चुकली दिशा तरीही... : Day#30/30

Last day! :)
Want to post this poem, by  Vinda Karandikar, just to keep reminding myself...

Loosely translated the poem means :

(I had to google and think quite a bit for the equivalent words...translation is a difficult task! Promise, I won't laugh at Google translate the next time around ;-) )

"All is not lost; even though the way is lost;
For a wanderer, every star is his friend.

I walk ahead, because I want to go on;
In the stupor of this pace, the roads seem all alike.

For those who fear the storms, I have this to say :
Once you break the sails, all winds are favourable!

I have torn the fate mapped by proud destiny;
And embers of the past now lie extinguished.

Even if you lose the way, you still stand under the same sky,

One who realizes this, can go anywhere.

Hope and hopelessness matter to the cautious;
The unguarded need not fear these cinders..."

Image taken from somewhere on the Internet

Margins : Day#29/30

The second last post! #Almost there :)

My desktop calender says this today :

Time to look at the 'margins' in life.
After all, they hold the most important lessons! ;-)

Motifs : Day#28/30

I dragged PP to a संस्कार भारती (sanskaar bharati) rangoli basic workshop, organized by मराठी संस्कृतिक मंडळ, IITB this weekend.

And PP being the sweetheart that she is, came along even though she had done the workshop last year :P

Credit for all the pics goes to her and her HTC ;-)

I wanted to write a post on "motifs", but am too tired to write a long drawn post, especially after an afternoon spent standing and sweltering in the heat of StaffC. 

Post takeaway :  A fixed number of "standard" motifs can give you unique awesome designs if you combine them correctly! ;-)

The teacher taught us basic five motifs that make up the main components of a संस्कार भारती rangoli : बिंदू (dots), vertical and horizontal रेषा (lines), केन्द्रवर्धिनी (we called it jalebi since its easier to remember) and गोपद्म (the heart-like symbol, traditionally used to represent a cow's hoofs). He drew these :

5 basic motifs

These were the first dots I made, so haphazard that PP decided they were 'pic-worthy' ;-)

Dots 101

Practice made us a lot better :

Practice! :)

Ganpati

Some pattern

And we graduated to "inventing" bigger and better designs :

butterfly

peacock

Another pattern me and PP made : 

SquareD :)

This was the rangoli made by all the participants (with groups of 6 completing each motif) Hardly took ~15 mins to complete!! B-)

Overall, two weekend afternoons well spent :)

My Fav People : Day#27/30

Love these people!
Blessed to have them in my life! :)

Including the person who clicked this : RT! :)

When in doubt... : Day#26/30

Idea courtesy : PP.
She fwded me this pic :

Then sent a whole lot of "When in doubt..." quotes from here
Extremely hilarious...

When in doubt, don't.
~Benjamin Franklin

When in doubt, take more time.
~John Zimmerman

When in doubt, use brute force.
~Ken Thompson

When in doubt, tell the truth.
~Mark Twain

When in doubt, mumble.
~James H. Boren

Combine above two, and you get :
When in doubt, mumble the truth? ;-)

When in doubt, do something.
~Harry Chapin

When in doubt, throw it out.
~Jeremy Jackson

When in doubt, exchange.
~John Zimmerman

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself.
~Cynthia Heimel

This is as good as :
When in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.
~Laurence J. Peter

When in doubt wear red.
~Bill Blass

Probably, this author didn't like red much :
When in doubt, go with black.
~Leigh Lezark

When in doubt, sing loud.
~Robert Merrill

When in doubt, take the next small step.
~Paulo Coelho

When in doubt, take a selfie :P
~don't know the author

When in doubt, google it out! (seems legit ;) )
~don't know the author

I'd say :
When in doubt, stay doubtful !! ;-)
(I looked it up, no one's said it yet...probably because it doesn't make sense when you are in doubt...but that's only going to take you in recursive circles of thought :P)

When in doubt, what do you do??

PS: PP says,  When in doubt, you can always turn towards the sea. :)

Inked! : Day#25/30

I have skipped almost an entire week and it's also the nearing of the 30 day challenge too...promise I will post the missing ones soon enough!

I have had my own reasons for skipping writing - a code freeze looming up @office and (the real reason!) I was busy 'wolfing' down (pun intended!) book 2 of the Game of Thrones series.  ;-)

Simply UNPUTDOWNABLE :P Superbly brilliant.
I just finished reading it and so so wish I could just run to my library and get the third book ASAP - which surely is the first thing I'll do tomorrow morning - just hope its not issued already...
It took all my willpower to not carry the book to office, or call in sick this week :P and when I did live in 'our' real world, and not in the land of Westeros :P, I remembered I had to travel home to fulfill a "voting" duty as well :)

To be honest, I am never one to hotly debate and take sides - pro-AAP, anti-Congress, Modi-fied, etc etc, but, whether to vote for the MP candidate in the area, or look at the party's PM candidate and vote for the party rather than the candidate, is one issue I thought a lot about and also discussed a lot @home, with friends...

Some interesting links : this, this, this and this cartoon...

