A lesson from a cook

I crib a lot.
On various issues.
I often find myself underpaid, overworked, underutilised, over strained, underestimated, etc etc etc. More often than not things get down to money and the salaries we draw. We hardly think about the innumerable gifts that we are enjoying in our current lives.

The very reason am writing this post today is my small chat with my cook today.

A stone faced lady, that she is, Chhayabai was in a little talkative mood today. So, while I made myself a cup of hot milk she asked me about my family and other generic stuff. I chipped in to ask her about her children and pat came the reply "dono ghar pe rehte hain pagalon ki tarah". This wasn't the reply that I had expected. Then she told me her story. She has two children and both suffer from mental disorders. She told me that her daughter has problem with her memory and does not remember anything, so she is home. Then she told me the story of her son. Probably a guy of my age, may be a little younger. He was a normal schhol going kid till the age of twelve. And then he met with a rail accident after which he has not been able to walk properly. While she told me her tale of sorrow I was constantly looking in her eyes to find that moist corner. I could already feel the goosepimples on my hands, but her eyes remained dry.
They had a sparkle, on the contrary.
She was telling me how bright a student her son was. That they had put him in a good English Medium school and had arranged computer lessons for him. She was probably reliving those happy days as she narrated me the story.
I didn't know how to react. In the entire conversation, not once did she try to evoke sympathy for us.
For once, I realised the true meaning of an essay I had written long time back in school - "Health is Wealth". My father had asked me to add these closing lines : Health is Wealth, but Wealth certainly is not Health.

Nostalgia - Served hot on the platter!!

We met after a long time - Me and T. It was a long day at work and I was counting each second. As soon I wrapped up I and was at the basement, just about to give that first kick to my motorcycles, I remembered that I had forgotten to mention something important in my past mail to my client. So, back I went; frustrated and cursing myself for being so careless. As soon as my mailbox’s sent items folder confirmed that my mail was out from our server, I ran back to the casement with the cake (it was A’s birthday as well) in one hand to rush home, lest T would have to wait outside (as indeed it turned out to be).

When I reached my apartment I saw T standing there, may be cursing me for not being thereJ.

Before I proceed, let me also describe the commonalities that I share with T. Me and T were the part of the same conglomerate before wee joined the MBA course at XIMB. We were neighbours during the two year course. We did our summers in the same company and got the final placements in the same company.

But now T is moving out (as S did a week back) and is shifting his base to Mumbai. It was in this regard that T was visiting Mumbai for a short duration over the weekend. So after the day’s work we met like long lost friends and had so much to catch up. Post the birthday kicks to A, I shifted with T to his hotel, where our banter continued till late in the night.

The following morning we had the regale breakfast at the hotel. All thanks to T and his new employer J The evening was packed with good times and nostalgia. R had come over and the three of us chatted over a long dinner at the hotel. The discussions meandered from our current bosses to former friends; from our future life partners to the friends getting married; and from our roommates to life in Mumbai. The food was good and was unlimited. We had everything from soup and breads, salads, pasta, pizza, noodles, fried rice to even our very own aloo paratha. The “icing on the cake” were the desserts. We would have tasted some 15 variety of desserts that night!! While we were savoring the desserts it was getting late for R. So we decided to drop her back home. This gave us some more time to sit and chat. None of us was in a hurry and we simply did not want this dinner to end. When the service staff came over to tell us that it was close to their closing time, we proceeded for our final course of our lovely meal. The ice-creams! R was super-excited and created a very personalized scoop which we ate to our heart’s delight. Thanks T for that great dinner treat!!

And then came the goodbyes!! We dropped R to her home and then tucked ourselves to a peaceful slumber. The next morning saw us at the same place, where we had our dinner, munching away some bread over the breakfast.

It was around 10 or 11 when T checked out to meet another friend who was visiting Mumbai. I bade him farewell with the wish to see him soon in Mumbai and have more such (may be not this lavish) dinners!!

Thanks again to T for the treat.

A "Union" disintegrates

"S" has quit the company and that leaves only the three of us at the lunch table. Till now, even if one of us was on leave it would be a crowd of three having lunch and the post lunch walk. But, now onwards, on such occassions it would just be the company of two.

Over the past 18 months, we have shared everything from personal life to professional life over the lunch and snacks sessions. We have played pranks; been more-than-often to the nearby Naturals for those ice-cream breaks; celebrated birthdays and weddings; and shared our thoughts about others rather loudly.

While S moves on to be with her dear P, we wish her a great life ahed. We will miss her in our very dear "Majboor Union" of Four.....

