Malai methi matar

I had a packet of frozen methi that wasn’t transforming into anything magical by itself.. and seeing it sit there long enough, meant, well that I had to be making something interesting with it. And the result, one of my favourite Mughalai dishes – Malai Methi Matar. Of course it has one “healthy” substitution for the authentic fatty ingredient. But if you like what you see below, you can read on..

So here’s what you need -

Ingredients	Quantity
1. Methi	A fresh bunch or a frozen pack, thawed (approximately 500g)
2. Green peas	1/2 pack, thawed if frozen or 300g fresh
3. Onion	1 medium, finely chopped
4. Tomato	1 medium, finely chopped
5. Green chilli	2 small, coarsely chopped
6. Malai/Fresh cream	1 cup (I used plain 2% milk)
7. Oil	1 tablespoon
8. Dry spices	1/2 tsp each of coriander powder, jeera powder, garam masala, a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste
9. For tempering	1/2 tsp each of mustard seeds and urad dal

And now?

1. Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal, allowing them to sputter.

2. Put in the onions, allow them to cook well at a low flame, whilst tempering the curry with salt and turmeric.

3. Meanwhile, grind together the methi, the tomatoes, the green chilli and salt as per taste.

4. Next add the peas to the onions and give it a good stir. Close the skillet and allow the peas to blend in with the onions for about 2 minutes.

5. Now toss in all your dry spices and stir well.

6. Once the peas get cooked well, add the ground methi mixture. Now close the lid once more and allow it to cook well for at least 5 minutes of medium flame.

7. Once the methi has wilted considerably, bearing evidence to having cooked fully, lower the flame and stir in the milk/fresh cream/malai into the mixture, adding it a little bit at a time.

8. Bring it to a slow boil and turn the gas off.

That’s it.. it goes amazingly well with parathas and rice alike. So, Bon Appétit!

Note: This subji usually has a greenish-white gravy. Adding cream will give you a far smoother and thicker consistency than adding milk (of course it has it’s negative perks as well). Also, it is traditional to grind in some cashews to add to the white gravy. If having the sinfully good taste is your priority, go for these omissions and enjoy this dish the way the Mughals supposedly did. Enjoy!

The art of being silent

Some people are by nature, quiet while some others like me have to express every opinion under the sun, relevant or not. However, I am living proof of the fact that this urge is directly proportional to interest in the matter and inversely to maturity. And it definitely wanes as time goes on. More than talking at opportune moments, what requires true skill and mastery is knowing when to shut up. When it was with our parents, we all knew that imminent gut feeling when in the brash course of things we said a sentence too many and just knew that we'd crossed that invisible line of respect and unquestionable authority. What's worse is when you just know that the next statement would definitely far far cross the line and yet, yet you have to say what you have to say. It's sort of like you can see the entire scene unfold in front of your eyes moments before you actually say something that'll trigger it. And knowing what you know, you'd think you could be smart enough to shut up. But no, that will-power is not something that everyone's blessed with. And if you could, you would. Instead, you choose the harder way out - saying whatever it is that you need to say and hoping against hope that something will change in the drama that unfolds. Perhaps a pleasant surprise and no drama? Most often, you aren't lucky enough. People will behave in exactly the same way they have always behaved. Did you happen to change and not say something at the inopportune moment? If that was unlikely, the exploding reactions on the other side is just as unlikely. They don't say for nothing... there are times when silence has the loudest voice.

So in short, learn to shut up when it'll serve you best. :D

If I were a school teacher in India...

You know how you fondly reminisce the days of school, all those fun and carefree days and what not? But is there something you'd have liked to change (for the better or worse) from your experience there? I went to a school that was fabulously well-known for its academic prowess, so much so that the "IIT"-headed folk promptly joined us in Class XI and our school welcomed them with outstretched arms... after all once the IIT results were published, the numbers were all that mattered.

Over the years I recollect reading a familiar announcement on the school notice boards or more so hearing about them at the school general assembly -  "We proudly announce the acceptance of 35 students of class XII into the IITs this year". And that was that - a big deal. And it didn't matter that about half of them had left schools that had brought them so far to join ours in search of sheer academic success over the last 2 years of high school. All that's well and good and seeing as I am happy where I am right now, I am not here to bitch about the school or it's honed talent at the academics. But I'd certainly have done things differently before it all got to high school and to the point where all that mattered was if we were bookishly brilliant or not.

If I were a school teacher in India I would -

1. Mix 'em up - I'd make sure that the boys and girls were encouraged to sit next to one another and know each other as people rather than as genders. I don't know about your school but our school didn't say anything per se about boys and girls sitting next to each other or talking to each other... but because of the frowned upon nature of the deed, you could hardly see it happen, not that this led to dramatic repercussions.. but why isn't there something as innocent as friendship between the genders? I never got it. I still don't. And I feel that it added to the gender frustrations and could be avoided if the boys and girls just grew up as friends. And if it did bloom into romance at a later date, why would the school care?

2. Culturally promote - "Culturals" or the intra-school, inter-school events of typical singing, dancing, word wars, adzaps, etc were a big part of growing up. Indeed participation in such events is probably the only credit to mixing with kids from other schools and about the only time that we weren't forced to keep up with our academics (they didn't coincide but of course we were expected to up our performances by the time the fortnightly wrongly named assignments (to mean tests) came up). But I guess being culturally brilliant earned you the "cult" status amongst your peers but little recognition from the staff. Some people are good at all these other things but it took the scores on tests to score with our teachers. I sure hope that out-of-the-book talents were recognized and encouraged to let them bloom.

3. Encourage diversity - In interests, in activities, in the classroom and elsewhere. I don't know if you've noticed... but in India unless you belonged to the Medicinal or Engineering fields, people directly assumed that you failed to get the marks/scores that were required to make the cut-off. No, it was not possible for a high-scoring student to opt for the commerce/arts/literature/etc. branch out of interest. And indeed the choice was questioned so many times that it probably confused some who weren't entirely sure themselves. WTH?

4. Bring on the counselors.. - I guess the pre-college counseling was a misnomer too. It was more of a mathematical possibility of matching the "available seats" to your score/ranking and whether you desired a "free seat", "payment seat" or were willing to shell out far more cash for a "management quota". These were standard terms used at the Engineering counseling, where they counseled you for nothing... all they did was match your financial liability to the branch you thought you wanted at the college that was most convenient to you or well-ranked or both. Rather it would've been enormously beneficial to have someone to talk to before you chose your branch in school to choose the stream of study you were likely to follow.Actual counseling. Someone who could tell us where our aptitude lay, what we might be happy and good at doing and what career path that would lead to and how we could get there. Instead, all mature 15 year olds we were expected to choose a path that would define what we became for the rest of our lives. And it's only sheer coincidence if you currently enjoy what you do, for seriously you couldn't have known better.

I am sure there's a lot more to crib about as far as the educational system is concerned... Any cribs/words of appreciation for your schools and teachers? Please share.

Chilli cheese toast

Ah today was one of those weekend mornings… S gulped down a rapid breakfast and made his way to his cricket ground to usher in the start of the cricket season.. which means I’ll have quite a few days like these to myself to entertain myself as I deem appropriate. While I plan to usher in my own days of being a Parisian culture-monger, taking in hidden views and finding precious bistros (and report back here), today was decidedly lazy. And I was pretty bored with the good old cereal that I’ve been having day after day for breakfast. My tongue yearned for something tasty, simple and different from the monotone of cold cereals and plain toast and I got reminded of those days back in college when we used to go SM’s after college or for sleepovers and Gops would make us chilli cheese toast. With my mouth watering from sheer recollection, I decided to put my cravings to rest and whipped up a 5 minute quickie.

The ingredients of this one are just what they should be – sliced up green chillies (these are the European, none-too-spicy version) and low fat shredded emmenthal. The cheese took care of the salt and chillies, the spice. And I popped them into the oven for about 5 minutes @175°C (till the cheese melted and the bottom toasted) and here it was – a scrumptiously delightful breakfast.

