The Missing button

He was excited! He so badly wanted to wear his new shirt and brag about it to his friends! It was one of his most favorite ones...and as he took it out to wear, he lovingly gazed at it, marveling at the turquoise colour and the flawless finish...He ran his hand along the rim...the shirt was perfection itself...nothing was amiss.Until, he noticed that one tiny missing button.....
He wondered how he could have missed noticing it before...the even line of shiny silver buttons was broken. Nothing that would stand out from a distance, but something that was very obvious once you looked closely...
Once you looked closely, the absence could not be ignored...it was there - in stark contrast to the otherwise perfect piece of fabric - as if teasing him on purpose, and reminding him of all the things he was missing amidst his almost perfect existence - loved ones, lost dreams, forgotten promises, broken vows - and his eyes moistened as he put on his jacket to hide that missing button...

PS: Dedicated to everyone who has a shirt with a missing button...

Action Replay!

The other day, I was in a train taking me back home...as usual I just put on my headphones, turned on the music player and settled comfortably in my (window :-)) seat. The player coughed up one of my all time favs - "Yuhin chala chal raahi" from Swades...ahhh...heavenly :-)

A fortnight of slogging, coding, writing and nightouts might have made me a bit wonky...but never mind...this is what came to my mind then...and I want to pen it down, so here I go...

The song said "Jeevan gaadi hai samay pahiya..." and I thought "Wow! That's so true...Life is a train...time is(are) the wheel(s)" (forgive the grammar ;-))
What this means is that every event, rather every day, every moment in our life is lke a station...a station which, once we pass through, we can never cross it again... Life's train knows only one direction - the forward one.

So what if we do want to re-visit a station, I asked myself? (Well, I already said I was a bit wonky, so this might not make much sense!) Isn't there any way out? "Well, yes there is...we call them 'memories'". "But if life is indeed always moving forward, how can we have memories? How can we re-visit previous stations?" "Hah!" my (wonky) self answered, "That is because life is a train with a CCTV camera! " ;-)
How smart...and convenient! Revisiting a station means just playing that station's tape in our mind...all the while being aware that life's train is still moving forward...even as we are busy reminiscing over this video...these images from the past...

Well, since I am already in the mood to philosophize, I want to share just one more thought that popped up in my mind...something that might help glide over those Monday blues...If memories are indeed tapes which we play in our minds (voluntarily!), and if memories are capable of making us sad, angry or even depressed (which they indeed are capable of), why not use this fact wisely?

Whenever we relive a sad memory, and feel blue then it's almost as if we are watching a tragic movie and complaining that we are feeling sad, or cribbing that we are scared while watching a horror flick, isn't it?! And the solution is really simple...just switch off the flick and put in another tape with a comic movie...switch off the tape with the bad memory and put on a tape with happier memories! Well, happy memories need not always be (rather they seldom are) big events/days/achievements in life...often they are the simplest videos starring our friends and family :-) (and the star of course - us!)

So, the next time you feel down in the dumps...don't forget..just change the tape!

Signing off!

PS: Of late, I have taken to stealing titles, which is kinda sad...hope I get back to having original titles for my posts!
And before I forget to cite...this title is chorofied from the upcoming Ash movie "Action Replayy"

My Experiments with Food - I

A few weeks ago, one of my best-est friends treated me and my family to a sumptuous dinner - cooked entirely by her...It all began innocently enough, when her granny asked me, "So, what all do you cook?"
I nearly choked on my "sol-kadhi", and replied "Err...ahem..well, lets see, tea, coffee, Bournvita(that counts as cooking since you need to know the milk-bournvita ratio!), Maggi (Noodles as well as Soup)...err...ahem..."
My friend Anu, as always, came to my rescue and said, "She stays in a hostel, she doesn't have much chance to cook there!" and I took the opportunity to hastily change the subject and ramble about the virtues of "home-made" food over "hostel-mess-ka-khana"....Whew! That was close...

But the conversation (my brother's teasing not withstanding) encouraged me to try my hand at cooking too! :-) Well, to be honest, I have tried cooking the standard Upma-Poha-Sheera, but my culinary skills have taken a backseat for the past 3 years...since hostel-life happened...

My Mom often says "Those who love to eat, also love to cook!" and I couldn't agree more..
A self-confessed foodie and a die-hard food-aholic, I decided to try my hand at making pav-bhaji this weekend...

Well, I must confess, I did not make it from scratch per se, since my mother had already bought the necessary paraphernalia and had also cut up the veggies before I reached home on Saturday evening.Ah! All that I had to do now, was to cut up tomatoes and onions..and since I take pride in my "fine-chopping"-onion skills, it felt like a piece of cake...at least until mother handed over the "Veeli" to me...

"What's this?? Where's the knife??" I asked, bewildered...and got to know that our friendly-neighbour-next-door had borrowed it for the day...Bang went my plans of the "finely-chopped-onions-and-tomatoes"... Now, most of you must have seen a "Veeli", you might be calling it by different names, but here's a pic to show you exactly how it looks...(and how difficult it must be to cut things using it!)
But since I had promised I'll be cooking, I had no option but to try the "Veeli"

"Do what you can, with what you have and where you are" rang in my ears and so I spent the next half an hour huffing, puffing and literally "tearing" the onions across the "Veeli", all the time wondering how my granny still manages to do it so effortlessly!