The cattle class and the poor little minister

A train rams into another near Mathura killing some 30 people (that is the official figure) and Ms. Mamta Banerjee immediately announces a 5 lakh compensation for the family members of the victims. What else could have Ms. Banerjee done? This is not a dharna of which she has an expertise, nor is this a Lok Sabha session where she screams with elance. We are dealing with people here, whom she represents, and that is something that our poor little Railway Minister has got no experience.

The authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, or so they are saying. Soon, Ms Banerjee would set up a commission to prepare a report on the incident. And we all know what will happen next. The report would never be out and the dead would be forgotten as they have always been in the past. After all, we are the “cattle class” and why bother for the cattle when you have other greener pastures to attend to!

The Kali Shoe

When I stumbled upon this website called zazzle.co.uk I was first amazed at their product offering. The website allows you to create your own designs online. But I was appalled, when I came across one particular design - the "Kali Hindu Goddess Shoes". The designer has crossed all limits of cultural sensitivity by putting the image of a Kali-like figure on the shoes.

Wonder where have all the activists gone who had vandalised M.F Hussain's art works when he had "supposedly" portrayed the Hindu Goddesses in nude.

The Invisible Gift

Never in my life would I have felt this blank as all of us did after we got off from the rickshaw that Saturday night.
We had been invited to a friend's house over dinner cum birthday treat. As is customary, we - me, A and R - had a bag of goodies as a gift for our host for the night. We got a rick and were chit chatting all the way to Mulund, where we had to change to another rickshaw to reach G's house in Thane.
I called up G when we reached Mulund that we are standing in a queue to get a rickshaw to Thane. This (queue), in our view, was the most absurd thing that we had come across that day - at least till that point in time.
Our turn came pretty quickly and soon we were trotting all the way to G's home. Half way through I called up G to tell her that we would be reaching in another 10 minutes.
As we got down from the rickshaw, and I was settling the bill, A asked the BIG QUESTION "Where is the bag?"
In all this rickshaw hunting and queuing up, we had conveniently forgotten about the gift which we had left in the first rickshaw.
My mind went blank.
This rickwallah was saying aomething about change and I son't remember how much I gave him over the fare.
I was still blank.
As we made way to G's house I could see the disappointment on A's face and astonishment on R's face. We could not believe we had done this, and there was no way that we could trace the rickshaw back.
We went up to G's house and were greeted by the warm smiles of G and her mom and grandmom.
The jaws dropped when they heard our deeds and we got our share of scoldings from Maanti (as A and G call her) and G's mom.
For G, we had nothing but an invisible bag from Lifestyle, an odourless perfume by Marks & Spencer and a colourless eyeshadow pack by Maybelline. Guess G would not have been too happy flaunting these.. neither we gifting them to her.

Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudhchya Varshi Lavkarya

And then it rained, like it had never before in the past few days. It was a sign of good omen. The skies had finally relented to the cries of the people. May be, it was the final gift that Ganapati wanted to give to his devotees.
It was the tenth day of Ganapati celebrations. The last day. The lake near my home - the Powai Lake - was a busy place. This Ganapati, though I had all plans to visit one of the pandals, I decided otherwise - thanks to the flu of the Swine. But then one could not have missed the grand visarjan ceremony.
As if, the waters of the lake were not sufficient, there was a great sea of humanity that was thronging the ghats to bid farewell to its favourite God; and one could see hundreds of statues floating amidst this sea of thousands of devotees. It was a joyous and mystic atmosphere all around.
The dhak of the dhols, the glare of spotlights, the blaring bollywood numbers, the soft-tonned aartis, the loud slogans and the messemerizingly beautiful statues took you to a different world altogether. After a good long walk and a dekho at all the murtis and a memory card full load of photographs we headed home.... and just as we entered the apartment, it started pouring heavily... May be, Ganapati was showering his blessings on us!

Some beautiful moments my friend "A" captured on his camera.....

"Is that a halo, or am I dazed by your divine presence"


"Even the mouse is so cute"


"I pray to thee, oh lord!"

"A hand from all"

"Am holding your hands"





"You are under my umbrella"



"Rest your tired bodies on me, am here for you"


"The sea of humanity"

"Divine"

"The Golden Ganapati"

"A closer look"

(C) All photographs are courtesy Amol.

V, R and Me

Time flies. It was about three months back that my friend V told me about her wedding planned in September. That got me, and another common friend making plans for the wedding and at the end, both of us ended up not attending the wedding.
As luck would have it, this other friend also got engaged and is now busy preparing for her own wedding and thus could not make it to V's marriage. Why I never made it - that is another story - which I would rather not discuss :(
The bottomline being, that we didn't make it to V's moment of happiness.... I can only imagine V clad in a rich silk sari with heavy gajra (God knows if she would have worn jewellery on her marriage or not - she was always a no-jewellery person) sitting in the mandapam amidst the sacred chants with R by her side, clad in a white dhoti ("Topless" as V describes the look).