Tip: If using Indian green chillies, please go low on them. As for '”low fat” cheese, not sure how it works so reserve this breakfast for one of those indulgence days.

On a different note, here’s wishing Priya and Vamsi a fabulously happy married life!!

The underlying racism..

 Note: This post relates to significantly Asian, specifically Indian opinions and views. I donot presume to understand the workings of the "western" minds, especially in these matters. Also, try not to take me too seriously.

Many people know they are racist.. yet others don't see it at all until something springs up on them and they have to express an opinion. And those who are racist realize that it's probably "wrong" and try to justify themselves by citing political/cultural/national differences, which is what creates the racist view in the first place. And racism has come a long way from just categorizing the discrimination between "races" to now outlining the differences in caste, religion, colour, nationality and what not between different people, everything now being referenced under the umbrella term of "racism". And why am I harping about this now? The whole Sania Mirza - Shoaib Malik wedding story which has everyone who is anyone rattling off opinions. What? You didn't know of this impending wedding? Time to get out of the cave you've been living in and get real with all the news here. Yeah, so like I was saying everyone has views - from discussing the fact that she'd be his second wife to of course the main deal, he's Pakistani. Of course I am sure it's vice versa when taken from the viewpoint of the people of Pakistan (she's Indian). And the blatant irony of this deal is that no one would be the least bit concerned, flabbergasted, shocked, disturbed or vaguely interested beyond the basic gossip columns if either of the two had been of any other nationality. The deep-rooted history between the two countries is what makes the news that much more interesting to most of the two countries. Will they now advocate peace? Will one apply for citizenship of the other's country? Will this abate some of the tension between the countries? Will either of them play their sport under a new nationality? These are only some of the zillion politcial questions being asked in lieu of a matrimonial union. And while I have discussed this matter with many of my friends, their view is surprisingly consistent. And without giving away too much, I can say a lot of them have been shocked with their own racist views on the matter.

But leaving behind that elementary piece of news to be best dissected by tabloids as we await candid shots of their wedding that'll take place next week, I think the news provides the perfect foil to look into the inherent racism in in each one of us. From the fact that the older generations still view people from other (read lower) castes differently from their own. And the merit? You're born into it. Sort of like discriminating a cat from a tiger... same family, a whole different story. While most of the discriminations in socio-economic situations have faded over the past years, allowing people across castes and religions to make uninhibited progress in careers and what not, it remains ominously distinct, especially in the matrimonial domain... which is one of the main reasons the Shoaib-Sania union is creating waves. Seeing as it involves two different nationalities, not to mention, the two different nationalities, leaving people reasonably perplexed.

Ok skipping right over to another blatantly obvious racist comment situation - you see a couple, an attractive dark man with a beautiful blonde girl. What's the immediate reaction?  If you didn't think "What does she see in him?" congratulate yourself on being the minority liberal in a majority unintentionally racist study group. What's your true reaction to this question and others? I look forward to your comments.

Homecoming..

You know how some people feel very depressed to come back to an empty house? I kinda agree when you know it’s going to be empty forever types.. like if your significant other is out of town or something. But on the contrary I prefer having the house to myself for an hour or two before the husband comes. It gives me some time to kick off my heels, chill with some chai and get some lone time, watch some random TV, cut up whatever veggies I prefer and what not, simply lost in my own thoughts for that hour or two. In such cases solitude is heaven and helps you deeply appreciate the company when it arrives. This isn’t to say that I don’t love coming home to the husband.. indeed I do but this is only the other best-case scenario. Anyone out there agree?

Yes, we collect shotglasses…

Sure the scientist in me had to surface :)

Note: For those gliding by, please notice the beaker and then make the beaker-scientist relation :D.

New age socializing

It seems like no matter what, we find new and innovative ways of doing good old things... Look at reading books for example. I bet the forests are thanking us now that so many books are going entirely electronic. And with Kindles and Ipads alike vying for the top spot in  the ebook reading experience, things are poised to get as "real" as ever. But that's not what this post is about. Instead it's about how technology has clawed its way into our everyday lives as well.

The other day we met friends for dinner after a terribly long time. And after all of 5 minutes of "catching up", I glanced at the table that seated 10 of us to see at least 5 cell phones, Iphones and Droids alike, whipped out to "share" the latest apps (applications) and cool stuff on the phone. So much for the days of "what's up" and just gossiping over dinner and plain anecdoting and what not. Nope... now it was all about the cool games that the accelerometers on these devices afforded, or that application which acts a constant post-it to remind you of things on the go. Or something else or something else.. there are always new apps and there will be and this has  now graduated to become an excuse to play with one's own gadgets under the pretext of socializing. And guilty as I am of constant Facebook status updating, I would also be amongst the first people to comply with full acquiescence to a gadget-free evening. Game, anyone?

Caught in the act..

I finally "experienced" pick-pocketing first hand. Just that it wasn't my pockets.. It was my rather large  and moderately "heavy" handbag. And it wasn't smooth, suave or subtle. Rather it was brusque and upfront and downright funny if you ask me. You hear tales about the smooth criminals... where the people swindled had absolutely no clue how their wallets vanished or how their cell phones weren't where they were supposed to be. But this wasn't one of them. We were in Metro 1, one of Paris' most popular Metro lines. And it was pretty loosely packed. As I got in, with no reason, given the space around me, this teenage girl threw herself upon me and then as if to steady herself, she grabbed at my handbag. And I saw the whole thing happen as if in slow motion. Customarily I have my hand loosely held on my bag in spite of the fact that the straps remain steady on my shoulder... and good thing too in this case. Because to me what the girl attempted seemed to be a bad rehearsal from a very bad play. And even after she failed once, with me watching on, she tugged at my bag another time. This time I slapped her hand away... and off she jumped from the train, with her 4 companions just as the doors swooshed shut. And here's where the stupid rehearsal would've become the Master plan and the gravity of the situation struck me. Had she succeeded, nothing could have been done to get hold of her in that instant the train departed. The worst part? All she would've gained is some meager amount of cash... but I'd have lost a great deal more, everything from house keys to my IDs, add to that the headache of canceling the credit cards. Whoosh, I survived and now I see reason behind the terribly frequent warnings on trains to be aware of pickpockets. Lesson learned firsthand. And thankfully at a dress rehearsal at that.

The how to and Youtube

In the recent past, ever thought of "how to                                " and ended that thought with youtubing it? Now fill in the blank with just about anything... Here are some examples -

1. How to make palak paneer

2. How to start swimming

3. How to punch properly

4. How to exercise more effectively

5. How to sew buttons

If you haven't, you are one of the lucky few who's still using some imagination to try out things the way people used to in the past. By actually trying. Come the era of youtube, everything is revolutionized into the one thought - if you can see it done, why shouldn't you? Fair enough.... especially with recipes and stuff.. where mere words on a book (even with accompanying photographs) can't compete with the experience of watching it done right. Take S for example. Everytime he tries a new recipe, it's youtube version plays on the laptop at least 3 times. Once when he is checking if it is easy or exciting enough... second time as he gets his ingredients ready and third and last which plays with pauses as he follows it step by step (even carrying the laptop into the kitchen at times when the recipe is a bit complicated). Pretty handy, huh? And for someone like me who improvises on the go, I find it smart but very amusing too. 

Like I mentioned though, recipes... sure.. why not? But some of the other things are ridiculous. And though I call them ridiculous, I can't find a singular fault in people seeing how someone else does something first before trying it themselves, except maybe lack of imagination. And that's not a fault. And it's just the luxury afforded to us by the modern world and something we should definitely take advantage of when we can. What's most amazing of all I guess is that there are actual people like you and me who upload videos of themselves, sometimes filming the most mundane activities of life, like sleeping. And I don't know what's worse - them uploading or us watching. Do you know how many videos are there out there to "learn" to walk? Go figure.

The lost love affair...

