Infinite Lunatics Out Here! ;)

Warning:
This has been brewing for long, so it might be a tad strong! :)
(la la la... I might as well sing the rhyming phrases! ;) )

I'd like to ask a question... to no one in particular, but to all in general. What is your contribution in being born where you were born. I mean, is it to your credit or discredit that you were born in a particular country, state, city, area, family, creed, caste, colour?!!! I'm sure, I can't say something like: "Oh, you know, I made sure I was born in this family this time". (Maybe there are higher beings who can decide these things, but alas, most of us can't brag about being those 'Higher Beings'!)

Well, if you can't control where you were born, how can it be something for you to be proud of? ...since it's not YOUR achievement! Amazing that we brag about things we don't even have had a say in! LOL Weird are the ways of the world! We take ourselves at face value and feel proud about things that are accidental. At the most we can perhaps feel blessed to be what we are in terms of the accident of birth. But to be proud and vain about it is to be as stupid as one can be... And to fight and kill only for this reason? I can't think of any adjectives for this level of stupidity!!! What if the messiah of jehads had been born a Christian? Oh well...he still wd've been a terrorist... terrorists don't belong to any religion anyway!

And I'm feeling strongly about it, coz in the recent past dumb comments regarding a particular state have been made. Does one care so much where you're from in this era of globalisation? Every thing, every minute thing in our lives today is, at times, a contribution of a whole lot of people, communities, countries... How can one then simply isolate oneself as a community and indulge in blatant self-promotion... at the cost of others? And how can people tolerate such blatant attempts at breaking our nation? These guys belong behind bars, maybe doing community service, so that they may, just may, one day understand that they actually happen to be part of the HUMAN community. The wonderful Newspapers and Media (that we are blessed with nowadays) are serving a GREAT purpose by printing and advertising every dumb word these so-called leaders say! Gone are the days when the media used to exercise restraint, in order to maintain a certain level of peace... Nowadays every sneeze is sensationalised, peace be damned! What use is news if it isn't BREAKING NEWS?!!! Hmmm, being a democracy has its downside as well... ;) But I still wouldn't want to trade it for anything else... LOL

All this simply makes my belief stronger that we humans are the worst parasites ever to have infected the planet EARTH!!! We'll make supercalifragilisticexpialidociously sure that the planet and none of us survive! Lovely! Signing off on this optimistic note... ;)

Sarcastically Yours!

Daily life can be monotonous at times... understatement of the year, decade, century? LOL Well maybe not! Even monotony can be hilarious, if one cares to look at it from a refreshingly different point of view! :) Wonder, if a lot of people will agree with the refreshing quality that I'd like to bestow on the 7 letter word called 'Sarcasm'! ;) It's another matter to be on the receiving end of it though! LOL... but even that teaches one a lot... and makes one better prepared for this wonderful (literally full of wonders!) journey called life... meines Erachtens. Here are some gems that take the whole cake! Warning: I do not take literary credit for these; just happened to read them somewhere... :) And am trying to push in some of my own... and letting someone else take the (dis)credit for them! LOL (P.S.: Achtung: These work only when one can laugh at oneself... otherwise it's plain mean...) - I'm sorry I made you cry, but at least your face is a whole lot cleaner now! - YOU are my whole world... big, fat and round! ;) - Do you intentionally use this makeup or are you naturally ugly? (mean, mean, I know! But one can always retort with something like: "Sorry, are you looking at me or the mirror nearby? I mean, one can't always be sure with the lovely squint that you have!" ;) LOL) - Sometimes I need what only you can provide: Your absence. - I find television very educating. Everytime someone turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book. - I've had a perfectly wonderful evening; but this wasn't it. - Don't let your mind wander, it's too little to be let out alone. - Before giving someone a piece of your mind, remember to leave a little something for yourself. - If at first you don't succeed, destroy any evidence that you ever tried! - I'm not fluent in IDIOT, so please speak slowly and clearly. Okay, giving up for now... there are more urgent things than letting your devil's workshop produce little devilish pieces of work! ;) P.S.: Read some more recently...Here they are: - I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid! - I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant! - I’ll try being nicer if you’ll try being smarter. - If you find it hard to laugh at yourself, I would be happy to do it for you. - Someday, we’ll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject.  LOL ;)

Do NOT keep in touch!!!

