Where's mine ?

She warned me - “Raje, you have never made mooli paratha, it’s not as easy as aloo paratha”.
I laughed… What? I wouldn’t be good with a paratha? I??
So I made the stuffing, and was all set to make the paratha… the best radish parathas ever! I had to make about ten - not a big deal really! I started, overconfidence stabbed me in the back, and I screwed up! The first two were nothing short of a disaster! How does mom do it? So perfectly, so tasty, so oil-free and yet so yummy? I tried, this time, a little differently, and – Not bad – This one was good, except, it was pale (one out of ten) compared to moms! And then Mom came, almost laughed up her sleeve, trying not to let down all that confidence oozing out of the dabbler, and showed me the tricks. And perfect - I got the next few right!

A good cook always adds love. Maybe that’s why, I always keep the best ones on the top, and up for grabs. But this time, self-love came first, and I so wanted to taste the better ones, just to see if they were like moms (of course, what did you think? I wouldn’t eat for myself :P). One tangerine, one orange and I would be done with the juice, to dive into my paratha’s. Sadly, when I was done, the last two awful ones remained, and I shoved them down my throat with lots of water!! We could have managed with a turkey or something for Christmas !!

Edit - Due to popular demand -
Raje - Used in Punjabi, to generally refer to a pampered little one.

Six days of grandeur...

Loads of food and gifts, the bridal trousseau, diamond and silk draped aunts, and lots of kids – There I was, in the “City of Joy”, Kolkata, at the Big Fat Indian Wedding. Being a Punjabi, I mostly know what grand weddings are all about, but this one made my jaws drop. Everyone, and when I say everyone, I mean, just about anyone, was dressed like it’s his/her own wedding!!! Suddenly, mine felt like acceptable work attire! And worse still, for some reason my sweet tooth betrayed me big time - in Kolkata of all cities! Every time I reached the sweets section - the famous sweets of Kolkata, remember? - I was left with an “Oh they look so heavy” feeling. Maybe that was just the true blue Bangalorean response.

Since I was there for the wedding and the wedding alone, I didn’t have time to see around the city. But I have a lasting impression of the city with the old Victorian looks to it. The tall buildings, the traffic cops dressed in white, in the forties style, remind one of the bygone era. The city is indeed frozen in time. And that’s what makes it so distinct. I really then felt, that the city doesn’t need re-modelling. When discussing Kolkata, I cannot fail to mention the “oh so daring” Cab drivers. I had gone to meet my Cousin, one out of those six days, and for some reason we decided to watch goal. Two of his roommates and the both of us, took the cab, and what a journey it was! It seemed like ages in a Cab at a speed of eighty or ninety kmph. The drivers defy any concept of a two-way road. They take you as close to death and then take a steep curve off it! And man, I was driven to the edge; I said my last prayers too! They particularly love to play with the dividers; they’ll zoom and rip till about a foot or two away from the divider, and just when you think you have taken your last breath, hell, you are jolly well back on to the right side of the road!

My best experience was a barge party on the Hoogli River below the Howrah Bridge. That apart, I did some pretty daring things, like walk out at 2.a.m (just a few steps, but that’s still daring by my standards!), only on the assurance that Kolkata is a safe city. I’m sure they just said that to me in view of my paranoid mind! After this visit, one thing is for sure - mine is going to be a court marriage!

Crowned Champions

Finally a WORLD CUP after 24 years !!! Indians just clinched a five-run victory in what was by far the most nerve wracking match !!

Read this post for more

I just had to express how happy I'am :)

Found my way back here...

Too many thoughts, one just racing to beat the other, and finally, the curtains fall… you never know who won.

I live a paradigm shift, and I believe I’ll emerge victorious, cause I still haven’t been shaken enough to change my truth, my basic value, and the principles that drive me. That should be just about enough to leap from the precipice :)

Working insane hours, and if work spared me any time, spending all of it with people around - catching movies and doing everything that I always thought I did not have time to do, returning home at crazy hours, I was left with a yearning for a slower rhythm. It was time to take the much-awaited break! I demanded a three day leave, I got it with great higgle haggle, but no guilt trips what so ever. :) I left work Friday evening (with loads of movies on my laptop), and it’s been great so far…

I watched a Kannada play for the first time – Heegadre hege. It’s cool, and funny, and I cannot understand one bit of Kannada when spoken in its purest form, only a familiar word here and there would do me the favour of “contextual understanding”. Apart from that, I got all of it! Caught up with a silly movie, and did some courtesy calls. Just pure timepass is fun sometimes :P Try it !

That’s all for now…

Ballerina please

I went around the entire city, starting 6 '0' clock in the evening , and NO, not a single pair of appealing Ballerina shoes!!!!! What has this city come to...

Entering my house at 10.30, without those shoes, has inevitably been one of the most depressing moments of my life...(as I painfully learn to live with it)

(By the way check out the graffiti I made brunga on facebook :P)

Just a few clicks...

Way to kushalnagar



Beautiful Kodagu ...



Namdroling monastery

And the Way back...

Whatever...

I don't wanna know, I don't wanna hear = 128 * 120

This was in my dreams today, while I was taking a short nap!!
I thought every dream is connected to one's own reality! Boy! I must have been terribly wrong...

[I won't encourage comments saying I'm some psycho/nerd who needs a psychiatrist :P ]