We all have that one special one... something that made us feel special at first and then just got more and more comfortable as time wore on. Something almost perfect. And after as long as it has taken, even though you're not willing to let go, you have to face the fact that the other side has. It's over. I am talking about that love affair with that one favourite pair of jeans of course! :D

Everyone I know of has a favourite pair.. unfortunately though denim as a material can almost last forever, it can't guarantee the non-appearance of some random rips and tears which we obviously carried off in the name of fashion when it was simply holes at the knees or some... but once those rips started appearing, er.. someplace else, it wasn't so much a fashion statement anymore as it was worn out. How many of us have tried to have them fixed or save them somehow? Or at least worn them around the house where "no one" was going to see us anyways? Till finally one day you realize that no matter what you do to try to salvage it... it's time to let go and usher in the new pair. For everyone who has had a random nail end their love story, I have many pairs I have sacrificed to electroplating. Indeed it was almost like a curse I had to break free from. However careful I was,  whatever chemical resistance gown I donned, at least one misguided drop of copper sulfate would stain my jeans at the worst possible place, which when in contact with water would form sulphuric acid, which would then create a sizable hole in it's place. And that marked the birth of the new pair (of course once I figured nothing was salvaging this one). And the old begets the new. A typical life cycle.

Terms of endearment

What do you do when someone calls you a term of endearment that you're not comfortable with or you think is inappropriate to your 'relationship'? Do you just call it... ignore it or let it happen a few times more before potentially over-reacting?


Interesting thought isn't it? Do write back with your invaluable comments.

True Lies

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes”- Mark Twain

Liar liar pants on fire...if only it were that easy... like you mumbled that and the person's pants really would be on fire, something like a Harry Potter spell... problem solved. When we are little, we are taught the most simplistic definition of a lie - something which is not the truth. Ergo, when we were young, if we stated something not exactly as it was, it was a lie. This was very crude and just as easy to fathom. As we grew up, more coordinates got thrown into the picture. We could now not just mis-state the truth, we could replace it with a whole different scenario/event. We could simply choose to defer a truth... and here's where things get dicey. Is a deferred truth a lie? Who decides when something has to be disclosed to someone? And God knows there is a world of difference between technicality and the morality of the issue. And then come the reasons... ranging from absolute frivolity to absolute necessity, with the thinnest of lines dividing them. I have even seen cases of chronic lying.. where they can't even help it.

 Being highly truthful myself, I find it utterly ridiculous when some others want to lie for something silly in the first place, unless it is to spare someone's feelings or something similar. The other thing I hate about lying is the number of details you have to remember. You see, for the truth, all you need to remember is what really happened and our memories are fabulous at that. But for the false, not only does your memory store away what really happened, in addition you have to add the new version which almost always is a burden to recollect later. Oh and add to that, the situations which escalate by the second... one lie piled upon the other till you are seriously piled high n deep in a truckload of them. Seriously, why bother? Almost always, the goal is to avoid unpleasant confrontations... or to hope that the gravity of the deed mellows down in comparison to something else or over time... plain fear or sheer laziness, none of them too credible in the end.

Having been the one to discover many foiled lie attempts over the years, my reaction has varied from utterly amused to utterly pissed off given the gravity of each situation. Sometimes though you just have to accept that some truths are indeed, stranger than fiction.

Ringing true...

I just read a whole bunch of posts on Slate's Prudence column about a guy who had some doubts as to whether he had to shell out a lot of cash to get his girlfriend an engagement ring which she demanded be of a certain size. And it set me thinking... about this whole western culture of having to give something, usually a ring, usually expensive, to sort of seal the deal when the guy proposes. And of course I thought of it in the Indian context. These days however, I have heard of more Indian "proposals" (maybe without rings) than foreign ones and this can be attributed to the following facts - (a) I know more Indians, so duh... (b) Indians have modernized, embracing the western culture along the way and (c) Indians are marrying foreigners and hence the twist in the traditional tale.

Traditionally, India being the land of arranged marriages has had lesser opportunity for men and women to truly discover one another before one feels compelled to pop the question. Rather the meeting is arranged in context of an eventual wedding and hence there used to be no proposals of sorts. On the other hand, this whole ring deal is only something we've heard of from the westerners and we either want to mimic it and feel special or just think it's a fair deal... after all we are spending the rest of our lives with them. But pause a second for a reverse-case scenario... if the guy demanded even the least-expensive car (no, not the Tata Nano, something a tad more expensive) from us, we'd be running high and dry complaining about dowry, anti-feminist sentiments and what not. So why is it okay for the woman to be entitled to lets face it, something terribly expensive and not too useful while the men have to buy us that (especially in this day and age of self publicized and demanded gender equality?) Wait.. what was that? For social norms, you say? Ah... here is the crux of so many of our problems. The social norms... what society expects from us and how we are fulfilling those expectations. And it's all unfortunately way too true in the good old Indian society, where the new generation is surging on par with the whole modern theme while the older generations (well, most of them) are comfortably ensconced in their antediluvian beliefs of how things should be.

Social norms. These were made back in the day when the man was the sole breadwinner. And so if he wasn't buying the woman jewelry, no one was. Come this day... women making as much money as men, contributing to household incomes, are fully capable of buying themselves whatever it is that they want. However, while they would splurge on clothes, handbags and other jewelry, they're never going to buy themselves an engagement ring when you propose. And say what to the friends? He proposed and so I went and got myself a ring? Never... that's just not in our DNA, I guess... there's no other explanation for this. And it doesn't even sound right. Does it? 

There are these couples who'd rather put in the money that it costs for an engagement ring into something more meaningful and can be enjoyed by both people - like a trip or a down payment to a home or something like that. That makes most sense, perhaps. And what do you do when the people ask you where your ring is? One great option is to ask them to MTOB but if you were the one for that, you'd have done it a long time ago.. On the other hand, if there are men with money to spare and have all the right romantic bones, go for the ring. You simply can't deny, practical or not, no woman would say "no" to being wooed.

PS: I have more apathy against social norms for sooo many other things in your everyday Indian society. Wait for those posts.

Spell-check

Dedicated to all those people whose spellings I have corrected at least once in the past. ;)

Okay, I admit it… I have a big pet peeve when people intentionally misspell words because they're lazy. I understand the concept when it’s a text message or some email to a friend but otherwise, I just find it plain irritating even though it’s none of my business. And this isn't about the "u" or "yr" as much as it is about the "frenz" or "4get". But that’s not what this post is about. Let me brutally honest and shamelessly self-congratulatory about myself. In everyday life, I am as good a speller as anyone out there. I don’t have to think for a split second to spell a word.. I can just rattle it instantly. And if this works verbally, it works even better while writing/typing it. And I am sure there are tonnes of you out there just like me (unless you are one of those people who spells wierd in place of weird). However there are times when I am zoned out thinking about something else while typing  or writing (yes, yes I multi-task regularly), that I find myself completely lost. And no, I don't mean it an ordinary sense.I mean that I would've written a word as plain as "noble" and be staring at it for an entire half-a-minute wondering if the spelling was really right or if it seemed right because I was staring so hard at it. Ever happen to you? For the simplest and least complicated of words. Truly weird. And I attribute it entirely to the fact even the best multi-taskers have to pause for a second on each of their tasks to make sure aal izz well (courtesy: 3 Idiots). :D

The emailers..