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there used to be letters and postcards and an occasional telephone call. One would chat to one's heart's content... or maybe not, coz the calls used to be a bit expensive... And the letters used to take some time to be delivered...and to get answered...and for that answer to reach back to the sender. Period. One had time to get on with life, to live, to experience, to enjoy... without having to report about what one was doing.

Then came the mobile phone and the internet. Now one was 'trackable' and reachable almost everywhere. But the mails were not always answered immediately, so one still had some breathing space...

Now there's Orkut and Facebook and Twitter and what not... You breathe and the whole WORLD gets to know ... each and every person on your list gets an instant update about whatever you care to post on your account... Even people, so called friends of friends can peep into your heart and your life... Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeks!

It is, of course, nice to be in touch and good to know what your friends are upto... but this is really taking matters too far! There's a beautiful German word called 'Privatsphäre'... and unfortunately it's disappearing... Next step: Reading minds!!!

Hmmm, how about adopting the slogan written on trucks? :D Instead of 'Keep in touch' one says: 'Keep (some) distance'!!! LOL

Distance anyway makes the heart grow fonder! ;)))

Sky is the Limit, till the Earth gives way!

Suddenly I've realised why I like my city so much... or to be precise, the place where I live. It is mainly because of the huge expanse of open space in front, which is so uncommon in metros nowadays... one looks out the window and draws a deep breath... :) coz there's nature right outside the doorstep... makes me wonder:

DO HIGHRISES SIGNIFY GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT?

For me these are suffocating reminders of how much weight we are putting on our mother earth, without being aware of how much she can endure! What if one day the earth's crust crumbles? Hypothetical situation? May be, may be not! Do you know how much weight is safe for your locality, or the land on which your abode stands? According to scientific estimates the earth's crust is like the film of cream (?... Uff, what is 'malai' called in English?!!!) that sets on boiled milk if you let it stand for a few minutes... That is the thickness of the continental crust... the thickness of the oceanic crust is far less than this... am not going to go into scientific details now! ;) One can always google it! LOL ... hmmm, but the main point is that most of us are living on a surface we know nothing about... And yet, we keep on adding storeys to our already tall buildings... trying to outdo nature... building skyscrapers... trying to break each other's record of the tallest building in the city, in the country, in the world... in the process putting undue and unbearable pressure - not only on the landmass, but also on the natural resources of the region... how many people can one particular area sustain? What is the limit? Well, we'll surely know soon, coz the consequences of human idiocity and greed are surfacing one by one... drastically lowering groundwater levels, polluted air, less trees i.e. less fresh air to breathe... we are like the young Kalidas, who was cutting the very branch on which he was sitting! He was saved because of the inspiration of his learned wife and went on to become the greatest Hindi poet... who's our Vidyottama and where is she?!!!

Twist in the tale: As usual I've veered away from the topic... but the new question: Kalidas says: "... as every good householder should include his wife's opinion in every decision'' ... Is that part of the Indian men's psyche? ;)

Hmm, enough blabbering for now... :D It's finally good night time! :)

Sick Post

Imagine you come back home on a Monday, with a burning forehead ... and land in bed for two weeks recuperating from a fever that refuses to go! Well, I used to think that this would be an ideal situation, one would get to rest so much... but after sleeping through the day burning with fever or spending the day like a zombie, not really aware of goings-on around me... I've come to the conclusion that it's not so nice to rest like this! :D

Ahem, the whole monolog above means that one should really take care of one's body... if you don't take enough rest, the body will take it one way or the other! It is also amazing to see how many of us (i.e. I, me, myself!!!) don't do simple things that could make us healthier... I've avoided drinking fluids just because I've been too busy with work... (hang on, juice break happening right now! ;) )

