Marvin Zindler

“Have a good golf, good tennis, or whatever makes you happy” – that was Marvin Zindler’s trademark closing comment on Houston’s ABC news on Channel 13. Since the day I landed in this country I watched Marvin Zindler for almost three and a half decades and saw him grow from a relatively young TV news personality to the lone, white-headed crusader for the “little” guys. Many adored him, crooks feared him, and many perhaps laughed at his news presentation. He perhaps saved many restaurant goers from food poisoning by his restaurant report about roaches and the “slime in the ice machine”. The man who single handedly destroyed the corrupt chicken ranch in south Texas - later made famous by the movie version, the Best Little Whore House in Texas - died of Pancreatic cancer just yesterday. He was close to 86. Till the very end he continued to report from his hospital bed and ended his last report the same way wishing happiness to the listener – “have a good golf, good tennis, or whatever makes you happy”. Marvin is gone and I will certainly miss him in the evening local news.

What a month!

Have not had time to post, because it has been a hectic month. We have been busy attending a convention in Boston, celebrating 4th of July in New York, then returning home from a hectic vacation only to drive to Austin on Sunday (the 15th) to listen to “Ghazal” by Anirban. Then we had a musical evening at our house on Saturday (the 21st). We also had some folks from Indian TV (“Doordarshan”) conducting interviews in the same evening for a TV serial about the Assamese Diaspora overseas. In the meantime our younger daughter went off to Alaska on a cruise, the older one took a drive along the scenic Pacific Highway 1 while camping out along the way with friends. On 27th I accepted a new job offer and tomorrow I will break the news to my boss. My wife is now preparing her suitcases for a trip to India soon. This morning I woke up early as Tigger was whining loud and wanting my company I suppose. I sat in the back porch with my tea and the newspaper while glancing at the greens of the golf course covered with a layer of morning dew. Life is good!

66 hot dogs and more

It started with a trip to Boston via the Big Apple on June 29 for an annual reunion and cultural extravaganza of our community. A late dinner at an Italian restaurant, a leisurely walk through the Harvard square, a short jog in the morning by the Charles River, and obviously a mega authentic Assamese dinner (that included “Muri Ghanta”) along with cultural program were part of the Boston weekend (6/29-7/2). Then back at the Big Apple (7/2-7/4), dinner at Gyu-Kaku, visit to Bronx Zoo, more dinner (fusion style), walking, climbing, riding sub-ways (no Gym necessary) and finally culminating with a first hand witnessing of the 2007 Hot Dog eating competition at Coney Island. This was a memorable event. Joey Chestnut won the annual Nathan’s Fourth of July competition cramming 66 hot dogs (bun and all) in 12 minutes by dethroning six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi (a relatively small person) of Japan (who ate 63 of those). It is mind boggling to even imagine how a small stomach cavity can hold so much. There were 50000 people and I somehow managed to cling onto a lamppost high up to see this feat. There were chants, “Joey, Joey, USA, USA” when the results were announced and Joey walked away with the big golden belt. Later, we stood in line at Nathan’s to taste some hot dogs. Four of us ate eight hot dogs and we were full. After our rendezvous in NY, we drove to Long Island where we were welcomed with open arms by the parents of our younger daughter’s boyfriend. We had a sumptuous home cooked dinner followed by sipping wine at a winery and a lunch at a restaurant by the ocean the following day. We even played pool while listening to a jukebox in the game room. All in all, it was a hectic, wonderful, memorable vacation week with some wonderful people. Now I am dreading the thought of Monday morning. I guess the cliché “all good things must come to an end” is not totally untrue.