Sure.. all of us email. I mean in this age of the Internet, who doesn't? But this title, the "emailers" should strictly refer to people who email for everything. And I've come to believe I am one of them. Often I email my professor who is one floor below mine, rather than simply going over and conveying the information. And this has more to do with practicality than laziness. Before you start questioning that line of thought, let me assert that indeed I got into this groove of things 'coz of Dr P back in UC. Often we scheduled meetings in the stairwell or near some classroom only for me to learn later that he'd either forgotten about it or scheduled something else in it's time slot. "Why didn't you just send me a confirmation email" would often be his chagrined response. In his defense, I guess the email helped him directly put it on his Outlook calendar or something similar to schedule a meeting which would then send him a reminder and essentially set the ball rolling. And so it began. Emails for everything... from meeting for coffee to setting the thesis defense date. From friends to professors to colleagues to family to companies to industries and what not. Email. The easy, comfortable, reassured way of reaching people who remained connected. And so I was hooked to it. I have discovered however, that in Paris people prefer the personal touch. More often than not, it's more of you could've just told me rather than email me. Often emails are forgotten, ignored or trashed without being read and people seem to remember personally scheduled meetings rather than impersonally worded emails. It also helps build rapports with people you haven't worked too often with in the past. I've learned to work with this situation though. These days, I send an email as a correspondence-retainer and then follow it up with a phone call or a personal visit to the office of whoever I am contacting just to make sure they read the email. And here it works out even better because while they can certainly understand my written French, with my spoken French (though I presume I have gotten infinitely better at it), it still leaves room for some interpretation and entertaining dumb charades at times. Finally, communication is the key. And who cares if I had to resort to either actions or English to convey the last couple of words to complete a message? And in time, I won't need those either. Fingers crossed.

More to the chicken n egg conundrum

Here's a chicken and egg question when it comes to a lot of people, not even the hypochondriacs necessarily. Which came first - the illness or the symptoms? For those who are wondering what the heck I am talking about, consider this scenario – You’ve always been wary of catching the flu. It makes you indisposed days at a time... and who the hell can sleep well with a clogged nose anyway? And recently your cube-mate caught a mild form of flu and has been sneezing away, further fueling your misgivings. Suddenly your throat starts to feel scratchy, nose runny and eyes watery. Are these for real?  Or did are your fears of catching the flu acting out? The brain being as influential as anything can be has the effect on your body to manifest symptoms which otherwise wouldn’t exist. But wait a second… you didn’t really think that this blog was about health or any of those things, did you? But of course a highly imagination-based extrapolation of the situation is just waiting to happen. 

It’s about how we subconsciously mirror someone’s feelings towards us whether we intend for it to happen, or not. For example, you can’t help but be sweet to that cheery colleague who seems to get up on the right side of the bed everyday. Or keep it concise, short and not necessarily sweet with someone who’s been a bit of a sorehead anyways. Body language is one of the least-credited aspects that influence our behaviour with others. But as subtle as it may seem, it has the most impact on our daily selves and resultant interactions. And more often than not that means our mouths don't match our eyes, our demeanor doesn't match our words and ultimately translate to a sure shot "message received" signal from the opposite end. As if we didn't have enough things to portray upfront. As much as everyone loves to be themselves, a teeny part ends of them up being someone else. Call it diplomacy or the good old plain truth.

Test blog

I've always wanted to blog on the go and with my new android based phone, i can do just that. Cheers to MindBlogging

Illusions daily..

Yesterday was one of those days. Something f-ed up the trains and there was a minimum 40 minute wait for the next one. And while plotting my other routes to get home, I came up with the most-suitable bus combo that would do the trick. But the grand difference between waiting 40 minutes and then taking the delayed train and instead taking the bus immediately was, get this, at best 5 minutes. Common sense would dictate that I head back to school, do something for half an hour and come back to take the train 40 minutes later. More productive, right? Not exactly. 'Coz here's where your brain comes up with all the implausible scenarios of the world. What if that train was canceled/delayed? What if you lost track of time and missed the train? So many what ifs with very little credibility. And one glance at the clock that confirming that it was indeed 6:30 pm was enough to eliminate the possibility of going back to school at any rate. And hence to give myself the illusion of having done something in the right direction, I took the bus, the concept being, that even though the final arrival time was much the same, I was still going somewhere. There was some movement, translating to vague momentum translating to an even vaguer sense of work done. Go figure.

Pretty UC!!

UC has been named one of the most beautiful campuses in the world by Forbes magazine! I couldn't be prouder!!

http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=11524

This post is dedicated to all you fantastic people I had the good fortune of meeting at UC. Indeed I have made some of my best friends there and it would by no stretch of imagination be an exaggeration when I say I miss you all a hell lot and that those were some of the best days of our lives. Lets revel in UC's glory and relive those truly golden days. Love y'all! Cheers!

Know-how

I only just recently wrote a post on the all important no-how.. but this time I am here to talk about something that only sounds similar but is in no way connected to that post. This is about how some people are plain confused between knowing you and knowing of you. And with someone as accessible as me, it's very easy for someone to make that error in judgment and assume they know everything about me while as a matter of fact what they know is only something I've chosen to share with all the world. This whole blog for example... most posts are reflections of daily happenings in most people's lives with a splash of my unwarranted opinions thrown in. And we bloggers are nothing if not opinionated ;). 

Back to the viewpoint in question, it does irk me when someone thinks they've been in touch with me by simply reading what I write on the blog. I contend of course that the blog coupled with all the content on the many networking sites would amount to a fair share of generic information, none too personal though. And I would hardly think it would be weird on my part to consider that it was preposterous that it was supposed to be flattering that they kept in touch by these means. Simply reading a blog... really? Something a bit more would be understandable.. a random text/email or message/chat of some sorts. But being an anonymous reader simply doesn't cut it at being a good friend. A nice follower yes, but friend? Absolutely not.

Slumber party..

The difference between a guy’s slumber party and a girls’…

Guys: Many rounds of booze + some spicy food + a bit of yap, a bit of blab = Knockout nice n early.

Girls: Yap yap yap + Yap somemore , attempt to sleep and fail, so yap just a little more = Sleepless night = Perfect sleepover.

Destiny

All of us at some point of time have made this sagely statement – If it has to happen, it will. In these cases of course, we are all referring to fate taking control. And some teeny part of us wants to believe in something like fate... something that would have a say in the whole cosmic picture of our life... something that lets us believe that though things aren’t in our control, they are taken care of by some power, which is hopefully on our side. And it also acknowledges that some things just aren't in our hands and it precedes from the requirement of making a decision. And why am I rambling on now? Destiny once more proved it's existence in my life yesterday, you know, just in case I forgot.

The moment I stepped out of my apartment yesterday, I saw the bus pull over. And so, I got in, swiped my Navigo, found an empty seat and settled in for the 8 minute ride with the right song on the i-pod. While I adjusted my earphone, my left hand brushed my ear lobe only to realize that my earring was missing it's lower dangling part (this was one of those annoying kokki earrings which you looped into your ear and had no back plug). And so I scanned the ground. Fortunately the bus was empty and I probably didn't appear like a complete psycho as I frequently switched seats to look beneath each of them for the missing piece. After scanning about 5 minutes, I decided that it was indeed lost and it was sheer bad luck. Having accepted my fate, I took off what remained of the earrings, put them  away and got zoned out into the rest of the journey. In my office, as I peeled away my layers, and untangled the scarf from my neck, suddenly, there it was, nestled amidst the folds, the missing part of the earring. The luck had all transformed. Delighted by the unexpected find, I attached the pieces together, rammed the minuscule gap between them with a heavy book for good measure and now certain that it wasn't coming off anytime soon, I wore them again.

And so the day wore on, busy as hell. Back home finally and worn out, I went to splash some water on my face. And that's when I noticed it. The earring was gone. This time in whole. And I hadn't a clue where or when. Fate...

