Unloading my think tank...

I have been so inundated with work and stuff at home, that I am not able to post about my vacation. And when I do have the time, I prefer reading, talking and blogging - in that order.

Some pics:

Darn! The website ain't opening... forget it. I'll do it from home or something like that.

I went to the restroom before lunch and the cleaning lady (who never fails to talk with me) asks me why am I not wearing saree these days to office. Pleasantly surprised, I told her that its raining and I'm afraid I'll get saree all muddy. She agreed, but added that I should wear the saree often, as I look beautiful in it. I smiled. She then complimented me on my hair, saying its really thick and smooth. I thanked her. She proceeded to ask me who I live with (and was surprised to know that I am married), how and what do I cook, how do I commute, whats my age etc. etc.

I ended up going 30 mins late for lunch, and somehow it all seemed okay. Okay to have someone to talk to :-)

Our office is observing Eco Week this whole week. Events are:

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Photo contest - photos must be of nature, widlife, flora etc. Prizes galore for winners!

Eco products on sale - Bags, photo frames, even body care products that are fully herbal.

Screening of An Inconvenient Truth.
***

I'm taking part in the photo contest, and buying some of the products. Of course, something eco, and me not involved in it?! Never :)

As for another thing - I'm planning to wear green all this week to work :) Howzzat for some more support?!

I'm back! From my lovely honeymoon! Wanna know what places I went to? C'mon, you know you want to... heh heh

Leh
Manali
Chandigarh
Delhi

Want to know what other places we passed/paid short visit to? Its a long list... and needless to say, I'll post about it and put up pics too! Lets just say we were in the nature's lap - saw snow capped mountains, the Indus river, an inland sea!, an attractive hill, monastries, waterfalls, pine trees (lots of 'em!), green mountains, Rohtang Pass, Pathhar Saheb, and well what do you know, even Saif Ali Khan!! And also mules and yaks! ;) :D

It'll be slower, since this is blocked at work from now on (DARN!)... but hopefully should finish writing in a day or two :)

The week just whizzed by like that didn't it? Seems like Monday was just yesterday... Anyways, the author begs your pardon for being a total arse yesterday; she does let the moods take over sometimes. I assure you the occurrence will be rare. And so does the author.

I had quite a lot on my plate to complete (and I still do), but I'm stuck in the rut. With my team lead in US, it becomes ever so hard to co-ordinate with him. I understand he and the manager over there need the work done asap, but when I reach a dead-end, well, I've reached a dead-end. Can't get anywhere from there. I feel so bad; next week I'm on vacation and I hope my team lead doesn't have to bear the brunt. I made the changes he'd asked me to, took the new files, compiled the shit (with the server in bg.). But nothing ever happens, and I wonder... (line stolen from Lemon Tree :D ) So I went ahead and completed some other work, thinking I'll get back to this later, and now I see that my server's gone kaput! God help me now! You're doomed! says my inner voice. *sigh*

Oh Jesus Christofani! The server's up again! I did some tweaks here and there, and now its up and running! Let me get back to my work and see how's it going...

To be continued...

Part 2

Work continues, with no result. Motherfucking exceptions, I hate 'em!

Took appointment from the eye doctor. Bloody Herpes Zoster. Its still troubling me and my eye. Its been almost a year (I got the goddamn thing in Nov. last) and I'm still on eye drops, and my eye seems blur at times. If I close my other good eye, it seems like I'm looking at things through a transparent sheet, or a watery surface - everything appears blur and liquid-y. It scares me. Eyes are so precious, you wouldnt want a thing to happen to 'em. Pray for me, I hope all turns out fine at the doc's tomorrow *fingers crossed*

Oh shoot, that reminds me, I havent put in afternoon dose of the eye drops! Note to self: Be more careful and do NOT miss the dosage next time.

I'll go eat snacks in a little while.

Come to my office canteen if you want to eat sandwiches of the shittiest variety.

My friend with whom I go to snacks with, is a very toughy person. She touches my shoulder, hands, pokes my waist (what the hell) - and that really makes me uncomfortable. But she's really really nice. No unnecessary attitude-throwing or any of that horseshit.

My team mate was kind enough to let me eat the contents of his lunchbox. Tasty food.

*breathe in breathe out, breathe in breathe out* relax...

Okay people, time to go. Be good, do good :)

Oh and another thing, I'm going to watch Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix tonight! Super duper excited!

Should I write whats on my mind? Should I pour out how I feel? Or is it necessary that I write only happy stuff? If I write about something thats hurt me, made me feel unloved, do I write it here or not, fearing when I come back and re-read it, it might bring back the exact feelings? The very feelings which I wanted to let go...

I want to be me. Sounds easy doesnt it? Sometimes, the simplest of things seem so hard.

I'm not feeling too good ... hate being in a shit mood like this.

Thought for the day - "Life sucks and then we die." (read it somewhere on the Internet).

Me obviously! Who else would even come close?! I'm so cool that the word cool was invented when the world witnessed how cucumber-ily cool I was, and still am of course.

Yea I'm in a jolly-good-sing-a-song mood!