God knows if we ever will meet again.... All three of us together again, like we used to when we were in the college - over a lunch at Shrikunj or for that pao bhaji at the Unit 1 market.
O! What fun it used to be. Going all around the city of Bhubaneswar in an autorickshaw to visit various temples, or a trip to the far flung forests of Simplipal and the adventurous Hirakud dam excursion, or the innumerable visits to Puri and shopping at Raghurajpur, or (as a matter of fact!) the various assignment where we played those you-did-not-do-anything blame games, getting caught by the professor for helping each other and sending apology mails to clear the mess - they will all be the sweet memories that one can never forget.
Am sure V and R (not V's R) will agree to this.

Die another day!!

Many a times we feel that nothing is in our hands. That we are mere puppets and someone else is pulling the strings. If the string snaps, off we go - haywire.
Well this is exactly what I felt last night when I was sitting on the rear seat of the motorcycle that my good friend "R" was driving. As the speedometer touched past 60 my heart rate would have been surely double this number. Not because 60 is too fast, but on Mumbai it is! As he raced through the traffic meandering through the pot-holes and tunneling through the traffic, overtaking from the left and splashing through a wet patch, I was not really sure if I would be alive till we reached the movie hall where we were headed.
As it happens in troubled times, that we remember the good lord, I was actually remembering the almighty that he let me watch this movie show.... and I made a resolve that never again am I to be a pillion rider. The irony of the situation was that while returning I chose to sit behind another good friend "A" considering it might help my cause, but empty roads and a slow Bullet Thunderbird just don't go together (somehow!). We were back on the same road meanering through the same potholes and the wet patch.... just that this time I was enjoying the power.. the wind coming in my face.... and me thinking aloud...Die Another Day!!

Maaru Amdavad

As I was idle at work, I did a random wiki search. I was reading about the nobel prize when the wiki page on Tagore threw up an image of the Sardar Patel National Museum in Ahmedabad. My mind immediately wandered off to Ahmedabad and its touristic attractions.

One of the first memories is that of Gandhi Ashram. The place was next doors to our first house in Ahmedabad. As one enters the Ashram, one is greeted by a red wall contrasted by a row of lush green ashoka trees. A sign-board informs the visitors that one of these was planted by Pandit Nehru himself when the Ashram was inaugurated.

As you move inside, the chirping of birds and the uncanny silence in the air takes over. You are in a different land. The galleries that connect the small thatched square red-and-white-walled cottages that house the museum are lined with huge cut-outs and writings of Gandhiji. His almost illegible handwriting is a treat to the eyes!

There is a painting gallery with huge life-size portraits of Gandhiji. I distinctly remember a portrait of Gandhiji made using groundnut shells. These have amazed me everytime I have visited the Ashram.

“Hriday Kunj” is the cottage where Gandhiji and Karturba satayed while the Ashram was functional. The cottage has been maintained in its original form. One may be astounded to find different rooms for Kasturba and Gandhiji in this cottage. There is a small room in the courtyard of the cottage where you can just peep in from the grilled door. It has a neat arrangement of Gandhiji’s desk with a book and his glasses placed over and the famous watch lying by the side on the small sitting couch.

Not far from the Gandhi Ashram is the Calico Textile Museum. A museum preserved by the Lalbhai Group of Ahmedabad. The Museum, housed in an ancient haveli, is a treat to your eyes. The old fabrics weave a charm and you just can’t help getting mesmerized. Each woven thread has a tale to tell. Meandering through the dark staircases lit by the natural light filtering through the jharokhas, one is transcended to the world of the royals. It is not just the museum but the entire place that creates an out-of-this-world charm. The little pond in the courtyard with water lilies and the jain pichwai paintings to the remains of a haveli salvaged from a kabadi create magic.

A little ahead is the Sardar Patel National Museum. It is an umimpressive museum housed in a majestic palace. What catches the eye is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel – arm-in-arms – right outside the complex. I think this is the only one of its kind statue of Patel and Gandhiji together.

A little further from Shahibuagh - towards Dilli Darwaza - is located the famous Hutheesingh Jain Temple. The majestic tall tower and the symmetric arches along the corridors adorned in the jain style architecture are a must visit. Photography, unfortunately, is prohibited.

From Dilli Darwaza, one must make headway to the Saiyyed Siddi ni Jali at Lal Darwaza. The jail is a huge window in a mosque with intricate carving depicting a tree. This is also the unofficial symbol of Ahmedbad.