The Internet addiction

I read this article on msn about signs that you suffer from Internet addiciton. And  in case you noticed, it asked us to step away from the computer once we were done reading, but instead, here I am blogging about it. Well, what did you expect? Of course I am addicted! And just so you know, so are about 90% of all of you in the age group < 35. I mean honestly, we are so connected these days that sometimes a mere Internet slowdown at work or GMail maintenance shutdown renders us completely restless for a while unless we are obviously occupied elsewhere. As for me, when I am traveling to or from work, or if I am out someplace with friends, etc., I am not bothered too much about being "connected". But come the era of the smartphones and with everyone carrying an Iphone or something just as fancy, there's no need to be out of touch even then. And of course it begs the question - aren't we too exposed? Every second of every day, someone somewhere can keep in touch with you by not actually "reaching" you. By not even taking the effort to make a phone call. Simply by checking tweets or buzzes or FB status updates. It's that simple. We're to blame for that. No one really cares what we had for lunch or where, which movie sucked or rocked. And yet we make it our business to express our unsolicited opinions on anything and everything and worse, expose personal details on the worldwide web which transcends all boundaries only to reach the million people you know of and the other billion you don't. Thankfully I try not to do that. You maybe wondering what the heck I am talking about considering I maintain a regular personal blog which you are currently reading. However, there's a fine line between telling too much and just talking about everyday occurrences in most people's lives... something I try hard to tread. (Agree or disagree?)

But all this revelation once more begs the question as to why I have never been me out of touch with some of my priced friends. And yes, I blame them of course. With all that possibility it is obviously their fault to try that hard to stay out of touch. And anyone who knows me the slightest will agree that it's as easy to reach me as it is to reach the nearest Internet-enabled computer. 

But having recognized my own addiction at this stage and for a while now, I have decided to give myself some "unplugged" time. And that means I get to figure out when it'll be convenient for me to remain so. :D. Happy browsing or happy unplugged time, as you may deem necessary!

The all important "no"-how

I admit it... I was stuck in a phase a long time ago where I was eager to please others at times. A lot of times it was simply my personality to try to be nice to everyone upfront. Often times I had the problem of simply saying no, much like so many others to different situations or people. And that meant I was stuck with tasks, chores or unpleasant business that I'd simply rather not have done, if only I had expressed the opinion. I've attributed this to being a part of the "immaturity" and the process of growing up, though many many people I still know suffer from the disease of not being able to say no where appropriate.

Recently though, I have become a little more aggressively unconcerned about what opinions I express and what effects they may spawn. This doesn't imply that I have become callous or rude, just that I am not walking on eggshells anymore and well, everyone around me can deal with things just the way I can. Or similarly, at least. Saying no to something can be empowering. Not that you turned someone down and got the upper hand... just that you've gotten your priorities right. And importantly, you know what you should be doing. And if by saying "no" like one time, you feel that you are going to jeopardize the relationship, then it wasn't worth your while at all. 

Here are some pretty obvious tips - 

1. Honesty. Believe it or not, unless you're especially glib, it shines through if you're making something up. If you'd rather not do something for some reason, let it out. People can be more understanding than you give them credit for. And if you'd rather not out the truth itself because it's mean or whatever, practice your lie enough to pass it off (read Sheldon in BBT with his made-up cousin, Leopold who's in a drug intervention. Ok, not that extreme, but you get the point).

2. Sincerity. While being honest, it is possible to still come across as brutally honest. I don't want to go shopping with you because you try on every dress in the store and frankly, I have better things to do. Instead, tone it down with sincerity. I only have an hour of free time. I thought I'd just chill at home with a cup of tea. Is it okay if I take a rain-check?

3. Back-up plan. While refusing someone for something, try to reassure them that you would have done it under different circumstances. And that includes pointing out instances in the past or possibilities in the future. I am pretty caught up right now, but how about we meet up on Saturday? This not only takes the focus off the rejection, but also opens the opportunity for a different rendezvous clarifying the fact that the problem was with the date and time and not the person. But if you do make a back-up plan, please try to stick with it.

If only more people knew how to turn down someone and not make them feel lousy, a lot of generic ill-will between people can be avoided, leading  in fact, to a healthier friendship or otherwise between two people. So please, if you must, go ahead and say no, rather than get stuck with something you don't want to do and worse, impose your grudging self on some unsuspecting person.

Baby corn manchurian

I found some baby corn at the Chinese grocery the other day and what better to make than baby-corn manchurian? Here’s a quick look at it -

And what better to eat it with than jeera rice?

Both being very traditional and well-followed recipes, I am not going to bother giving them here. If anyone needs to know, drop me a line… Bon Appétit!

The man.. the master.. the legend

This one had to be mentioned. By now, every single Indian in the world must have touted it wherever possible.. the immediate tweets and FB statuses said it all… Sachin Tendulkar, India’s own God of Cricket achieved the impossible – a double century in an ODI (One Day Internationals).

Read all you can read here.

Watch the highlights here.

For this moment in history, let us all take pride in this man.. in this game.. in this achievement. Hail Sachin! Signing off as a proud Indian…….

Does Karma exist?

Note: In this context, I am purely talking about "payback" and not the destiny cycle as defined by Hinduism.

  

Do you believe in Karma? Like if someone did something wrong, do you believe that eventually, surely it  will bite them in the ass? And even if you believed it, does it make you feel any better about the injustice that was meted out to you? No offense to anyone, but I only believe in Karma to the extent of limiting my own "bad" actions so as to not suffer from something else in the future and then wonder if that "bad deed" was what caused the sufferance in the first place. If only everyone followed this give-and-take policy, people would be erring on the side of caution. As for how it affects other people, I find no solace in consoling myself that they will pay for it, especially while I am nowhere around to witness it. You know what I mean? If someone stole your ideas and profited from it (not too scientific, mind you or on the lines of plagiarism), what good is it going to do you if you believed that he/she will somehow pay for it in the future? And that too after they benefited from your ideas. And it seems much more satisfying to take things in your own hands. And this isn't one of those take-the-law-into-your-hands kind of situations either. This is something personal... something you want to do... something for which laws don't exist.. something that just surpasses the moral boundaries that you've set.. something that is so irritatingly important for you to settle for yourself... something that you owe to yourself... something. Bah, Karma isn't waiting around to redeem you. It's off busy with the bigger bad-doers. So you might as well take this in your hands right? Glad you agree. Only the piece of your mind can bring peace to your mind. Ah wordplay! Time to grab the fictitious bull by the horns.

PS: Any violent actions against anyone/anything are strongly discouraged (unless it's a stress-buster/punching bag, in which case, go for it!!)

Save the tigers - PLEASE!

This is an appeal to all of you individually. And if any authority ever comes across this and they should, I wildly hope that this "park" is shut down, the tigers rescued and treated and their dignity, restored. The fate of my favourite animal literally moved me to tears. You can read and see evidence of this ridiculous cruelty here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252500/Exposed-Dark-secret-farm-tigers-bodies-plundered-make-185-wine.html. And please, please spread the word.... Blog it, Buzz it, FB it, whatever... The power of the word is greater than we think and it's the absolute least that we can do.

The mouthpiece

Are you one of those people who can speak to anyone else, stranger or not, with equal ease? Well, that just makes life simpler, doesn't it? Especially for the people around you. For as long as I can remember, the people in my life have used my unabashed-ness as their tool to information. I have always been the one they ask to call someplace and find some information, be it to check if someone's flight is arriving on time or make reservations at a restaurant. And in fact I was so used to getting on it by myself, that it took me a while to realize that everyone else around me was just as eager to dump the responsibility on me too. I suspect my mom was on the same boat as me. It's all ok now when you are old/young enough to get away with most things you are asking about on the phone. But being a trained "mouthpiece" from very young has it's disastrously comical outcomes. 

I once remember when I was really little, maybe 12, when my brother was back from some eye appointment and it hadn't gone well and he had had some allergic reaction to some drops or something like that. Me being me, I called the doctor's office to enquire what had gone wrong. The doctor's husband picked the phone and I asked for his wife. He asked me who was calling and as naive as I was, I didn't want to admit to being the patient's kid sister. And so I told the next obvious thing - that I was his mom. Now when I think back about it, I can laugh over it... but it was humiliating back then when the husband did handover the phone to his wife while audibly saying, "It's a child saying she is your patient's mother."  Gulp.

And so I learned early... don't let the others' excuses fool you. Be it improving your language skills, or interpersonal communication, the only reason you are doing it and they are not is because they've labeled you the mouthpiece. If someone else can do it better, you should probably make them do it, even if they convince you that you are the best person for the job. After all, how hard can it be to dump back some of that responsibility on them?