My take :
The MP usually doesn't have much budget to spend on the constituency and is more concerned with representing his people @the national level, so if you would want someone to "look after" local issues, he's not the one to hanker after - the MLA or the Corporator is the one more likely to be actively involved.
For the purpose of Loksabha elections, just thinking a MP candidate is good, he'll do "good work" in the constituency is not enough. We would need to look at the bigger picture - the party's PM candidate as well.

Luckily, the BJP-ShivSena candidate, this time around in my constituency, is quite a "clean", highly educated, young candidate (at least at face value).
So a part of me thinks since the candidate is good, and their high profile PM candidate could prove to be good (although I'm not ready to believe him entirely innocent of the Godhra carnage and he obviously is no magician or a "saviour" as many claim. Also, I think the "Har Har Modi...Ghar Ghar Modi" line is in very poor taste too, but a leader who will speak his mind, who will take a stand will be a welcome change), it wouldn't hurt to support them.

That said, it does not mean I disrespect Mr. Manmohan Singh...I agree the man might have not "stood up" to his party president and he was much better as a FM than a PM, appeared 'meek' and all that, but he's an extremely intelligent economist and we have to respect that fact.
And the way the social media and the people at large make fun of him and his "silence" is really pathetic - people who don't know a thing about governance and economics and party politics assume they have freedom to take digs and pot shots at him - just because he hasn't bothered to lash back at them.
Seriously, give the man a break. I'm sure history will be more kind to him, as they say...

But, I digress.
The point is - one part of me wants to vote for the new clean well educated MP + dynamic PM combo, while the other half is pro-AAP.

I fear that if "we, the people" don't give AAP a chance this time, "we, the people" (not AAP!) might never get a second chance the next time around - AAP or no AAP. And that would be really really bad.
We can be sure the "big fish" out there would make sure no future "small fish" try to rise and oppose them next time. Read this, if you haven't already.

Although I was upset over all the Delhi drama that unfolded and hope they have better governing sense the next time around, it would really be a pity if the AAP "movement" fizzles out for lack of public support. Which makes me lean a bit towards them and wonder if I should shout "Accio, broomstick" today ;-) ( !(original) joke, read it somewhere :) )

Anyways, I hope I'll sort out the confusion and make up my mind by the time I get to the poll booth :)

PS: I did make up my mind. Of course am not posting my decision here!
Here's my vote selfie :)

PPS: On a lighter note, this faking news doing the rounds on fb is hilarious :P

Wordless Wednesday : Day#24/30

Clicked at Gulmarg, June 2013

Earth Day : Day#23/30

April 22nd is celebrated as the Earth Day.

Here are a few things _you_ can do to help :
1. Carry a cloth bag to buy veggies/groceries. Always keep one in your purse/laptop backpack, so it's easily accessible.
I really really hate it when someone next to me in the store buys a small packet of maggi, or a few eggs, or a single shampoo/oil bottle and asks for a plastic bag. Please please please do not ask for plastic bags. We already have enough of them :-|

2. When travelling, carry tickets on SMS, opt for e-statements from your bank. Avoid printing unless absolutely essential. And if you are printing, print on both sides, or reuse some old single sided printed paper.

3. Recycle newspapers, glass bottles and small metal objects. Your kabadiwalla /raddiwalla will gladly give you some money in return.  Also most Nokia care stores have drop boxes to recycle e-waste. Drop your old, broken, unusable cell phone parts, batteries, headphones, chargers there; instead of dumping them into the normal garbage bin.

4. We use smart phones, its time we get smart with our garbage as well. Segregate. Wet and dry garbage. PMC has made it mandatory, but even in other cities, seperate the wet and dry trash.
How will it help if it ultimately is going in the same collective bin, you ask? Well, compost your wet waste. And recycle the dry waste - paper, metal, glass and ewaste should never reach landfills. They can be reused if we dispose them correctly - to the kabadiwalla, raddiwalla, ewaste collectors etc. You'll end up reducing the amount you actually"throw away" and the Earth (also your children!) will thank you for it.

5. Like I said earlier, compost your wet waste. Here's an amazing site to tell you all about home composting and how you can do it quite easily.  They also sell products and provide support that makes composting much easier!

6. Please please please avoid using plastic cups and stirrers at office. Get your own mug for coffee. It's time you used that fancy mug (often you'll have more than one, am sure!) you've got as a gift!! :P  Invest in a funky water bottle and keep one @your desk rather than using a plastic cup every time you want to drink water.

7. Ever seen someone in a BMV/Audi or some such "posh" car driving ahead at full speed, only to go a few feet ahead,  and fling garbage (fruit skins/chips packets/plastic bags/even beer bottles and baby diapers!) from their "posh" windows? Quickest way to turn admiration to disgust, if you ask me.
Keep a small (yeah plastic! works just fine) bag or an old newspaper with you at all times so you could dump your trash in it, in case there's no trash can easily available.
There's no shame in carrying the empty coffee cups/chips packets you/your friends had (yeah, the chips/biscuits/chocolate your friend ate and didn't share, counts too!)
Simply carry them in a bag until you find a garbage bin, or dump them when you reach home. This applies to chips packets, biscuit wrappers you buy and eat in trains/buses as well... Please don't throw them out of the bus or train window... If you buy tea and think it's too messy to carry the cup, and you're too lazy to remember that trains have a dustbin that's located near the wash basin, then at the minimum keep the empty cup beneath the seat, but please don't throw it out the window. I really think Indian railways must come up with a "The window is not a dustbin" campaign. People unfortunate enough to sit next to me and trying to throw stuff have already gotten doses of unasked for advice :-P