What happened was... umm ok from start. Me and the husband came back from our long weekend and we had amazing fun on the way back. The train journey was fun and though it (the train) was almost empty, we played and yapped like 'twas nobody's business!

First up, we played... umm whats that game called? That silly ass game where you make a lot of dots - looks like square/rectangle filled with dots separated by spaces. Get the drift? Like this -

. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .

There can be as many dots as you wish. Then, each takes turn to connect a pair of dots - horizontal or vertical. One pair at a time. When you connect a pair such that its a square (all 4 dots connected), thats a house and you get a point. Num. points = num houses. I know, silly game. But its interesting once you start playing it. I used to play this a lot when in school, tee hee :D

So we played this game and it rocked! I won with 39 points/houses and the husband, 38! Hah! Loser :P You should've seen him sulk, such fun.

Then we played tic-tac-toe. Yea, another school game. The husband, wounded from the last game's defeat, cheated and won 1 out of 5 games. Rest, draw. Hmmph.

It was getting late, so we decided to pull our blankets and hit the sack. But neither of us wanted to sleep, so we played "The Personality Game". One person thinks of someone famous, and the other should ask 10 questions (that can be answered with yes or no only) and should guess the personality. 3 guesses also allowed too. We took turns to play this game.

The husband goes first - I got that one. His was Laloo Prasad Yadav. How predictable since we were sitting in the train! Have some creativity man geez.
He also thought of Rooney (Wayne Rooney - no. 8, Manchestah Yoonited), Hilary Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Arundhati Roy, Selvar Mani (from the movie Sarkar, really!), and few others. I got them all except Hilary and Monica. I know, I'm cool.

And when it was my turn, I came up with such good names; the husband had a though time guessing the right personality. Salman Rushdie, Trinny Woodall, Rupali Ganguly, Bobby Darling HAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHHAHAAH :)) The husband got almost all. Then there was one which was really difficult but I have to give it him, he got the answer right. This is how it went -

The Husband - Male?
Me - Nope.
TH - Indian?
Me - Yes.
TH - Entertainment Industry?
Me - No.
TH - Politics.
Me - No.
TH - Singer?
Me - I said No for entertainment industry, didnt I?
TH - Does she write?
Me - Yea, when she's free.
TH - Is she below 30?
Me - Yes of course!
TH - YOU?!!!
Me - CORRECT!!

Hahahahahahah it was so fun watching the expression on his face at that time! I told you I'm cool. Then I told him that now he cant start thinking of other realtives like Bombaywali buaji or Jamshedpurwali buaji hehheh, only I can ;) Also, when he'd have asked just 3 or 4 questions, I'd warn him, "Ok 9 questions over, you have only one left." What?!, cries the husband :))

Then, when we met my sister (I abosultely love her), she kept asking me stories about how we met, did we sneak out and meet often (before getting married, of course), did we travel to meet each other, did we stay together etc. (yep we Indians are very nosey). "Tell me everything in detail!", she commanded. I tried to answer all her eager questions as calmly as possible, censoring info wherever needed. But the husband kept prodding and nudging, "tell her about the time I came to see you when your mom was out of town", "tell her about the time when you came to pick me up at the airport and the flight got delayed and we ended up missing the last train home and stood at the bus stop drinking coffee at 2 AM", "and tell her that you split the coffee on my pants", "tell her when I came to see you when your mom was at your uncles' place", "tell her about how we went to the secluded beach and got fully wet", "tell her how I gave you a piggyback ride when you got a shoe bite", "tell her how we watched movies at your place till early morning". SHHHHHH! She's my kid sister!
But it was actually sweet seeing him talk about those days with that sparkle in his eyes - yep, there lies love :)

This morning, we went to play tennis. After that we went to the beach and drank coconut water (mmmm my favorite drink). The husband's was sweeter than mine, so he offered me his and says, "You take this". I found that really, really sweet :)

And I bought Rs. 6000/- worth sportswear "sports lifestyle" wear from PUMA. They've got some kickass stuff. Very fashionable - suits me just fine. And I let my purse strings and myself go loose :D Retail therapy always helps. And I'm not saying only when you are feeling the blues ;)

I am back from a whirlwind trip to the place where I did my schooling, higher education, made best friends, and prepared myself to face the world on my own.

Life, was so peaceful back then. I lived a sheltered life, and was happy to be like that. As I walked through those familiar streets, I could see myself going to school, being scared as I walked into my class on first day of college, laughed nervously when professor asked if I meddled with the titration experiments, haggled with friends to get the last bench, sipped tea in the canteen, mugged the fat books, fought with my best friend, worked hard to get good marks, and cried as seniors teased me because I had thick eyebrows and didnt use to thread them back then. Fug those mofos, I could care less.

I wonder now, now that I know how my life has shaped, if I could go back at all and change what I was. Or would/will be. Maybe I would still make the same mistakes I made. Or maybe I'd never fight with L and be thick as thieves even now. Maybe I'd go ahead and still be the same me, but much much stronger, and more confident. Maybe I'd go back and take part in that elocution contest, or didnt listen to my mom and went ahead and took part in the fashion show. Maybe I fought my inner self and took those Bharatnatyam classes while in school. Maybe I'd really be followingmy dream and be a journalist, and for life of me not be one of the many fish in the IT well that I am now. Maybe, just maybe, I'd change just one day in my growing up years and that would change everything.