Spicy Sabudana Vada

Ahhh it's been a trillion years since I food-blogged and I am sure most of you must’ve wondered if I’d stopped making different things or what. To be honest, I kinda did… Getting home late only meant that I was whipping 15 minute dinners on a daily basis. If it wasn’t quickfire bisibela bath, it was some fried rice. If it wasn’t subji-chapathi, it was noodles. And so on.. But today I soaked some sabudana (jevarusi in tamil or tapioca for the rest of you) to make sabudana khichdi. However once I got home, I thought it’d be more fun to make sabudana vadas instead. Here’s a first look-

So here’s what you need..

Tip: The sabudana becomes more than double the quantity once soaked 6-8 hours. Plan accordingly. So it's just enough if you soak half a cup of sabudana in half a cup of water. Filter after 8 hours.

Ingredient	Quantity
Soaked sabudana	1 cup
Mashed/Grated potatoes	2 large
Green chillies	3 large finely chopped
Onions	1 finely chopped
Rice flour	3 tablespoons
For seasoning
Salt, turmeric, red chilli powder	To taste

Mix all the above ingredients into a thick dough. To get the consistency right, make sure you squeeze out the potatoes and the sabudana well enough to avoid excess liquid hampering the consistency. The dough should look something like this -

How?
Ah the simple part! Make patties off them and deep fry! That’s the one-line version and that’s pretty much all there is to it. Comply with typical deep frying funda -
1. Wait till the oil is hot enough. Test it by putting a small bit of “dough” into it and see if it rises immediately.
2. Put in as many patties as your container can take and let them sit and turn golden brown on one side before turning them over and letting them brown on the other.
And voilà, here you go, one more look -

Serve with ketchup/chutney and enjoy.. Bon Appétit!

Truth or mad?

How many times have you told sometimes ridiculous truths only to be scoffed at? And what's your reaction at those times? Here's a lousy example to get you in the groove of the discussion. You missed a meeting because Murphy made you project-of-the-day. Still don't know what I am talking about? Something like this happened. You narrate your sorry tale to anyone who'd listen only to be smirked at in response, as if to say "as if". What's your reaction then? Are you just satisfied that you have indeed told them the truth and they in return, believing you or not is something that you care about or are not concerned with - after all, you did tell it as it happened. Or are you a bit like me? Going to some length to prove that it did indeed happen? Being a predominantly honest person, in that I never lie in situations of importance, it irks me if someone gives me the yeah right take on something that really did happen to me. And so I feel the need to prove it, not just to show that as far as that instance was concerned, I was right, but also to prove that every other time I have come up with something as unlikely, it did happen. Know what I mean? So where do you belong? Calm, composed and devil-may-care or just a little pissed off that people have no value for credibility however incredulous it maybe? Truths only please.

Heal the world..

Is it me or has the world totally gone mad? This is no trick question and as a matter of fact, it's only terribly easy to answer this one. Yes, the world has gone mad. Look at what's happening around us. The bomb blast in Pune... the train crash in Belgium... the earthquake in Haiti. And that's only the top 3 disasters off the top of my head. Everyday I open any news page, there's nothing to rejoice. If it's not about the Afghan war, it's about the poverty and starvation in some country. If it's not an Olympic death, it's about an Italian landslide. And what's with all those unexplained bulk airplane crashes in recent times anyways? Be it Air France or YemenAir - what's going on?? After witnessing the events that the world has undergone in just the recent past, suddenly the 2012 predictions for the end of the world is not looking so implausible after all.

Just take our basic behavior with one another. It sort of reminds me of a Frasier episode in which Niles wonders aloud if all social etiquette has died. So many people are no longer considerate about the many basic courtesies that at least some of us are used to... and these are not even the antediluvian chivalrous acts like holding a door open for a lady or something. These are basic at best -

1. The verbal courtesies - When did it become uncommon to thank someone for something? Not just that, taking someone for granted ranks high up there in the social non-etiquette. Returning pleasantries is another thing. Being rude is an entirely new level, which seems to occupy the most-opted for pedestal in recent times. Is it too hard to be polite upfront? Like someone once said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all. Go figure.

2. The physical courtesies - One can only wonder how it is possible to go wrong here. And I am not talking extremist-terrorist behavior, but just ordinary everyday people in everyday interactions. You bang into someone.. you're in a hurry, but yes, everyone's in some world's-rushing-by-and-I've-got-to-catch-up hurry too, but it's only polite to apologize, no matter whose fault it was. You knock someone down.. please apologize even more profusely and help them on their feet. Do not run away in either situation, unless you tried to steal something from them and actually succeeded. Simple? You'd think so.

3. The mental courtesies - No matter whom you are pissed of at, do not take it out on another innocent person. It may have been bad service at a restaurant or just a bad dream, but taking it out on someone else only spreads the ill-humour, like ripples in a pond. So do everyone a favour, including yourself, and let it rest. Deal with it.

Don't you think just including these ultra-basic courtesies in our everyday lives will make domestic and social situations much more pleasant and easier to deal with? And yes, I realize that none of this is going to solve any of the worldly problems that I began with in the first place. But it will help us remain civil with one another and help one another out in situations that demand it. And while we are on etiquette, please show some respect for the place you dwell in as well. And yes, that means, please find a dustbin to stow away the trash or cigarette butts and refrain from spitting that gum on the road or sticking it what you think is a hidden corner, no matter how tempting it is. It's a humble request on behalf of everyone who's found gum in the unlikeliest of places and been icked out by it.

Is it so wrong to want to "heal" the world? Let's give it a shot.. one band-aid at a time.

To my Paati who bore the brunt of one of society's uncouth examples, get well soon.

Saving the souvenirs

Ever gone to a place and collected all sorts of bizarre things by telling yourself you’ll keep it as a “souvenir'”? Of course I mean those things which aren’t actually the ones sold at stores exclusively for the purpose of keeping something as a token of your trip like shot-glasses (want to see our collection? See it here. Of course it’s far expanded now) or refrigerator magnets. I mean the later meaningless things like travel tickets, or entrance tickets to the various attractions, coins and currency notes, visiting cards from interesting places and what not. More often than not, once you are back from the trip, it’s all about the photographs and all these other “souvenirs” you picked up along the way either remain ignored or worse, trashed. So for a change, when S and I picked up all these things along the way in our Prague trip, we decided to put them to place. So here it is -

Fortunately, we found all our stuff from the Rome trip last year as well.. and hence that’s a work in progress. So here’s something saved as a different sort of memory, this time in honour of the place alone and not the way we visited it. Here’s to more trips and more memories! Cheers!

Postcards from Prague

So here it is… 4 days , 1330+ pictures later, just 3 photos.. to represent the wholesome spirit of Prague. This first one says it all – a beautiful castle overlooking the entire city, a lovely river that separates the castle and the Old town and the medieval architecture if that wasn’t enough..

And then this one of the twilight. Twilight is brilliant in Prague, making the entire sky a beautiful inky blue. What better to see it against but the gothic church of Old Town? Here, decide for yourself..

And here’s one last picture.. this one for a quirky fact. The longest escalator in all of Europe in the Metro station of Namesti Miru.. At a whopping 88m high and an arduous 2 minutes 30 seconds long and over 400 steps, it’s one hell of a “ride”. What’s worse? The advertisements on the side walls are also posted at an angle. So, if you lean to read them, you may feel a slight spin of vertigo chugging along with you. And the worstest part? The escalators are at least twice as fast as anything normal you’ve gone on before. That means quick step-on and quick step-off. With no elevators in sight on most Metros and the extra'-tall, extra-long ride ahead, it’s an everyday amusement for the “fearless” and intimidating for the rest. Ok ok, I sense it’s enough build-up. Here’s a pic; And what you think is the top, is not. Go figure.