... It is so easy to take care of oneself... LOL isn't it? And yet, so difficult... But being ill puts a lot of things in perspective... :D ... So am glad for this break, really am! :) Back to ze outer world on Monday... where another disease is creating havoc! People were wondering whether I also had swine flu... hmmm, sadly one big symptom was conspicuous by its absence... :D LOL ... Uzzerwise, I'd have been featuring in 24x7 News channels by now!!! LOL

News Channels remind me of, who else, journalists... and I have to admit that I totally detest the kind of journalism happening in today's world... there used to be some ethics, some morals earlier, now all that one is bothered about is the eye-catching headline... Human life was never very precious, despite all claims to the contrary by all and sundry... and now it's been reduced to a peep show of the worst kind... and the journalists are the modern day pests, the leeches, the parasites that survive on the mess left behind by human follies... (If there's no mess to be found, they're fully capable of creating it as well! LOL) ... Suddenly, everyone wants to know everything about everyone else! My God, how aware we have become socially... awesome! Our penchant for juicy bites is surpassed only by our own ever lowering dubious moral standards. Life is only for now, so everyone's interested in living it to the hilt... who cares about tomorrow or the coming generations?!!! And who was that stupid fool, who was planting mango trees in a tale, so that future generations may enjoy the sweet fruit of his labour?!!

Stop... think... why are you here? There must've been some unfinished task that you came back for, right? So, what was it? And have you finished it yet...? I am trying to find mine, I must admit... there are things that no one else could've done, I know... but there are things that could've been done better...

... no time to rest, no time for illnesses... there are promises to keep... and miles to go before I ... can finally put my documents together to file my tax returns! LOL

Midnight mumblings... :D

Hmmm, have been on my feet since morning, have a loooooooooong list of to-do things, have to get up earrrrrrrrrrrrrrrly again tomorrow... so what am I doing here? LOL ... hmmm, trying to jot down a few things that have occupied the prime space in my little mind! ;)

Ok, no preambles, no Einleitung... straight to the point:
Every day we talk A LOT... well, most of us do... (and this is not about only women, men talk as much, if not more! ;D It's just that their vocab is limited at times! LOL ) about other people that is... ;) ... and it's not always about paying compliments to people... What if there were devices everywhere (It is very much possible now!) to overhear your every conversation (as in Big brother and Big boss or numerous other reality shows...) and report it to THE people, whose names you mentioned?!!! ;) Well... in simple words, what if the person about whom you were airing some ahem... thoughts, got to know them exactly as you expressed them? We are definitely not always very diplomatic about how we feel! Such a report will most probably lead to a lot of heated tempers, misunderstandings galore (or clearing of misunderstandings! LOL) and changed behaviour patterns! Am glad that this doesn't happen too often! And even if one does come across such thoughts, are they worth brooding over? Just like that story with the donkey and the man (see PETA, am nice to animals, have written donkey before man! ;) LOL), where the guy wasn't able to please ALL the people ALL the time... I don't think we can either... So the best course of action remains concentrating on all the positives around... and not letting the BIG grin on your face falter... :D ... ok, am mumbling, coz am vellllllllllly sleepy now...


This should be sufficient to confuse people for at least a week! LOL

Chuck that remote!

How many of us believe in physical labour to keep fit? No, I'm not talking about going to the gym and sweating it out... at home, at work ... in our day-to-day activities we avoid bending, walking etc... and try to make life as luxurious and comfortable as possible. Just think of the various devices designed keeping this need in mind! Of course it doesn't pay in the long run... uff... am preaching again! ;) ... but I was reminded of it a few months ago, when I saw a young girl, barely in her teens, trying to pick up something from the floor by sitting on a chair and bending sideways... I asked her to go down on all fours and get it, coz that was the easiest way... but she simply refused!

