Never had I imagined rice would so impact my life. I was never one to indulge in too much of the stuff, even though I was a complete foodie. Coming from an essentially wheat consuming Gujarati family, I had my share of ras-rotli and thepla-chhundo while growing up. So here I was in Bangalore, getting engaged to a Gujju-turned-Bangalorean, a self-proclaimed South Indian, who ate, spoke, breathed and dreamed RICE!! My 1st experience with his rice eating abilities occurred at a friend’s wedding, where we sat down for a sumptuous lunch by all standards. But something stopped me short from delving into the then-frightening (no offense) looking servings of ‘yelle-oota’, ‘anna-saar’ & ‘rasam-rice’. My hubby dived right into his banana leaf and literally inhaled whatever came his way. My jaw dropped. I was stunned beyond words at his relishing so much rice. So I sat there, too shocked to eat or taste anything, sure this image would haunt me for the rest of my life.
After that fiasco of mine, I decided to venture into tasting and trying bit by bit, rather than being besieged by an overtly eager husband and the onslaught of rice at wedding festivities we would inevitably have to attend of family friends in the not-so-distant future. I mean it was seriously overwhelming and I’m sure a lot of transplants to the South like me, would agree. Anyway, here I was, determined to taste every morsel that I downed, to develop a fondness for rice and the many spices and flavours added to it. Not too much later, I was pleasantly surprised as to how distinct each rice dish was from the other. From the sour n spicy puliogre to tangy chitranna, lip-smacking bisi-belle bhaat to simple yet tasteful pongal, to the healthful vaangi-bhaat and traditional anna-saar and rasam rice, and of course, the tummy cooling masru-anna, I have quickly realized how awesome and satisfying these rice dishes are.
So for those who have recently moved to Bangalore, having trouble adjusting to the local food, I’d say give it a chance. It may look daunting to eat so much rice but given the varied scents, colours and flavours, I’m sure you’ll be hooked to it in a matter of time, just like me! 
Candy… I just simply cannot eat mass quantities of rice. My stomach cannot hold it! So while I love puliogre or curd rice or what-have-you… I cannot make a meal of 4 rice dishes. I explode!
My mother-in-law still insists that I do not like Indian food because of my inability to eat too much rice… but then is also puzzled when I can eat much more paliya or upit.