Right opposite Siddi Saiyyed's mosque is an old haveli, which now operates as a restaurant – Agashiye – famous for its authentic Gujarati cuisine.

Other places of interest in Ahmedabad could be the Kite Museum, Kochrab Ashram, Kankariya lake, Baal Vatika, Ahmedabad Zoo and Vishala Utensil Museum. A little drive away are the famous Adalaj ni Vav and Akshardham Mandir.

Oh! My mind is cluttered with memories of the colourful land…. Wish I could turn time back... How I wish!!

जल्दी आओ Dube!!

It was well past twelve midnight and I was dreading the Monday that was awaiting the daybreak. My laptop's almost dead speakers were trying hard to make me enjoy Jagjeet Singh's Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi. The song was in the first paragraph and I was about to explain to my room-mate what the lines meant when suddenly "A" - my other flatmate - screamed. Jaldi aao Dube!! Trust me, my heart just froze for a moment. The living room was dark with him standing there with the flash light of his cell phone switched on. I thought some strange insect, a smake probably, has entered the house. As my eyes searched for the supposed snake and I moved further in the living room I was surprised by a bunch of friends screaming "Happy Birthday". For once, I didn't realise what was happening! It was a big surprise. Dunno when and how they managed to sneak in.

So there they were, the five of them. A, A, A, A and V (R). While A (my flat mate, the jadi aao guy) was busy shoting a video, A was helplessly trying to light a match - a proxy for a candle :)
The message on the cake read : Belated Happy Birthday Debbey। But this was not all. More was to follow.

On some other friend's birthday, I had told my friends what I wanted as a birthday gift and lo! here it was - a painter's tripod। They would have gone around places to find one, am sure। but here it was, right there in my arms.

I had been thinking for quite some time to update my blog। What better moment than this to write about, especially when I have now become the owner of a prized possession.

MJ.... just loved your work in "Heal The World"... may you find peace wherever you are. Amen!

Headlines for today....

I won't say anything... I would rather let these news headlines from today's TOI do the talking...
UPA minister-run med college wants Rs 20L donation - Ah! ask my brother how he felt when he got admission for a PG course in a medical college.... Bloody parasites !!
MNS sees red over Raj caller tune - They should rather be seing saffron...
Don't blame us for bad roads: BMC - Then whom do I blame, my bad luck :O
Rs 400 incentive for women who deliver in civic hospitals - And what about the life insurance premium for the unborn?????
Give baby a Tamil name, get a gold ring - And finish off all the alphabets of English two times over for just one gram of gold!! What an idea sirjee!
Girls are bad at math?It's all a myth, says study - Ever tried siphoning off a rupee from the money your mother gave you for the groceries???
AND THE WINNER IS...
Pakistan plannig to setup new anti-terrorism force - Ha ha ha!! am laughing my lungs out.... Look who is saying.... if Pakistan is setting up a new anti terrorism force then India should better be beefing up the security:)

ENDS.

The song goes...Jai Ho, but whose???

When I saw Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, never in my dreams could I have imagined that it would sweep the Oscars. Good, that it did! And better that it brought laurels to the various Indian artistes and technicians. But then it should stop at this. I think Danny, as a film-maker, did a fantastic job to show it to the world how poor the country is (and we all loved him for this) and, we don't actually don't need to go overboard and tell the World "Suno Suno!!! Hum Gareeb Hain. We are still the good 'ol land of snake charmers and beggars".

When I read a recent statement by Azhar's (the kid in the movie) mother after Gerard Butler's visit to their shanty - “Humne suna hai ki woh paanch lakh dene wale hai Azhar ke naam pe” I was shocked. This, when Danny Boyle is already funding Azhar and Rubina's education and has even bought them houses.

Agreed that the families are poor, but whatever happened to those things called dignity and self respect. I wonder if it would not be better that they focussed on developing their children's future than stuffing money in their pockets, only to spend it all on the vices. That would be the real Jai Ho!!
Guess what Congress has to say to this.... After all this was their election Anthem!! Am sure there are many Azhar's and Rubina's waiting to see the zariwala aasman out there....