8. Fix your broken/leaky taps immediately.  Read this awesome story for inspiration and remember the man the next time you get too lazy to call the plumber on Sunday mornings. :P

9. Donate your old clothes to some charity. Donate old toys to an orphanage or just give them to your neighbour's kids. Circulate books you've already read amongst your friends and relatives. Borrow books you want to read from a library. Reuse.
Remember to teach children there's no shame in using second hand stuff. Teach them to be proud of the fact that they will send less stuff to the landfills.  It's a consumerist world, and we need more people who will think twice (may be thrice or even more!) and look for reuse opportunities before actually "buying stuff" :|

10.  Use water sparingly. Skip baths ;-) (It's one excuse to give to mom the next time she pesters you to leave the Sunday morning newspaper and hurry for a bath :P)

11. Be wise with electricity. Use it _only_ when you actually need it. Look for natural cooling options this summer. वाळ्या चे पडदे (curtains made from a certain kind of grass that cools and gives out a pleasant fragrance when its wet) is a grander option than any AC you'll find in the market. Wiki knows वाळा too :P.
Think about having staircase lights with sensors in your building, so they are ON only when needed.


Happy Earth Day people!!

Image sourced from somewhere on the Internet

Remember, every small act counts in the quest towards a greener planet.
Lets give our dear darling Earth more reasons to smile :)

My Experiments with Food - II : Day#22/30

Making Lunch when Mom is away.
Decided to make stuffed tomatoes, a la Hostel 11 dinner special. ;-)

Here's how I made it. I really don't follow measurements and hence am not giving them here as well. As my Mom says, "अंदाजे घाल" (put as per what you think is right)

The pre-preparation :

1. Chop off a little disc from the top of all tomatoes, keep them aside.
2. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp and keep that aside too.

For the stuffing :
1. Mash together boiled potatoes and green peas, finely chopped onions. Add a little ginger garlic paste, salt, chilli powder, haldi, garam masala, jeera + coriander powder as per taste.

For the gravy :
1. Grind together some cashews, dry red chillies, coriander leaves, the tomato pulp scooped out earlier, salt, green chillies (if you want it more spicy), a teeny tiny amount of sugar, jeera, ginger, some black pepper, lavang, a tiny dalchini stick. Add some water, as per liking.

Actual preparation :
1. Stuff the mixture in the tomatoes and cover it with the "lid" we had cut off earlier and keep aside.
1. Heat some oil in a kadhai, add the gravy and stir till it becomes a little reddish brown.
You could add a little water and adjust the spices if you think it's needed...
2. Slowly add the stuffed tomatoes to the gravy, taking care the "lids" don't open and spill over.
3. Cover the kadhai and allow them to cook for some time, no need to "stir occasionally" ;-) :-P
4. Garnish with chopped coriander and a little cream if you wish to...
5. Done!
6. //TODO : Test this on Rohit  ;-)

Stuffed Tomatoes

PS : Apparently, it wasn't bad, Rohit survived :-P
PPS : The leftovers actually ended up tasting much better the next day  ;-)

Faith : Day#21/30

Faith!

Img source  : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/124693483406603895/

Kintsukuroi : Day#20/30

I'm writing Day20-24 posts a bit later than they were supposed to be written, all because of the GoT addiction ;-)
Writing these missing posts feels so much like those school times when we were supposed to write one paragraph and do 10 sums per day for Diwali homework. I usually ended up doing the entire week's (or the fortnight's) homework in a single day (yeah, just the day before school reopened ;) ) :D :D
This seems so much like that!

Came across this photo and it just had to go on the blog :

Here's the wiki page for Kintsukuroi (pronounced as keen-tsoo-koo-roy), the Japanese art of mending objects with gold lacquer.

“	Not only is there no attempt to hide the damage, but the repair is literally illuminated... a kind of physical expression of the spirit of mushin....Mushin is often literally translated as “no mind,” but carries connotations of fully existing within the moment, of non-attachment, of equanimity amid changing conditions. ...The vicissitudes of existence over time, to which all humans are susceptible, could not be clearer than in the breaks, the knocks, and the shattering to which ceramic ware too is subject. This poignancy or aesthetic of existence has been known in Japan as mono no aware, a compassionate sensitivity, or perhaps identification with, [things] outside oneself.	”
~Christy Bartlett, Flickwerk The Aesthetics of Mended Japanese Ceramics

The thought is so amazing - that things are more beautiful for having been broken...

Extrapolate this to life...Sometimes we stumble, life deals us hard blows - and we don't have much option except to pick ourselves up and carry on...

But we need to appreciate the scars, the bruises and the welts - for each and every wound changes us - for the better.
A mark to remind us we can be much much stronger than we think we are. We can battle on long after we think our strength has left us. Reminders of our ability to stand through and bear it all.