The other extreme was while watching that fascinating documentary by Michael Wood - The Story of India - ... in one of the parts (It's an amazing 6 part series, am going to watch the 4th and 5th part tomorrow, yipppeeeee! :D ) there is a short focus on traditional ships / boats... and the people rowing it looked extremely fit... so do the labourers toiling away daily. I think the fashion world should choose its models from these... people, who don't need to starve themselves to look waifer thin and in doing so end up looking unhealthy with bones jutting out!!! ;)

Am also not advocating physical labour of this manner for everyone... but maybe it would do us a world of good, if we simply let go of some of the so-called luxuries... How about starting with the TV-remote? ;) ... Imagine getting up everytime you don't like the program on a certain channel? ;) Think of how it'll change our behaviour pattern by making us more patient, trying to pay attention to one thing for a longer period of time! ;) LOL

But then remotes have become an integral part of our day-to-day life now... we are a couch potato generation... with various remotes on our bedside... for AC, for stereo, for lights, for TV, what else... hmmm, the personal robot? ;)

Nothingzzz

Nopes, am not in a mood to blog today either!

Trying to review "Die Vermessung der Welt" by Daniel Kehlmann

Die Vermessung der Welt - Daniel Kehlmann

Am going to write a thesis on this book ! LOL ...Going by how thought provoking (provoking being the keyword! ) it is...Hope it's also available in English...

The biggest provocation for me was the premise of the book: It uses the names of real people and real events and weaves a story around these characters... I was wondering how I would feel if someone were to use my name and my data to write a fictitious story... even if I was long dead and gone! well... Humboldt and Gauß must be turning in their graves, I'm sure! I think, I'd turn around in the atmosphere... and water... and earth! lol

Well... I have to admit here that the book is verrrrry interesting, humorous, entertaining and informative, but even if the word "Novel" is mentioned on the cover page, one can't deny that it is TOTALLY based on the lives of these two great people. How can someone, in the name of "Literary Freedom", use famous names to sell his book? This is why I found the premise verrrrrry disturbing, to say the least! Imagine someone using Tagore and Subhash Chandra Bose for example, to write a work of fiction! There would be an uproar in India!!!

This, of course, led to a discussion with my other colleagues and one of them said:-why not?

me: "What if someone uses YOUR name, YOUR achievements, YOUR LIFE and writes a work of fiction... assigning YOU a personality that HE think YOU have / had... and doesn't even stop before describing YOUR supposed intimate moments? What would YOU think of it?"

...Well, I got an unexpected answer: Why not?! It is again his freedom of expression!

I was now quite upset on being so abnormal and asked: Why does it disturb me so much then?

- Coz you take yourself too seriously!!! (We're here on this earth for a short while and how would it matter to anyone, if someone used someone's name... everything is so fleeting as it is...)

Hmmm, that led me to think even more!!! LOL So, now am learning NOT to take myself too seriously, but have to say again: It does disturb me even now... am still taking myself too seriously! LOL Okay, am yet to evolve and have another goal set for me now! Okays, this is for today, but am not done as yet!

...

Okay, have finally finished the book! And I must say that it is a verrrrrrry interesting one... it completely holds one's interest till the end... making one oblivious to one's surroundings - completely lost in the book! :) Well, I like the subtle humour that steals up on you and ends up in a lasting smile on your face! :) The narrative also paints vivid images on one's mind... as if a picture is unravelling in front of you!

It also made me think whether recognition within one's lifetime is really good for one! Take Humboldt (in this book) for example... After he became VERY well known and went for this so called expedition to Russia, he could not do any research worth its name coz he had to attend numerous parties held in his honour, meet the czar, the noblemen etc... And he was accompanied by a little army of soldiers, who did not let him move at his own free will! What a fate for a renowned explorer!

Anyway, I still maintain that I find the premise of this book disturbing. Though it's good that it leaves many questions unanswered and that makes one look up the real characters and get to know them. But it also does cloud one's perception of these characters (Alexander von Humbolt and Carl Friedrich Gauß) as it is TOTALLY based on their life histories... there is not even a slight attempt to present it as anything else but their stories! And just putting the word "Novel" will not make one not confuse it with the real people!!!

