4th street led us to Cornelia street and to a small cafe called Vagabond. The small space we entered was like a trendy living room in someones apartment. Comfy couches, minimal yet artsy furniture and a few chalkboards with the menu. We ordered the Banana Bread Latte and a crepe called 'light my fire', a combination of marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate. There was no way anything could go wrong.
The Latte had the fragrance of a fresh loaf of banana bread and tasted delightful. The crepe perfectly golden
and sprinkled with castor sugar hid the marshmallows, medium sweet melted chocolate and crumbled graham crackers. I am sure you can imagine where this is going. A smore in a crepe - warm, sweet, gooey, there is nothing more to say. Still not satisfied, we ordered another crepe, a classic, strawberry and nutella. The hazelnut flavors blending with the fresh strawberries giving a tarty mouthful.

There are times when I ooo and aah and exclaim while I eat. Then there are some times when I express and compliment while I eat. Then there are also times when I go through a meal with a constant smile on my face. But, there is seldom a time when I fall silent while I eat. This meal, this carefully crafted masterpiece was nothing short of perfection!

YUM