I was not-so-happy with the gigantic-onion-and-tomato pieces, till..."Aha!! You know what, I am making "Khada Pav-bhaji!!!" I suddenly declared grinning from ear to ear :-D
Well, (thankfully) my brother had never eaten "Khada" pav-bhaji @ a restaurant, and so I was free to call "my-version-of-pav-bhaji" as an authentic "Khada pav-bhaji" ;-)
"You see, it's that version of pav-bhaji which takes less effort+less time (since the veggies are nor finely chopped) + more price(since you can actually see the veggies and the chef can't fool you with adding just lotsa tomatoes+onions)" I declared knowledgeably... ;-)

And so began the actual cooking...Sautee the onions until they turn pinkish, then add the tomatoes, add the masala and keep stirring, mother said.
Well, the onions seemed to take forever to turn pink and so I decided to help them by turning the gas to a higher flame :-)
"Cooking needs patience, like most other things in life...!"
"Food cooked on a low flame is tastier than one cooked hastily on a high flame" mother said, sensing my impatience.

Side by side, I started mashing the other actually finely-chopped(by mother) veggies, cutting up and baking the pav...and got so engrossed in doing it that I totally forgot about the mixture kept on the flame..Heck, it had just started turning brownish! :-|
That's when I realised "Cooking is all about multi-processing and multi-threading!" OS matters!

I added the red-chilli powder and salt in the correct proportions and finally, after much ado, instructions, simmering and garnishing, the "Khada pav-bhaji" seemed ready to eat! :-))

The people who dared to eat it declared it "Pretty good" and "Hmm...hmmm...hmmm" (No points for guessing,this was my brother :P) and it did taste nice if you ignored the huge-onion-tomato pieces popping up in every bite! ;-)

This ends the story of my first try at making a full-fledged meal...

Until next time,
(I will) Keep cooking!

PS: I do intend to try lots more dishes, hence the "Part-I" in the title..
PPS: Speaking of titles, and being Prof.Siva's student, I can't get rid of the itch to "cite" it ~\cite{The title is blatantly chorofied from a column of the same name that appears in DNA Sunday} and the picture of the "veeli" is taken from "www.fivetastes.com"

Ithaca - a poem by C.Cavafy

My friend Meenu had put the poem "Ithaca" as her buzz, and it's such an amazing piece of work,that I couldn't resist from putting it on the blog...

"Ithaca" is a poem by "Constantine Cavafy" , a Greek poet.

Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,

pray that the road is long,

full of adventure, full of knowledge.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,

the angry Poseidon- do not fear them:

You will never find such as these on your path

if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine

emotion touches your spirit and your body.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,

the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,

if you do not carry them within your soul,

if your heart does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.

That the summer mornings are many, when,

With such pleasure, with such joy

you will encounter ports seen for the first time;

stop at Phoenician markets,

and purchase find merchandise,

mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

and sensual perfumes of all kinds,

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

visit many Egyptian cities,

to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.

To arrive there is your ultimate goal.

But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better to let it last for many years;

and to anchor at the island when you are old,

rich with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.

Without her you would never have set out on the road.

She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.

Wise as you have become, with so much experience,

you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.

--Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933),
(translated by Rae Dalven)

I have a hectic four months ahead of me before I reach my "Ithaca"....(May be by the time I do reach it, or think I have reached it, it might choose to change it's location! ;-) )

Wishing you all a Happy Journey to your "Ithaca"!

Memories...

Why is it that when we want to write about the ones close to us, a sudden mental block arises?

There is so much I had thought of and I wanted to say, that my mind has gone completely BLANK….but (thankfully!) only for a while…once I thought of the first sentence, the words came gushing out…as if they were waiting to fly out of my head and on to the screen…words that fumbled and ran into spelling errors and typos as they fought with themselves to try and put the whole of the past 6 years together…

In no specific order, the dialogues below are a witness to our friendship...G-SPADE, as we like to call ourselves...

Dedicated to DD, who's leaving for her M.S. soon....

Scene: VESIT Drawing Hall Class D15, somewhere in July/Aug 2004
Time: 9:00 AM
An App-Chem class taken by Mrs.Kh... I entered (late) and sat on the bench just next to her’s.
Moi: “What has she taught till now? What books are we supposed to refer? Are there any assignments yet?” (Necessarily in a single frantic breath…)
DD: “Hey…Chill! Even I have joined late…I think she has just begun the syllabus..Don’t worry….we’ll figure it out!”