Battered, bruised, broken - but all the more beautiful for it :)

Fireflies : Day#19/30

A tiny spark that disappears if you blink, suddenly reappearing somewhere else.
Surrounded by the fragrance of moist earth, the twinkling with a orange glow seems almost surreal in the cool monsoon night.
You stare and suddenly there are many more of those tiny lights glittering about.
Fireflies! :)

My first encounter with fireflies was when I was about 4-5 years old, and although I don't remember much from times back then, I can clearly remember standing in our balcony after dinner and looking out for fireflies with my father. We used to have a firefly spotting contest and I used to pester him with lots of questions on light, sky, night, the moon, why the flies glow, how the stars twinkle, blah blah, the usual questions kids demand an explanation for and he used to patiently try his best to explain the workings of the universe to me...:)

Then I didn't think much about them, couldn't spot them that often after we moved homes, and our new home didn't have such a huge open space nearby...
So they were a reserved sight on the occasional monsoon trips/train journeys where you could spot them just for a moment or two.

Much later, during hostel days, as I walked back late nights to H11, they became a regular sight once again. This time around, I spotted a few glow worms on tree roots as well...It was almost magical...Fireflies and glow worms pottering about on cold windy rainy nights. :)

Of late, when I travel by trains frequently to Mumbai, there's a patch just before Palasdari station that has lots of fireflies flitting about. And the train almost always stops by for a signal here. The twinkling sight makes me super nostalgic...and I've started taking the train's stop and their being there almost for granted, a part of my journey home... :)

Unsaid Wishes : Day#18/30

A hot summer afternoon, and how he would love to plonk down on the squishy sofa, a tall bottle of lemon or kokam sherbet by his side, a dish of wafers/popcorn to munch, the AC set to full blast, curtains drawn to put out the harsh sun, and flick the TV remote to his favourite super hero movie.
The scrawny teenager smiled at that image in his mind.
"Someday...." he thought to himself, tuck the address list in his pocket, hung the big brown bag on the handle, mounted his cycle and started on his rounds of grocery delivery...
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She saw kids come with their parents every weekend, sometimes they thronged on weekdays also...especially now that the school holidays had begun.
She saw her own little Radha in every small girl who tried on pretty frocks and tops. She imagined the joy on Radha's face when she would bring her to the store and try that new green dress or that latest orange kurta that they had put on the statue kid...perhaps she could also get her those colourful rubber like slippers with holes on the top...'Crocs' she thought they were called...
"Someday..." she thought to herself and went back to scanning the tags and telling the people that only three garments at a time were allowed into the trial rooms...
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He climbed the stairs down the bridge hastily, hoping to get a glimpse of her. A fleeting glance and they smiled at each other. The jostling crowd, the April heat, the impending work deadline, the landlord's threats to end their contract if he didn't agree to the increased rent, all went out of his head for that one single moment. He smiled goofily. He wanted to talk to her, ask her - her name, who she was, where she worked, books she read, films she liked, food she loved, her family, her world...but never ventured to say a hello ever.
"Someday..." he thought as he saw the train chug into the platform and plunged into the sea of multitudes waiting to board the second class compartment...
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She saw the shiny brochures and the colourful life each of the destinations offered. She smiled thinking of the fun they would have on top of the Eiffel, and while taking a camel ride for the pyramids, standing and gazing at the Niagara and walking along the Great Wall of China on a moonlit night.
Clicking pictures of cherry blossoms in Japan, or Tulips in Holland. Going on cruises along the Nile, deep sea diving amongst the corals in NewZealand.
"Someday..." she smiled and answered the next enquiry call to help plan a vacation for some starry eyed tourist...
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Much that's fair : Day#17/30

Taking the easier way out and posting a quote for today's post ;-)

I rarely 'buy' books, I prefer to get them from my library. And only buy the ones I'll re-re-read ;-)

But, I absolutely love! LOTR and its complete box set is one of my most prized possessions B-)

Image source : This fb page.

The Elephant in the room : Day#16/30

Have you heard of the elephant in the room syndrome?
Well, even if you haven't heard, I'm sure everyone must have gone through it at least once...

It's like this:
Imagine a room where people are sitting, discussing stuff. They may be colleagues, may be friends, may be family...
And there's an elephant right in the middle of the room.
A huge elephant.
Everyone 'sees' it, but no one wants to 'notice' it. No one acknowledges it. No one talks about it. No one brings up the fact that there is an elephant in the room, although each is aware the other knows of the elephant's existence.

How many times do we ignore the 'elephant' in the room? The thing that's on everyone's mind, but no one wants to say out loud.
I am guilty of quite a few many times.

It takes courage to say out loud that there's an elephant in the room.  Recognizing an issue is the first step towards trying to solve it.

Here's to noticing the elephants and spelling out thoughts.
Speak. Talk. Discuss. They say it helps!
(Yeah yeah, I know I'm preaching...I go into infinite thinking loops and never say out whatever I want at the moment it's meant to be said)
Precisely the reason I identify most with the 'elephant in the room' syndrome.

PS: These days, I often start by saying, "I want to talk about the elephant in the room..." whenever I need to have those 'difficult' talks, and that in itself eases tensions and makes the conversation much more easier ;-)

Simplify : Day#15/30

Half way through the 30 days!!