34-Sona Mahal.....Will miss you

My association with Ahmedabad goes back to 1992 when we my dad got posted here. The very first memories are that of a transporter strike because of which our stuff couldn't come on time and I had to make do with samosas and jalebis in the tiffin, which I have anyway hated all my school life.
We stayed in a rented accomodation for a couple of years. I have very vivid and happy memories of that place. My sister would sit at the window and gaze at the vehicles passing by on the Subhash Bridge. When it rained heavily, the Sabarmati would swell and we would go to the bridge to see the waters. Come Navaratri, the whole society (yes, that's how we called it) would get decked up and people would dance all night long to the tunes of pankhida re udi ne jaje... I even taught my sister how to ride a bicycle in this society. There was a vegetable grocer within the premisis where I would often go with a list of vegetables that mom wanted. Also, there was a shop where you could buy that orange candy bar. In the evening all the kids would gather near the tall overhead tank and play till the sun set and their mothers came out calling them.

In 1994, we moved to our own apartment, our home. It must have been such a fulfilling moment for my parents. And never till today did I realise that I have spent some 15 long years in that house. I grew up in that house and the house grew with me. Over the years, we had adorned the walls with hand-picked paintings and the corners with the finest and the most unique artefacts. What memories I have associated with this house is something that I cannot describe in words. But why am I writitng this post is because today I suddenly felt that the string, which had kept me attached to MY HOME, has snapped.... My heart is overwhelmed by such strong feelings. When my parents told me that the packers were packing up stuff in cartons, my mind wandered off to those artefacts, those books, those paintings, those clothes, that crockery which had been there since ages, at least to me it did! I know its never going to be the same again. I know that Ahmedabad is lost for me....I know Sona Mahal is no more my home.... It might be a permanent address but not a home... I would now be a mere visitor to my own city, to my hometown.... There is so much that I have held close to my heart... There is so much to remember so much that am going to miss all my life.


I will miss writing "34-Sona Mahal....." as my postal address.
I will miss the name plate that bore my father's name.
I will miss the iron grill with a unique pattern, specially designed by my parents.
I will miss the arched doorway that let into my home.
I will miss my room with arched balcony.
I will miss the creaking noice that my almirah made.
I will miss that cozy corner in the living room under the lanp.
I will miss the sofa that I had bought.
I will never be able to see the sun set behind the temple.
I will miss the panoramic view from my balcony.
I will miss hushing away those pigeons in the morning.
I will miss reading the newspaper sitting on the bed while the first rays of sun filled the room with warmth.
I will miss the wardrobe that still smelled of fresh paint.
I will miss getting ready under the dressing table's spot-light.
I will miss seeing the Sabarmati flow by through the window.
I will miss pinnig-up a picture on the study table.
I will miss walking bare-footed into my neighbour's house to borrow a lemon.
I will miss driving to Yogesh Khamman to get my mom's fovourite dhokla.
I will miss kite-flying during Uttarayan on the terrace.
I will miss going to the law garden to do some local shopping.
I will miss the cool evening breeze.
I will miss the bright and scorching sun on a summer afternoon.

I will miss the walls, the flooring, the paint, the smell, the touch, the sounds, the sights...........

Two summers ago!

It is one of those days at work when I don’t seem to be having any work. Guess this is what disguised unemployment means.
I have been thinking to post something here on this blog, but there were no stories to tell. So, when this friend of mine invited me to her birthday bash I thought I would blog about it.

Her birthday has a history. A two summer old history.

That was at Marine Drive in Mumbai. Some 6 of us decided to give this lady a surprise party and broke as we were during summers, we decided to treat her to a modest Pizza from Pizzeria and a pastry on the Marine Drive.

So, this (another) friend of ours was entrusted upon the responsibility of getting a Pizza while returning back from work and we would meet her at a pre decided place. And as we would have expected, she lost her way and created a big confusion regarding her whereabouts. After a mile long walk, we did meet and tried setting up candles and all on the marine drive when we noticed that the couple sitting next to us was getting quite cosy (ahem!) and we had no option but to shift our place.

So after all the mehnat mashakkat our birthdaygirl did “cut” the pizza and we had a good time giggling and screaming while we savoured it. And now was her turn to return the favour. One among the gang suggested a modest looking restaurant and we walked in.

Well, it didn’t turn out to be that modest while our budget was. So finally after a lot of brainstorming we settled for sum soups (three-by-six, I guess). The sauces and water were free, so they were used in copious amounts. The giggling and laughter continued in this fine dining restaurant, right under the pricey Ambassador Hotel on Marine Drive. The waiters gave us side long glances, as if we cared! :)

After we were done (with our soups and the payment) we gifted her some unique cards that were available for free at the restaurant… and wished her a soupy birthday.
And from them this story has been pretty much a wonderful memory of our summer of '07 at Mumbai.