Life can be such a load of crap at times. Or maybe it just seems so. Maybe we take it too seriously, not enjoy, and long before we know life goes by in a flash and you are now dead. But, does it really matter in the end? We leave everything behind - the very thing we lived for.

Really, there are times when I cant be bothered. And then there are times like this. If only it'd be simple, with answers served on a silver platter!

I have to admit I suprise myself more than anyone else after I've eaten something that I've cooked myself. Whats more, the surprise doubles when the dish turns out real good, which is always *patting my own back*

The deal is, I havent been much into cooking and trying out recipes. I guess I couldnt be bothered. But not anymore. I like to try out new recipes and wow the husband and make my momma proud. She used to tell me, "You should really at least step inside the kitchen once in a while; it'll do you good." (Of course, I never listened to her)
But now, when I gush over the phone what I cooked and how I did it and what praises I got, she's one happy momma :)

Also, once I come home, I hardly get the time to cook. I slouch in front of the TV or go to my room and stitch, before dinner. But lately I've realised that if I want to do something, there IS time for it. So when I bought palak (spinach) last weekend, I thought to myself, I will cook palak paneer. (paneer = tofu cheese).

I did! Last night! How did it turn out? Well lets just say no one touched anything that the cook prepared ;) Here's the receipe:

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Ingredients:

4 Green Cardomoms

3 Dalchinis

4 Cloves

4 medium-sized tomatoes

2 medium-sized onions, chopped fine

3-4 green chillies

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed

1 tsp ginger paste (or ginger, peeled and mashed)

2-3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

2.5 tbsp curd

3 cupfuls of palak leaves (roughly about 300-400 gms)

1 tsp red chilli powder

2-3 pinches of Kasuri Methi

10-15 paneer cubes

Salt, to taste

Serves: 4

Cooking time: 20-25 mins.

Method:

Wash the palak leaves thoroughly, and into smaller sizes.

Add green chillies and grind in mixer; until its a fine paste. Keep aside.

Heat the ghee in a pan for 2 mins.

Add the cardomoms (discard the skin), cloves and dalchini.Heat and stir for 2-3 minutes.

Add the onions and mashed garlic and saute until golden brown.

Add the ginger paste and heat again.

Grate the tomatoes for fresh tomato puree (yea, thats how I make and use puree!) and add it to the pan. Stir until fat leaves the sides.

Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and stir. Leave for a minute.

Add the palak paste and kasuri methi powder and stir continuously.

Add salt and stir again.

Add the paneer cubes, cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 minutes until the paneer is soft and takes in the gravy.

Open the lid, add curd and stir.

Serve with hot rotis!

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You can also use vegetable or any other cooking oil instead of ghee, but I prefer ghee क्युकी देसी घी में बनाए खाने कि खुशबु और स्वाद, क्या कहने! Translated for S*, it means, "The aroma and taste of (mainly, Indian) food cooked in clarified butter is something to relish!"


PS: Pic helps, I know. I'll remember to post pics of the dish next time around when I post a recipe here!

Al Gore revealed it on Friday night. Me, the husband and a friend went to watch the movie. Its a splendid attempt to awaken the masses to the threat of global warming. He's based the movie on facts, and scientists back him. There are claims that there are scientists that dont, but that only means they need to be educated.

For me, global warming is anything but a hype, a myth. Its real, its something thats extremely subtle - happening around us, and the sooner we act, the better. He explains the level of greenhouse gases in the environment, how it has and will lead to temperature increase, melting of ice glaciers in the Antarcticas, the unnatural floods, famines, tsumanis, hurricanes - unless we do something about it.

Imagine this - (forget about the movie and lets focus on facts here, facts that you and I are a part of) There has been population boom in the post WW-II era. Though I was born in early 1980s, I *do know* that the population worldwide has risen. So has the economy, the automobile industry is flourishing like never before. Most families have at least 2 means of transport - one of them usually a car. Most run on petrol or other fossil fiels. Most of us dont take the bus anymore and use our cars for travel. The population needs a place to live and so lots of houses being built - sometimes even making space for it by deforestation. Industralization also is a reason for deforestation. We need jobs, so huge buildings are built by encroaching upon agricultural land for the purpose.

Look close, isnt the environment bearing the brunt here? The Himalayan glaciers is fast melting, the 10 hottest years since 1880 have been in the last 14 years, Antarctic ice cores have more CO₂ concentration that in the last 6,50,000 years.

He cities an example of a frog - put one in a boiling hot water and it'll jump right out, but put it in luke warm water and slowly increase the temp., it'll stay right there. Even when the water starts boiling, it stays. Unless, someone rescues it, someone takes it out. He says these is what is happening with us. We should do something about it right away, rather than the effect actually happening and then we trying to reverse the irreversible.

About the film - a critic says, "You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.". 'Nuff said. And dont forget to check out the article on wiki by the same name.


Peace out.