There are a lot of things on my mind of late, and can't seem to do justice to all of them at once! :-|
So this is what sits on my desk to remind me to 'simplify' :)

Idea sourced from somewhere on the Internet.
#iSketch #OfficeTP #tissuepapersketches

S.O.S : Day#14/30

This Sunday, went on my first night trek (Katraj to Sinhagad, or K2S as its popularly called).  It was a huggeee gathering of people (almost 120 in our group and some 60-odd of another group!) and full moon night being just two days away, we didn't really need any torches.
Although there were patches where one was better off with a torch and also one slightly teeny weeny time frame where I thought I had lost the track, and couldn't see anyone ahead or behind me. :P

In that infinitesimally small time frame, I thought I had no "effective" way of signalling for help, except obviously shouting till I went hoarse (and there was no need for it thankfully as well :P)
But, at such times, one realizes how few 'life saving' skills one has, and you wish you had paid more attention to all those 'knot tying', 'signalling' and other such sessions you had back in school ;)

This, and the fact that I am fascinated by Morse code, and have tried to read/remember it quite a few times made me post this here.

Morse code, simply put, is a universally accepted signalling system, usually used by ships/planes/defence personnel etc. It consists of dots and dashes that denote alphabets.  More on the wiki page.

You can't really remember every single thing...especially so since there's no real need to use it as often...

A simple S.O.S (Save our Souls) signal in Morse Code is :

(... --- ...) dot-dot-dot dash-dash-dash dot-dot-dot

And if you are using a torch/flashlight to signal, the dot is usually one second long, and the dash is two/three seconds long.

GK++ ho gaya :)

For now, (-... -.-- .)

PS: See this Morse code translator, for tp and if you want to annoy your friends next time you are bored ;-)

The Art of Knowing : Day#13/30

Loved this pic, (here's the source) and had to put it on the blog...

"The Art of Knowing, is knowing what to ignore..." ~Rumi

Kar Chalna Shuru Tu... : Day#12/30

After the loonngg never-ending 100 random questions post, really wanted to take the easy way out...
Posting a song I really really love and can listen to infinitely....
Absolutely amazing lyrics.
Absolute beauty of a song.
Enjoyy maaDi :)

100 Random Questions : Day#11/30

I was browsing through the Internet, and I found these 100 random questions...
Decided to answer them for today's post...
It's quite long, and I was quite exhausted by the time I finished :P
So read at your own risk...;)

Rambling onn...

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
"A yound Chandra learnt the merit of sharing one's resources at a very young age from his mother, who ran a very frugal household and gave her limited resources to the needy ones in their community"
(From the book "Legacy" by Sudha Menon. Had got it as a birthday gift for my aunt. Still sitting @my desk, waiting to be given to her...)
 
Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch?
At office right now, so... my old computer monitor@office that they haven't bothered to take away :P

Before you started this survey, what were you doing?
facebooking

What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Been more than 3 weeks since I last watched TV, since I haven't gone home in some weeks...

Without looking, guess what time it is
8.05 PM(had just checked some time back :P)

Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
8.08 PM

With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The AC in office, the person next to me typing or someone about in the office cafeteria getting coffee, and the CPUs whirring away in the server room

When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Walking in the office parking lot and catching up on gossip with G, to while away post lunch drowsiness

Did you dream last night?
I don't exactly remember if I did :P

Do you remember your dreams?
Sometimes I do...sometimes I just remember I dreamt something, but don't remember the actual dream until days later when the dejavu feeling strikes :)

When did you last laugh?
Today evening

Do you remember why / at what?
During yoga class when we asked our instructor to let us hold Makarasana (head down) ;) for 100 counts :P

What is on the walls of the room you are in?
At office - so some paintings+posters of Sybase/SAP products  advertising their latest tagline - RUN ;-) (RUN like never before...RUN anywhere anytime) :D

Seen anything weird lately?
Nope
 
What do you think of this quiz?
It's fun :)
 
What is the last film you saw?
300 (part 2)

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
May be Paris, or some obscure small town somewhere, or may be some of the time in NY, some in Mumbai and the other half globe trotting ;) Provided it's really easy to connect/meet my family (may be if there's floo powder or apparition allowed :) )

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
hmmm...have to think...probably a nice cottage somewhere with a big garden and a swing in it :)
 
Tell me something about you that most people don't know.
I love gifting people close to me...especially unique self made gifts. I can spend endless amounts of time thinking about my friends/family's hobbies/interests and what could be gifted to whom :)

If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Make people more compassionate and considerate of others.

Do you like to dance?
Not really. Not at all in public :P

Would you ever consider living abroad?
May be for sometime somewhere down the line...not sure...

Does your name make any interesting anagrams?
avrup
vapur

Who made the last incoming call on your phone?
My Mom
 
What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
A group photo from an Esselworld trip with friends in 3rd year of Engg, which ST had shared...

Last time you swam in a pool?
Three days back :D
 
Type of music you like most?'
Anything with good lyrics
 
Type of music you dislike most?
Music with weird or meaningless lyrics

Are you listening to music right now?
No
 
What color is your bedroom carpet?
I don't have a carpet in my bedroom
 
If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do?
Create/re arrange storage areas more efficiently

What was the last thing you bought?
A baddy racquet
 
Have you ever ridden on a motorbike?
Ridden pillion, yes. Driven, no.

Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
Sky diving

Do you have a garden?
Not unless potted plants in the balcony count :P
 
Do you really know all the words to your national anthem?
Yes

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
I am too lazy and sleepy to think or remember what I thought about ;)

If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?
Emma Watson
 
Who sent the last text message you received?
Canara bank internet banking service :P

Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Shopper's Stop!! or Mother Earth ;)
 
What time is bed time?
Anytime in between : 11 PM -1 AM

Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?
Nopez

How many tattoos do you have?
Zero.
 
If you don't have any, have you ever thought of getting one?
Yeah, may be a tiny butterfly on the nape of my neck, or by the side of my wrist. I doubt I'll ever act on this whim though ;-)
 
What did you do for your last birthday?
Celebrated @my room with friends, mid night cake cutting, TP, the works...
 
Do you carry a donor card?
Have a blood donor's card, but don't carry it around though.
 
Who was the last person you ate dinner with?
My roomie, PR
 
Is the glass half empty or half full?
Half full with water, half empty with air ;)
 
What's the farthest-away place you've been?
Kashmir, so far.

When's the last time you ate a homegrown tomato?
Never :-(

Have you ever won a trophy?
Yo! Many ;)

Are you a good cook?
Yupp, I would like to think so :D

Do you know how to pump your own gas?
If you're talking of cycles, then yes I do. Cars, no.
Else, I don't know what you're talking about! :P

If you could meet any one person (from history or currently alive), who would it be?
From history, Themistokles (may be coz I just saw the move 300 , and fell in love with the name, the actor and the character....in no specific order :P) or closer home, may be Gautam Buddha. If imaginary, definitely Harry Potter :)
 
Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school?
Of course. 12 years of my life :)

Do you touch-type?
Not really.
 
What's under your bed?
Yesterday's newspapers and a folded mat.
 
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Not really.
 
Think fast, what do you like right now?
Coconut water :P
 
Where were you on Valentine's day?
@office, duh

What time do you get up?
Between 7 to 8 AM most days.
 
What was the name of your first pet?
Haven't had a pet ever.

Who is the second to last person to call you?
One of my office friends, H.

Is there anything going on this weekend?
Katraj to Sinhagad night trek :)

How are you feeling right now?
Not too good, to be honest.

What do you think about the most?
Life!

If you had a Big Win in the Lottery, how long would you wait to tell people?
No time at all! I'll call up my near and dear ones immediately!!

Who would you tell first?
My Mom.
 
Do you sing in the shower?
Sometimes :P
 
What do you do most when you are bored?
Sleep.

What do you do for a living?
I so wish I could just say, "I write" :)
Well, I do write for a living...I write code :P

Do you love your job?
Yesh! Very much.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A doctor, or an author, an architect, a painter. I wanted to be so many things :)
 
If you could have any job, what would you want to do/be?
An author, or own a gift shop of my own, with lots of pretty and interesting gifts...:)
 
Which came first the chicken or the egg?
Out of wits to answer this ;)
I'll pass the question.

How many keys on your key ring?
Two.
 
Where would you retire to?
Never gave it a thought.
 
What kind of car do you drive?
I don't drive these days.
 
What are your best physical features?
My smile.
 
What are your best characteristics?
Straightforward, considerate, honest, compassionate and a good listener

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?
Japan or Europe or north east India, or Brazil, or Australia maybe...lots of places...how can you name a single one!

What kind of books do you like to read?
Fiction mostly. Of late I have started reading books themed around Indian/World history/fiction based mythology.

What is your favorite time of the day?
Early evening...5-7 PM ish

Where did you grow up?
Dombivli

How far away from your birthplace do you live now?
About 300 kms.

What are you reading now?
Malgudi days and the Book 2 of the Game of Thrones series.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl.

Can you touch your nose with your tongue?
No! :P

Can you close your eyes and raise your eyebrows?
Yupp

Do you have pets?
Nope

How many rings before you answer the phone?
Usually immediately, unless I am really very busy.

What is your best childhood memory?
Friday night carrom under emergency lamp (coz Friday was usually a load shedding day back then) and Sunday lunches with family.

What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life?
Not many different kinds I believe...just a Research Assistant at ASC, IITB and then a s/w developer.

Any new and exciting things that you would like to share?
Bas karoo!! Am tired of answering questions :-|

What is most important in life?
Being at peace with yourself and circumstances.

What Inspires You?
My family, lots of (small) things : full moon and a starry sky, rainbows, butterflies, white flowers on green grass...

Whew!! Done at last!! :P
Made me tired...

Comfort Food : Day#10/30

Yayyy! Double-digit day reached :D
Had written thought of this post yesterday midnight when I got up feeling hungry ;-)

A list of different (my Mom calls it 'weird') :P food combos I like. Love making really interesting food combos (well, can't say ppl back home are as much enthu to try it as me ;)), especially when there's a lack of supplies and time and abundant laziness and hunger :P
Simple. Easy. Quick. Feel-good dishes.