Dobry Den from Prague!!

Playing the trump card..

Of course in many situations what I am about to say won't probably matter... but if it does, would you be complaining? For instance, merely asking the flight check-in people if there are seats available in first class on a sparingly-filled plane has enabled many people who wouldn't otherwise buy an exclusive first class ticket to be able to travel in first-class comfort, all because of one thing - they asked. The people who asked certainly aren't going to be the ones complaining. But I bet it'd invoke a bout of incredulity or grumbling from others in earshot at the "luck" you chanced out at... But here's the thing... not many people bother asking at all. They either think it's embarrassing if turned down or unethical or plain weird. Mostly it's the first one. They are too embarrassed to try. But here's the other thing - where better to "embarrass" yourself than in front of a bunch of strangers you are hardly likely to set eyes on again. And even if you did, it's not like asking for first class seats is going to reduce your standing with them in any significant manner. So, why not?

So after all this subconscious analysis about similar situations, I decided it was worth a try to get a piece of all this action. People were kinder and more giving than we gave them credit for, after all. So what was I to lose by trying?

First try. So when I sent an email reminder to our hotel in Prague, intimating them of our time of arrival, I dropped in the hint that it was our wedding anniversary trip. And guess what? We'd only booked a simple double room but they gave us a spacious top-floor suite at no extra charge. And I am only guessing that this and the part where they threw in the complementary breakfast every morning was all because of this simple mention on the email or sheer good luck.

Second try. Mention the occasion at Hard Rock Café at dinner. And voilà, chocolate fudge sundae on the house with a souvenir

Third try. The word at Khajuraho, the fabulous Indian restaurant on Old Town. And? Free gulab jamun for dessert and a handy little embroidered purse for me.

So there we go.. three attempts and no strikes. Of course none of the attempts were totally legitimate in trying to get extra favours from the attending staff. What was just a mention of the date was acknowledged for it's merit. And that's why there was no risk of embarrassment and a weird sense of "accomplishment" in these deeds. So is there any of you out there with tried and tested experiences to share? Find the comments section and tap away...

And yes, some Praha pictures are lining up to make their way up on MindBlogging. Keep watching this space! Thanks :)

Pirates of the movie industry..

Just today when S was watching a series of videos on Indiaglitz, I eavesdropped on an interview by Karthi, the star of the recent movie, Aayirathil Oruvan. It was basically a plea to stop piracy and avoid the flooding of bootlegged copies of the movie on CDs and Internet likewise. And it sparked this entire blog and a worthy discussion at that.

Of course anyone with the slightest scruples of morals would agree that it is indeed unfortunate for the producers who dished out all that money in making the movie to not get their fair share from the movie watchers. But you know what? All of that makes sense if you were pretty petty sitting in India with a million theatres available to see the movie, and still chose the slow internet + download-cap ridden broadband to sit and download a lousy copy of the movie to see it at the comfort of your home. Indeed I know of no one who does that. On the other hand, bootlegged CDs and DVDs are a real problem. What's shocking in some cases is that the print is pristine. Practically as good as what the late "officially-released" versions are likely to have, indicating that the leak is somewhere high up the order, alongside the copies being distributed to theatres for shows. And that comes down to trusting the wrong people, which is up to the distributors.

On the other hand, I am certain that less than 10% of the people want to see a shaky handy-cam footage of a movie on a CD that cost 30 bucks (Indian rupees) anyways rather than pay a bit more and hit the cinemas or wait further for a decent copy to turn up. But the real conundrum lies with the actions of people living away from immediate access to these movies. Eg. People like me. What do we do? None of these movies release here in Paris (Hindi and Tamil alike) unless they are of exceptionally big banner (read Rajinikant). And hence the pseudo-Indian market is strewn with copies of the latest movies, weeks after the release. So are we morally wrong to buy them as the only opportunity to watch the movies? Or is it worse downloading a semi-decent copy of the movie before all the copyright infringements pounce in and wipe them off the Internet? In this case, is it the fault of the distributors for not catering to scattered audiences across the world or is it ours for wanting to see them with the best solution to the earliest-possible-time-cum-least-cost problem?

All the same, I know of people with extremely high morals who would never buy music unless it was the original CD, and the likes of that. I must admit that my ethics aren't on that kind of pedestal as far as the entertainment business is concerned. It was like I was trying to explain to S. It isn't that I go looking for opportunities to "pirate", but I don't unconditionally stop them either. In other words, if someone invited me to watch a downloaded version of a brand-new movie, I wasn't going to call in the cops and raise hell. Unfortunately I guess most of us are in the same page. Which brings us to the other big issue. Are we at fault for downloading these movies/songs or does the blame solely rest with the people who first obtained pirated copies and put them up for download? For a wafer-thin argument siding "us", if it wasn't freely available, we weren't going to do anything phenomenal to find it, are we? Another of those grey areas in the context of right or wrong. And since this topic relates to something we've all done or seen done in the past, I'd like to hear from the rest of you on where you stand in this whole issue from the moral viewpoint and otherwise. Anti-piracy? Prove it.

Proof that it's Kaliyug

Birds getting "divorced"! What more evidence did you need? Here's the news article - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/8477351.stm

What's the world coming to?

The GMail search engine..

We all know that Google has become synonymous with search engine. Indeed an entire verb has evolved and now, "googling it" is practically the doorway to information. But recently I have used GMail as an effective search engine - for my friends. Those of you on my Gtalk would've seen the now-familar, "Someone, where are you?" status message under my name. Call it bizarre, but I have had responses to these statuses. Either the "missed" people or closed friends have responded, either enquiring welfare or giving me location information, both of which was deeply appreciated. See? Mission accomplished. Thanks, GMail.

On a different note, I have been trying to wean myself this past week from addictive GMailing. And I daresay that the first step to succeeding is to remain logged off from chat throughout the day. First step? Check. Next Step? Only check email at random intervals. Am working on that... After all, mountains can't be scaled in one day by foot.

The Lazy Susan earring organizer

Ah so it was one of those days where I was trying to find places for some of the things I had and just find some other things. So I ran across this lampshade which I hadn’t hoisted up on the bulb in one of the rooms and I figured I wasn’t getting around to it any time soon. And just then, I couldn’t find one of my favorite pair of earrings. And all of a sudden I decided to put the 2 together. Sure, S thought I was nuts when he saw me piercing the earrings I could find on the lampshade, but only until he saw the finished product. Here’s your first look.

Well, so the centre spindle of the lampshade rests on an empty wine bottle. And so, guess what? it spins freely and just like the displays in stores, I can check out everything to choose whatever I want to wear. The other upside? I can put them back the right way each time. Of course I have to keep this thing near my bed because I am less likelier to take off my earrings any other place.  But anyhoo, here’s another look at this resultant piece of an hour of joblessness.

Oh and one side, I’ve clipped my hair accessories. Oh, a win win all the way!

Oh BTW, do you know that the phrase Lazy Susan has an interesting story? You can read it here. Cheerio!

Short circuit

Ever wanted to cower in the corner and pray for the dark forces to take you? Well, you’d probably understand that feeling if you’ve ever done circuit training at the gym. After my first evening at it, I am kinda wishing it was the good old days of comparatively easy-peasy Total body Workout Wednesdays at SD. This was pure hell. The only time I was truly relieved was when I was at the last lap of the 3-repetition circuit. And that was of course knowing that it would all be okay soon. That I would soon breathe normally again. And that I may just survive.  I am never going to see a pot of yogurt the same way again and think – oh it’s just 45 calories if this is the way I have to burn it. Lol. Talk about learning things the hard way. Ah well, the joys of burning all those calories only engulfs you when you step out to the freezing cold and don’t feel it. Every cloud has a silver lining. Of course people like S view the cloud itself as a silver lining in this pretext. Here’s hoping perceptions change and I enjoy gymming as much as he does (I bet that’ll happen once the bathroom scales and the mirror start talking to me). That should put the fuse on this short circuit, shouldn’t it?