... Hmmm, come to think of it, just how many biographies, or for that matter, autobiographhies contain truth and nothing but the truth? They are highly subjective and might present the events as the author sees them or would LIKE to see them! So, why should I criticize only this attempt? Well...ok, literary freedom or whatever... I think I'm at peace with this book now... if only for a short while till my mind brings up another counter-argument! ;)

Blogging - not my cup of tea... for today! :D

Wonderful Wednesday! :D

Hmm... I guess am not really a blogger... takes a while for me to pursuade myself to write something... It was fine writing a few lines in the orkut profile... but here it becomes sooo mühsam! Well... since I don't have to write...it's great! LOL

So... signing off till I feel like blogging! ;) :D Real life, as it is, is offline! :)))))))))

Samosa sunday, manic monday... terrible / terrific Tuesday ???!!! :D Let's see...

Honey Chilly Potatoes

This one is a contribution of my dear sister... :) ... who is also an excellent cook... wonder what happened to my genes! ;) LOL

Ingredients:

Potatoes (of course!) - 1 kg (?!!! ... well it is not my recipe, so allllll Credit goes to my shishter! ;) )

(this is for 10 people supposedly or for people with a verrrrry healthy appetite!)

Honey - 3-4 tbsp

Chilly flakes - acc to taste (helpful advice: avoid adding spoonfulls! ;) )

Salt - acc to taste (same advice applies here as well!)

Oil - for frying purposes (she says you should have an idea how much this should be!!! I don't!!! Good luck with this recipe!!!)

Recipe:

Step 1: Dice the potatoes into 1x1 inch cubes and fry them till they turn golden brown.

Step 2: Take them out and put them on a kitchen tissue to get rid of excess oil.

Step 3: Mix honey, chilly flakes and salt in ze (zis iz ze german tinge... :D ) potatoes.

Step 4: Garnish it with coriander and eat your fill before serving it, coz very little gets left for you afterwards... this observation is based on my personal experience... can vouch for it! :(

All ze best! ;)

Lauki (Ghiya) ka Chheelan

Ok, here's another one... specially for Namita, who requested me to add this next and for Sukriti, who keeps on asking me, if she needs to buy bottle gourd for me, so that I get this dish cooked!!! :D and of course for everyone else, who loves it... :)

Lauki ka Chheelan

Ingredients:
Bottle gourd (lauki) - 1 kg
Gram flour (besan) - 2 tbsp
Red Chilly Powder (laal mirch) - 1 tsp
Asafoetida (heeng) - 1 pinch
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder (haldi) - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Recipe:

Peel the bottle gourds with a knife, not with a peeler, because the peel has to be thicker than usual for this dish. (You can prepare the bottle gourds as well...that will be another dish, for this one, you only need the peel.) Cut the peel in small pieces, to be precise, 0.5cm x 1 cm (the width can vary, but the length should not be more than o.5 cm! Wow, what precision! :D ) Boil it and strain it as much as possible.

Roast gram flour till it's light brown and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add asafoetida, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, the boiled and strained peel and add the roasted gram flour to it. Now add salt and chilly powder and let it cook on a low flame for about 10 minutes.

Voíla, the Chheelan is ready! Enjoy! :)

Kali Gaajar ki Kaanji - A winter speciality :)

So finally am inspired to blog! ;) All thanks to ma ! :)

She's a great cook (and a great sport as one can see in the photo! :D) and I don't want her recipes to be lost. As far as I am concerned, I've been a less than frequent guest in the kitchen! So am crossing my fingers and jotting down the recipe... All the best! :)

Here's her recipe for

Kali Gaajar ki Kaanji:

Ingredients:


Black/Purple Carrots - 0.5 kg
Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp
Canola / Mustard Seeds (rai/ sarson) - 50 gm
Turmeric powder (haldi) - 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder (laal mirch) - 3-4 tsp
Salt - 10 tsp
Water - 5.5 l



Recipe:

Peel the carrots, wash them and cut them in small pieces (to be precise: 1x4 cm). Blanch the pieces for about 5 minutes and then add canola/mustard seeds, chilly powder, salt, turmeric and 1 tbsp mustard oil. Once the mixture cools down, put it in a glass jar and keep it in the sun for 4-5 days.

Taste and see if you've succeeded! ;)


Happy cooking! :)))