Caramel-Banana-Milkshake : 
I recently have become addicted to Caramel Horlicks...
This is a quick midnight snack...just take 1-2 (heaped! like they say in the instructions on the jars ;) ) teaspoonfuls of the powder, add a little warm milk and stir. Add colder milk, and top it off with some bananas (the small, "elaichi" ones taste the best!)
You could actually use anything really, Bournvita, Chocolate/Cocoa powder, add more fruits, may be some dryfruits, or icecream, caramel nuts, whatever you fancy! ;-)

Farsan Roll : 
This is my go-to recipe on Saturday mornings when I lunch alone and can't be bothered to make elaborate vegetable dishes. Just take some farsan, chiwda or even unflavoured cornflakes will do...something crunchy basically...mix it with some chopped tomatoes, onions, add the usual salt, masala, green chillies, imli/pudina chutney if there's some at home, else a liberal dose of tomato ketchup is fine too...a dash of lime if you prefer...spread this over your roti and make a roll.
Done! Eat immediately lest the filling gets soggy.

कुर्डया भाजी (KurDaya Bhaaji) :
This is an authentic dish. Not made up by me. I had it first when HC got it for lunch @office..."KurDaya" is a kind of noodle-like papad (looks very much like long entangled vermicelli, but tastes much better) which is fried and served as an accompaniment. Here, we don't fry it, but instead make the usual oil, mustard, jeera, turmeric, hing, green chilly, chopped onion tempering and add the unfried broken kurdaya to it....add a little bit of water - just enough for it to cook...basically just like vermicelli upma is made...
Good to have on days you forgot to replenish that stock of vegetables. HC calls it "दुष्काळी भाजी" (a 'drought' vegetable) :P

Soupy Oats :
Alright, this is like the laziest dish ever. And the best thing is, it's warm, filling and tasty.  I had gotten this huge jar of unflavoured oats sometime back and I got really bored of having them with same old sugar+milk, or same old masala I had at home. And I had lots of ready-to-eat soup packets gotten on some trip to the supermarket....so...combine them!
All you need is a packet of any instant soup (tomato, manchow, palak, veggie, sweetcorn, etc) and just add some oats while you make the soup.
I live crunchy foods, so sometimes sprinkle Haldiram Bhujia Sev on top as garnish ;-)
Soup का soup, oats का oats (sev का  sev) ! ;-)

All this thought of food makes me hungry...time to go grab a coffee :)

Random Thought #3 : Day#9/30

Learnt something yesterday : "Ask. Speak your mind. Be vocal."  No one's going to know what you want, better than you...so ask for the things you want - even if you don't get them, at least you tried...!
#I need to remember this :)

PS: A series of original random thoughts that are concise...or may be I am just too lazy to follow up with longer text...

Word challenge : Day#8/30

Here, Paulo Coelho asks readers to write on a list of words : miracle, torture, prayer, suffering, advice, xenophobia (fear of the unknown) and marriage
Decided to make that as my Day8 post :

Miracle :
Somethings can never be explained. Not by logic. Not by science. Nor by any rule in any book ever written.
This is one of them. And you don't really need anything to experience it...miracles are what all of us experience every single day, in the smallest things. I always feel magical when I'm around butterflies :) And luckily for me, I have always managed to find some where ever I live :)
Sigh! Miracles :)

Torture :
The word itself is extremely 'thorny', with strong negative connotations. Brings to me memories of the hell recreated by TV and films. The hot coals, burning oil, huge thorns, etc etc. But leave all external forces apart...one can't control them anyhow...so look at yourself...do you inflict torture upon others by being brash, a sudden insult belted out, arguments carried on for the sake of arguing, slight misunderstandings that weeded out strong friendships...the list is quite long if you care to inspect. But most of all, make the list of the things you torture youself about...the goodbyes said hastily, the acquaintances never made, the things never said, the second chances never asked for and never given too...these inflict far more torture than mere notions of some imaginary hell...

Prayer :
Pray with your soul. Not for money, not for fame, nor for smaller everyday things...I feel it's too much to bother Him with all our daily issues ;-)
Pray for peace. Yours. And the world's. Pray so you can hear clearly what your mind says. Be still, Serve people, Teach, Work, Learn, Love, Play, Cook,
Feed, Travel, Share, Talk. Most importantly, Live. You can practice prayer in many forms :)

Suffering :
Most times it is a self created thing, might be circumstantial too. But one thing is certain, it makes heroes out of ordinary people. Its a hot furnace with burning coals that shapes and strengthens the soul of the sufferer. Sometime, sooner rather than later, we get the strength to break the shackles of suffering and emerge victorious.

Advice :
Haha! :P Something I love to give my brother for free, especially when he obviously is least interested ;-)
Well, listen to advice, everyone's. But be sure you analyze it before you believe/act on it. There's one nice quote I had read which sums things up quite aptly, "Never take advice from someone who doesn't have to live with its consequences" :)
Well, and it never harms in being miserly while belting it out too. Especially more so, when you know the person listening believes and trusts you...:)

Xenophobia:
Something everyone deals with their entire life. I guess free will is its positive side...because afterall free will gives us endless possibilities, and endless possibilities lead to innumberable paths...multiple crossroads...not knowing, i.e choosing one path. And staying true to it. Also, retreating if you think you've come the wrong way. Trusting the signs, trusting yourself and believing that you will ultimately reach the destination. Not forgetting the unknown journey will bring you more than the destination ever could.