Recipe to a perfect Rassam and Tamarind Rice

Well if you would have asked Little Johnny he would have said "isme kya naya hai babua! yeh to kisi bhi Tarla Dala cookery book mein mil jayegi" but then the Rassam that I am talking about is different.
It is different because it's not just a meal, it is an idea of enjoying your time with friends... So, this is how you go about making it.
Wake up real late in the weekend. This is a must, else the Rassam wouldn't taste yum!
Get some friends.... any number above four would do.
Get two of them to go to the market to get the ingredients.
If they forget to get some things that you had asked for.... don't worry, send them again :)
Once you have everything in place, get one of them to chop three tomatoes.... and if they seem to be taking eternity, which in all possibility they would, get the knife and do it yourself :)
Ask the guy, who was earlier making futile attempts to chop tomatoes, to wash the kadhai and put some oil to heat.
When the oil is hot ask the other guy to get some rai (mustard seeds) and when he picks up any random masala give him one of those killer single-liners... Soon he would pick up the right jar :)
By now the oil would have got hot enough for the rai.
Add some curry leaves, green chillies, turmeric and red chilly powder.
Add tomatoes and ask either of the idle fellows to stir it till the tomatoes get cooked to a paste.
Don't forget to add some hing to this. It would give that typical aroma to your recipe which you would have imagined for a perfect rassam. Your friend would definitely not know what hing is... so explain it to him again.... no need of one liners here :P
Now ask this same person to put some tamarind to boil... and get the pulp separated from the seeds thereafter.
Boil some arhar daal in the cooker and then blend it.
Add this daal to the tomato masala that you have prepared.
Add Rassam powder to taste.
Add some sugar. Very little amount.
Add water and tamarind juice and bring to a boil.
When done, add a tadka of ghee, rai and dried red chillies.
A perfect rassam should have a watery consistency with very little traces of daal and taste more or less like the sambhar.
Well Well..... if you think you are done... you are not.. The rice is yet to be prepared..
So while you are making rassam you may prepare the seasoning for the rice.
While you were preparing the rice and rassam, your other friends (who do not stay in you apartment) would have prepared a potato recipe (for which I would ask the readers to contact them).
For the rice seasoning, heat some oil in a pan. This can be done by your friend who has been standing idle for quite some time now.
Add dried red chillies, rai, curry leaves, green chillies, chana daal, udad daal, groundnuts, little bit of turmeric and red chilly .
If you see some strange crawling creatures in the packet where you had stored chana daal, probably you would have to throw away this seasoning and prepare a new one without the chana daal.
When the lentils get crisp, set it aside.
By now your rassam would have got ready and the burner can be used to put on the rice.
When the rice is ready, mix the seasoning, salt and tamarind juice for a delicious tamarind rice.
Hit the shower, get fresh and when you are ready - Bingo! - find your living room full of friends all fighting for the limited plates and bowls that you have.
Duly acknowledge any compliments that you get :)
Slip into sweet slumber induced by the rice and the rassam....
When the maid comes in the evening for cooking.... remain asleep and don't open the door for her.... to get a phone call from her later in the evening after you have made plans for gobhi paratha for the dinner :( .....
Call up your friends (who do not stay in your apartment) to appraise them of the situation only to know that an awesome dinner awaits you at their place!!
Put the recipe on your blog to make your oter friends feel J!!! :)

A Strong Man or Weak!!

I am not pro-Advani or anti-Manmohan Singh, but a recent article got me thinking. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh(MS) has accused the UPA Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani for being an incompetent home minister; that in his (Advani’s) times there were incidents of Gujarat riots and Parliament attacks and also that he played an important role in the Babri Masjid demolition.
Coming back to the modern times, why has our competent Prime Minister forgotten the bomb blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and the terror attack in Mumbai? Why does he not remember the recent trouble in Sikkim created by the Maoists?

To quote MS from the article “Is he (Advani) a strong man or a weak man, let the records speak for themselves”. What is his take on the advices of Madamji to which he very strongly complies…. Should he not answer to the public if he is a strong or a weak man??

They say in Hindi - jinke ghar sheeshe ke hon, woh auron par patthar nahin phenka karte....

Baffled by the Baflas!