MindBlogging goes global..

I check the visitor map for MindBlogging periodically just to see where the word has spread. Today I had a nice surprise in store. Here, see for yourself!

Thank you all for visiting even in this time of sporadic posting! I promise I have 3-4 posts sitting as drafts just waiting for completion. And I am getting to it. Meanwhile, as always, keep visiting and keep commenting. Xoxo.

I swear........

Not everyone is an "emotional" person. By that I mean that not everyone is prone to express their emotions in the most obvious of manners for all to see. For instance, some people are easy to be provoked to tears/tirades/laughter etc., but some others are not. I, for one can reflect either extreme as I please and according to situation. But by default I think I am a more expressive person. My face/eyes give away my reaction before it's vocal. However, this isn't what I am talking about here. Some emotions drive us more strongly than others. And identifying it may help us focus it in a more desirable manner than leading to detrimental effects. For some people it's sadness... some others it's jealousy. But for me, it's anger/rage. It's my most palpable emotion. Sometimes I feel so strongly about something that I can almost feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins and me wanting to explode. Thankfully I've started streamlining it. To address the immediate problem, I've realized that a slew of well-chosen expletives/ghastly profanity against the situation really really helps. And no, thinking it does not have the same effect as verbally expressing it, no matter how un-ladylike it maybe. In fact I think I read a news item on BBC a while back, which said that this was a scientific fact that swearing actually takes away pain. They meant physical pain but it also addresses the psycological side to some extent. And it has another advantage. You don't end up breaking something to vent out your frustration and since it's all verbal, as long as it's not against any one person in particular (and they hear it), no harm done! Ok so you've made your "peace" with the situation by swearing it away, but there is still all that extra energy that your body is feeling at that time. Put it to use. Often I get a lot of work done if I was pissed off at something. Consequently inadvertant train delays/broken-down equipment yield some of my most-productive desk work. Funny, yet true! Anyone else on the same train of thought? Voice up!

The case of the missing atta bag..

This is one of those real-life mysteries to which the solution lies only in conjuncture but with no sure-shot evidence whatsoever. So, it being a lazy Sunday morning, I finally conceded to the loud grumbles of our famished tummies at 11:30 in the morning to try and make something quick for lunch. A quick peek into the fridge confirmed the worst. All I had was a couple of bell peppers and some peas. I had potatoes and onions elsewhere and so I thought I’d whip up a random subji and make a couple of parathas each for S and me. I washed the bell peppers and placed my onions and potatoes together with them on the cutting board. I decided I would make the dough for the parathas first so that while I made the subji, the dough would get some “sitting” time which makes the parathas come out so much better. And so I took out my conventional dough-kneading bowl and set it on the counter and leaned over to reach out for the bag of Pilsbury atta. Only it wasn’t there. Don’t you just hate it when that happens to you? You always leave something somewhere and the next time you look for it, it isn’t there. Needless to say, I was completely bamboozled, considering that the Atta bag was the one fixture in it’s own corner on the floor (I keep it there owing to lack of any storage space whatsoever in my minuscule kitchen). What ensued was a hunt, a clean sweep of the kitchen and the hall even… and no atta bag. The bag in which the Pilsbury atta bag sat was there, but empty. Also missing was my measuring ladle. And so I racked my brains. When did I last make something with it? It was one of the weeknights for dinner. Thursday I guessed. When did I take out the trash last? Also Thursday. Did I accidentally throw it out? And so I recalled my garbage –throwing sequence. No, I only had one trash can for the kitchen and yes, I threw out only one garbage bag. Of this I was certain. In the disbelieving wake, I continued to rummage the already-checked cabinets and the obviously empty floor and under the sofa and what not, irking S in the process and with no result or explanation. The only only possibility was that the dudes who came to check the exhaust on the kitchen’s heater unit yesterday thought they were cleaning up when they picked up their trash and my atta bag and left. This is only an assumption of course and there’s no telling it did happen. And if it didn’t, it means I have no explanation left. Hmph.

The digital photo conundrum

Ok, moment of truth. How many of us have thanked technology for coming up with digital photography? Almost all of us I bet. Every household now boasts at least one digital camera. All the uncles and auntys are totally familiar with the USB cable and picture transfer, all the way to the uploading of the images on the internet and web-sharing as well. The good old days of film roll are now obsolete and so are the first digicams that had floppy disk/zip drive memories. Now's the age of miniaturization, what with the advanced memory devices which started out at SD and have gone well and beyond micro-SD to built in large memories too. Everything's as perfect can be.

I have a confession to make. I am not entirely satisfied with this arrangement. Back at home in India, we have a huge cabinet stuffed with picture albums that document the childhood of my brother and me. It has all those trips we made as a family, those birthdays, those family outings, my brother's upanayanam, our Kuwait days, and what not. And sifting through these pictures every vacation is a trip down memory lane for me. And though I can do a similar thing on the laptop, sifting through folder after folder of saved photos, I don't do it. And even if I did the warm glow of memories isn't as strong. I don't know why. There's another problem in this. In the days of the film roll which restricted us to 36 pictures per roll (with a charge for development and approximately Rs 5 per "maxi" print), we were judicious in our usage of the roll. And hence every photo was thought out and worth it. Come the digitial era, of course we are thankful for it eliminates the mental tension of waiting for the photos to develop - Was the film inserted correctly? Will Ihave a blank roll? Were too many pics blurred? No tension at all. Instant previews. A bit blurry? No problem. Take 3-4 pictures extra just to make sure you got everything right. You can always delete the ones you don't want later. But hang on a second... how many of you actually go through all the pictures and delete the ones that don't need to be kept? I do. And it's a tedious process. Add to that "selecting" a maximum of a 100 photos from a folder of well over 500 per trip to share with family and friends. And then "working" on them - brightness, contrast, blah blue... And then adding comments to these pictures (ok that's not mandatory but somehow people got very attached to the comments I give under each picture and so now it's no longer an option)... and uploading everything. It's all a big abuse of digital memory and I am only one of the million doing this. And after this tedious process, I kind of lose the interest to sift through those pictures again for a long time. And that's true of every trip/occassion. And so when you think of wanting to relive some of those memories, more often than not, you end up going to your own Picasa album of the event (it has a more concise set) than to the real folder which has one too many extra pictures.

And what about prints? Are you one of those very few who take select prints of your trip just for the keeps? Or is it the one odd blow-up or the personalized calendar? If you are like most people it's the latter. Thanks to all of this... when my laptop crashed and lost a good deal of pictures from recent trips, I experienced no tremendous grief. I still had the Picasa albums... and so what if they weren't the real high quality? I wasn't doing anything with them anyways. Sad but true. I'd love to hear what the rest of the world thinks on this whole conundrum. So if you have something to say, say it!!

Good tidings to one n all....

Happy New Year to everyone out there! Well I am almost a week into this new year before debuting the first post this side of 2010... And though I've had a bunch of posts (many negative) to start out with, I decided I wanted to start the year on a positive note unlike what I did last year (not that it had any dramatic repercussions). So here's looking on the brighter side of things...

The cold is abating a bit and though we have a couple of more months of cold nights to withstand, things are looking up... the days have become longer and that's good news. The thesis (cross your fingers everyone) should chug along soon once I have a few stumbling blocks removed from the way. Plus I want to finish my long-standstill book (wish me luck!)

This year I made no resolutions considering that I suck at keeping them anyways. But S n I have decided that this is the year for travel (so look out for exploits), the year for exploration, the year for the carefree merry enjoyment (well apart from what the thesis permits me of course).

However I'd be just as interested in knowing about all your new year resolutions, if any and how keeping them up last year went. So, speak up and all you missing commentors, come back!

Apart from this cheerily sunny post, watch this space for my cribsheet, which includes cussing the makers of the Avatar game and my own personal body heat which is coping up with the cold outside by having me exploding in mouth ulcers and kirikkattis (boils in the eye).