Marriage :
I wanted to write 'a sacred bond', but that would make it too 'heavenly', too bookish, very filmy. Marriages may very well be made in heaven, but it's people on earth who give it meaning. Two mortal beings. Not 'perfect' by themselves. May be not 'perfect' together as well. Actually, might not be 'perfect' for each other too! Two people who know that the road will never be smooth. Potholes and speed breakers and accidents are all a part of the ride. But who still want to travel together, believe that they will sort out problems together, enjoy the beautiful sunrises and sunsets and rains and storms too. Who know they wouldn't be judged and will be loved even when they are at their worst behaviours. And grow with each passing day. Share a dream. Strive for it. And in the process, inch towards being 'perfect' together...

Bas! Am done
Stopping now :)

Something's just not right : Day#7/30

A lump in the throat
A tug at the heart
A tear just waiting to roll off
And you know that something's just not right...

However far it might actually seem
the pain is really very near
Almost friendly
like a neighbour
Always peeking in
Always looking into your life
Probing, Questioning, Staring.
May be because it knows
something's just not right...

A photograph long forgotten
Or a poem long lost
A word oft spoken
A person passing by
A favourite song
Small things really; but are enough
to bleed you afresh
And then you know something's just not right...

However hard you try
However fast you run
There are times when you can't stop
Sadness from creeping over
There are times when you can't deny
Something's just not right...


PS: Well, please don't be alarmed pplz, everything's alright really :)
Just a melancholy working Saturday does this sometimes ;)
The 'something' is probably the code I'm working on...and this is what I do when it doesn't work even after eating away into my weekends. :(

--Written on 6th April 2014 #original

#PledgeToVote : Day#6/30

This video left me speechless! Will definitely feel guilty if I give some lame reason to not go cast my vote after this! :-)

The song that makes you sing : Day#5/30

I came across this today on fb :

For me, the song is "Chammak Challo" (Ra.One wala!)
Our aerobics class instructor used to play it in the 6AM session (!) (yes, we used to go that early even in chilly Jan mornings to listen to bollywood songs play :P) almost in a loop, while me and C laughed and joked and sang along - everything except follow the dance steps ;-)

Now everytime I hear the song, I can't help remembering the aerobics class TP and singing out loud :-D
Sigh! Miss those Bangalore days...

"My kinda" meditation : Day#4/30

Well, I am actually skipping days...
Whatever! There's just too much going on in my mind lately and it's not really easy to come up with posts every day! :-P

One of my (bad?) habits is opening too many browser tabs...wayy too many :P
I have this tendency to think "I'm going to need this page..let me keep it till I finish XYZ task" and since the XYZ task obviously runs in parallel with ABC, DEF, PQR and TUV tasks (yeah, yeah I am going to stick to these variable names, even if it feels like reading 10th std Geometry textbooks again ;-)) Anyways, the point is all these tasks and their associated pages always stay on my browser tabs.

Here are the two current snapshots (and I really haven't added/deleted any for the sake of the post ;-) )
The images are pretty small, but my blog template only supports this much width.
And Lazy moi isn't going to bother changing that, so I'll give you the counts instead :P

My 'web' browser (23 tabs) :

And my 'code' browser (well, pretty coincidence, 23 tabs again, saves you the need to take an average :P) :

Well, friends complain because whenever we are googling for things together, or looking at some code, they get confused overwhelmed looking at my browser and always always give me a strange look that says it all :P

One of my friends had sent me this pic after looking at my browser ;-)

Can't say I can deny my mind works like that! Precisely the reason I can use it to my
advantage as well!
How, you ask? Well, I have my very own way of 'meditation', or call it 'Chromitation', since I use Chrome :-P
The thing is, whenever I'm done with my XYZ task, I go through all the related tabs and close them one by one...and seriously, (plz dont laugh :-|) I feel like a huge load is off my mind.

Well, you would definately argue that I shouldn't have kept them in the first place, so I would never have felt that load anyways...but that's not how I work and so I need 'my kinda meditation' to keep things going!

I don't really want anyone to try it, but if someone already has this same habit, they should definately try 'Chromitation'.
May be you already do, maybe everyone already does this. Or may be most people are saner and follow the lifehacker tip of max 9 tabs...
Either ways, to each his own, and I got my Day#4 blogpost. ;-)

Someday : Day#3/30

#iSketch #Life #Lessons

A place in the sun : Day#2/30

Well, I bunked the Day#2 post. :-P
So posting #2 and #3 together.

Take me to that place
A place in the sun
Where crossroads are commonplace
and 'not-knowing' is so much fun

A place in the sun
From where you see the stars shine bright
and things are simple
come day or night

A place in the sun
Where 'today' is the favourite day
and you cherish and count your blessings
and not fret seeing other's play

A place in the sun
Where you stop and smell the roses
not bothering about pimpled freckled noses
A place in the sun
Where there's always a way
Even if you go astray

Take me to that place
A place in the sun
that makes you realize
Things might not be wrong
even if they don't seem right

~Written on 2nd April 2014 #original

PS: I really really need my place in the sun! NOW! Yeah, a bit boggled and battered by life and things in general. Just a phase. A very very bad time (or is it a good one assuming I'm in a mood to vent and rant) to have started the blog marathon! I hope I don't end up cribbing all over the blog :-P