Returned from a friend’s wedding today at 5 in the morning and am in no mood to work :)

The marriage was great fun, all Indian marriages are. Good food, friends, music, masti, no tension about deliverables and deadlines, no mails and no long distances to commute make a perfect weekend.
The wedding was quite eventful, atleast for us :) A couple of incidents that I would always remember.
First, we almost missed the train to Dewas. The clock was ticking silently while P was enjoying her tea. And the Taxi ride to BCT would just not come to an end. When we alighted the train, it had almost begun to move!!
Second, was when P went off to sleep after having sold the horses :) and such was her sleep that a crowd gathered outside her room to wake her up. After 11 missed calls and uninterrupted banging on the door she finally woke with a surprised look on her face! What adds excitement to the whole incident is that when one of us standing outside tried to peep in through the ventillator to see if P was alright, he could not se anyone inside and said "andar to koi hai hi nahin" . This was P's claim to overnight fame.
And how could I forget this one!! I was playing the saviour of my friend's shoes. For such an honourable job, I had to face the fury of a big mob of girls !! All captured live on the camera :)
And then it had to be this incident on the journey back home when the TTE made us pay a fine for boarding the train from Indore while our tickets were from Dewas. P and A could not hold their laughter while I dealt with Sutradhar :), the TTE… Am sure P and A would not let this incident of their minds that soon and it would turn out to be my claim to fame :)
And in-between all this we had the wedding and the good food.
Talking about good food, we had the much famous Dal-Bafla of the Malwa region at the wedding. Bafla is a preparation of wheat dough fried/baked and rich in ghee. Though it tastes amazing and I enjoyed hogging the ghee laden delicacy, it is pretty much indigestible for many of us (P happened to be one of them) who belong to the low-carb world. Well as J pointed it out... she was “Baffled” by the “Baflas” :)

Winds of Change!!!

One thing that I used to like about my place of work was the freedom we had.

The freedom to do things your way and the freedom to take a break when you wanted.

So much so that I have been home on almost all alternate months ever since I joined my company.

First it was July. That was Ahmedabad. And then is was Rakshabandhan in August in Faridabad. Then came Dussera in October in Ahmedabad and then Diwali in November in Faridabad. This was followed by Christmas in December in Ahmedabad. Gosh!! 5 times in 9 months!! that is incredible.. but those were the good old days when the Indian economy was booming!

I remember someone coming to our campus and telling us that we are lucky to have been graduating this year when the economy is at an all time high.

Who would have guessed then that the tables could turn so quickly. That in a span of one year it would become impossible for a batch of 120 to be placed! That the golden era of investment banking would come to an end! That the high paying finance jobs would vanish! That we would have multi million corporate scams! That the stock market, being shoved up by the bull would be brought down by the bear! That oil would come down to record low and the dollar rise up! That we would prefer a salary cut than to loose our job! That taking leaves would become such a pain in the A@@.

We had a course in our B-School that questioned the current world order. Sitting there in the classroom we analysed why the World is the way it is! Why US is so strong and Japan is sinking. Why India is not a world power and why it may never become a developed nation! The course taught us how a firm is the centre of an economy, a Private Enterprise Based Market Economy (PEBME) as he called it. How the currency markets were equivalent to a shadow world government! And many of us were the sceptics.

But when I look at it today, I get a flashback of those lectures... With the crash of the i-banks and the bursting of the mortgage bubble the world has changed... The shadow Government has doomed the fate of this current design and a new design is emerging.

The firm is still at the core... the Private Enterprise!! We are now having more stringent corporate governance rules being put in, banks don't go door to door giving you loans... we have seen lot of restructuring within the firms and outside them.. lot of mergers have happened and lot of demergers... At the end of this turmoil only those firms are going to stay alive and kicking who have made their internal processes stronger and the other would die...... Countries like India are beginning to change their outlook towards the growth of the economy.... may be we would learn that it is not the KPOs and the BPOs that are driving us, but it agriculture and capital goods that would make us a sustainable force!!

Though I hardly remember anything what we discussed in those lectures but this thought of a change in the world order always stuck to me...

I am reminded of the last lecture when we had no discussion... but just a song... and how we really felt what we were singing!!

aa chal ke tujhe main le kae chaloon ik aise gagan ke tale.... jahan gam bhi na ho.. aasoon bhi na ho, bas pyaar hi pyaar pale.... ek aise gagan ke tale !!

The whole class reverberated to the tunes of this song..... how each one of us wished that the world would change.. but it would be like this... no-one would have imagined!!

The Photo Frame

They say pictures are worth a thousand words... and this post would prove that!!
There sits on my desk a photo frame which was gifted to me by one of my closest friends - "P".
How me and P became such good friends is something even we wonder many-a-times.
Long years ago when I was doing my engineering I met this girl there who was sitting next to a schoolmate, "N" (who was also going to be my batchmate for next four years) and I was like - N and P would surely turn out to be the best friends. And as luck could have it, that turned out to be the case.
I got introduced to P through N. I still remember all of us being at P's first birthday at the college when we had gifted her some weird assortment of gifts. In between the four birthdays we celebrated were the four "Ganapati" (As P calls it) that we witnessed at her Nani's place.
Life moved on.... I got a job at L&T and P couldn't make it. I remember the day when I told P about the offer from L&T. She immediately hung up the phone. I knew she was crying.... not because I got it but because she didn't.... silly P.... and then we heard from her that she has made it to Infy....
She moved down south and we hardly got to meet.. in the next two years till she shifted to Pune I went to meet her and other good friends "S" and "R". And we had a gala time... It was then that I saw the first signe of transformation in P.
I am reminded of how I had asked P to make wada and nariyal chutney for me.... and also her famous rajma with rice (that she would serve twice to you). P is an excellent cook!!
I moved on to XIMB and P told me that she was moving to US. I remember that time S had also gone to US. Suddenly I realised that I had no friends to talk to.... B-school was a new experience and I was yet to come to terms with it.....
Life moved on.... 2 years flew by...
P switched her job and then I knew she was never to return back.... But we did get to meet her... She had come down to India on a vacation and we met.... and this is when she gifted me that frame....It had Friends written all over around it!
I searched for a suitable pic, with the good ol' bespectacled P giggling in there....
She has changed over the years... but its just the outer being... and she has changed for good.... but then she is still the same good ol' P deep within.... and I know we are going to be Friends Forever!!!

The one that follows....

I got this as a forward from a friend and somewhere it struck a chord !!

2008 was when.........
We passed out of college....
We got a job.........
We made new amazing friends.....
Some of us moved to a new city.....
Some of us celebrated our 21st - 25th birthdays.....
We waved good bye to our buddies leaving to the States for higher studies...
Some of us fell in love........
Some of us fell out of love
Some of us got hurt
Some of our 'friends' screwed up our love life
Some 'one' we liked, did not like us..
We made mistakes .... and repeated hem...
We made life decisions....... and these decisions turned out to be a tragedy
Some of us felt lonely ....
Some of us made an amazing friend in a new city
Some of us would have learnt to be stronger.....
Some of us would have realized that everything happens for a reason.....
Some of us let out our anger.....
Some of us never opened up to our friends about how we felt....
Some of us felt so glad and happy to be the way we are.....
We went out everyday and met up with old friends...
We had serious talks with our dad about our future.....
We missed each other when we were at hometown.....
We missed our mom here ...
We cried for each other ...
We celebrated our first Christmas with our friends ..
We were jobless all the time in office ....
We walked around the streets late in the night ..
We put budget for the next month (but strictly not following it)

2009.......one more year.....A year to....
Find our life partner (might be)
Smile........
Let people know how much u care...
Learn from our mistakes.......
Cry when we are feeling down.....
Follow our dreams.......
Fight against everything for our dreams to come true.....
Be more confident.........
Be more strong at heart and mind.....
Enrich our knowledge.........
Make others happy....
Take each day as it comes........
Forget about the downs we came across in the past year........ and remember every lesson we learnt through them........
Enjoy Life to the Fullest............

LET'S WAIT FOR THE WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD!!

The Inaugral Post!

This is going to be the inaugural post in 2009 on my blog. I was wondering, what to write and then decided to talk about those moments from 2008 that I would always remember.
Let me begin from the beginning:

Placements 2008 @ XIMB : And what trying times!! Have seen the best of friend turning foes
Trip to Simlipal and Hirakud : Amazing time with batchmates… wonder how many of them qualify to be friends… guess quite a few of them!
Maxinations 2008 @ XIMB : Our last chance to prove our worth !! :P and boy!! What a victory we had!!
Convocation : Was such a proud moment for me and my family!
Orissa darshan with Family
Bootcamp @ Irevna, Chennai
Transfer to Mumbai
Hunting a house in Mumbai : Trust me it is difficult than mouse hunt and I saw this for I have tried both :P
The Jinxed Happy Singh!!
First Birthday in Mumbai with friends : I literally ran out of air !!!
The guests at our place… they just can’t resist our house :P
The coffee time with colleague-turned-friends at office
The Rakshabandhan weekend... Never would I have been so optimistic and so much in trouble!!
Matheran trip
Diwali trip.... Never could I have been so much more optimistic... missing the train... and flight fares touching skies..

Watching plays in Theatres and the associated events!! – Am sure “R” has much more to say about it !!
Numerous evenings spent in South Mumbai
The Mumbai Terror Attack!
The pulao and rassams we made
Receiving a close friend at the Airport
Seeing a friend break-up with that someone special
The New Year eve bash….. Wouldn’t talk much bout it though: P

These moments take me to lines from one of the various Hindi poems i like....
क्या भूलूँ, क्या याद करूँ मैं,
अगणित उन्मादों के क्षण हैं,
अगणित अवसादों के क्षण हैं...