Scene: VESIT Common Room, Second Yr.
CPP assignment due in an hour…Moi(frantically) and DD(coolly) searching for (blank as well as “filled”) assignment sheets (“blank” - on which to copy and “filled” - from which to copy :P)
We write (frantically and coolly, respectively) and manage to scribble the 10-odd pages onto 5 “decently-filled-looking” ones and rush to the lab for the submission…
VM: (trying to look cross, but failing miserably)You girls are late…
WE: Ma’m, we lost the way(?!?! LOL) and couldn’t FIND the lab…(Moi putting on my moshhhtt “sincereshht” face while DD struggling to keep a straight face…)
NOTE: the lab is RIGHT NEXT to the Common room where we had just spent the better part of an hour copying (frantically and coolly, respectively) the assignment….
VM lets us off! :D


Scene: Various stages during the 8 semesters
Moi: “Hey, AM I want assignment#1 of DLDA…SM..plz give me your assignment#4 of DS…Gayu…arre tune assignment#2 of DBMS likha kya…I want it….” (again, in a single frantic breath…)
DD: ABBEEE “Havratpana” mat kar!!! Kitna assignments likhegi ek sath?! Thoda auron ke liye (read DD :P) bhi rakh!
Note: "Havratpana" is a Marathi word for "greediness" and one of the fav marathi words learnt by DD

Scene: Any typical Lunchtime @ VESIT
Moi: “Have you brought “Pongal” for lunch?” or “When will you bring “pongal”? “
DD: “Hey Pu! Aaj pongal hai…” or “Have you brought the mango pickle? ”
*SIGH* I STILL can’t forget DD’s blue dabba with the aroma and taste of pongal inside it! (“havratpana” @ it’s best! ;-) )

Scene: Various stages during the 8 semesters (extra-curricular activities…PRAXIS,Aesthetics, SFMC, Utsav, TechFest, Adventure Sports)
Moi: “Wow! That’s so awesome..I want to do it…” or “Oye, main wo activity join karu kya?” or “Hey, I so wish I could join that” or “Wot say, should I do it?”
DD: “Areeyyyy…itna kyu sochti hai re?? Go ahead…just do it!”

Moi: “M hungry! ”
DD: “Chal gola khate hai…” or “Chal Vikram-Bhel wale ke yahan dahi-papdi-chat khate hai” or else her fav “Chal..gola khate hai”

Scene: Final year, B.E Project Presentation Day
Moi,AM,SM: “VM didn’t even bother to see our proj! :-(” or “ X-( How can she do this to her students?!”
DD: “Forget it…”

Scene: Various Shopping Malls across Mumbai…shopping for DD's formals (TCS training time)
Moi: “Are ye shirt dekh…. try kar na! Mast lag raha hai!” or “WOW! Those black trousers look awesome!”
DD: I am tired of shopping!

Scene: RCity, Ghatkopar
Moi, DD, AM : “Kulfiii Falooodaaa @ Kailas Parbat!!!! :D :D :D ”


Scene: DD’s See-off@ Kurla Terminus
Moi,AM(while gifting her a sole TT racquet) : “Come back soon for the other racquet of this pair! “
DD: “Sentii sab mat ho abhi…”
@AM: We never gave this “other” racquet to her! ;-)

Scene: Telephone to DD during Xams
Moi: “Are..ye to syallbus main nahi hai..!” or “Ye sab kab sikhaya apne ko?! :-o”
DD: “blah…blah…blah” (All I can hear are the temple bells near her home ringing away merrily as they drown out her voice…)

Scene: My Mess, H-11, breakfast time
Moi: “How can that lady say so?! X-( X-(”
DD: “Chill…you know what…tu bahut chid-chidi ho gayi hai…take a break! ”

Scene: Various Saturdays over the past year
DD,Gayu: (via SMS) saw XYZ,PQR,DEF,ABC, JKL movie…morning show..(bracket main…(Missed you!))
Moi: X-( X-( I SO wanted to come!..

Scene: Many times during VESIT days, whenever a “so-planned” (pun intended…it rhymes with “so-called”) trip got cancelled
DD: “Tum log waste ho…Next time I am NOT planning any trip with you ppl...” or
“Main aur mera bag XYZ-place jaa rahe hai…any one coming?”
Note: Put “Lonavla, Matheran, EsselWorld, etc in place of XYZ”


Scene: Mumbai airport on our way to a flight to Banglore
Some random “uncle” tried fooling us “indirectly” by saying “Blue flights go north, Pink flights go south ”
Me, Gayu: “Ohh!..Good that he told us! ”
DD: “He is kidding girls... !We have to board the BLUE one for Bangalore”
Moi, Gayu: Are still cursing that “uncle” and wondering how DD figured it out…
Note: If not for DD, we would have ended up asking a Delhi cabbie to take us to “Kormangala”! :-| (Well, I know it’s over exaggerated and so-not-funny)
PS: Kormangala is an area in Bangalore…


Scene: Many times @ IITB especially during an ADBMS project, 4th Sem
Moi: “blah blah blah” or “blah blah blah” or “blah blah blah” or “blah blah blah”
DD: “Bol..I am listening….”

Scene: Ghatkopar Khau Galli
Moi and DD gorged on Paniipuri, Jini Dosa, Masala Thumsup and CaDBy
Moi, DD : *sigh* *BuRp* *sigh*

Scene: ANY/TCS water cooler
DD: Pu! :-P
For those who didn't get it: I drink LOTS of water..I ensure that everyone's water-bottles are emptied + two of my own! (exaggeration intended!) while DD doesn't even carry a water-bottle...

Scene: ANY Playground/TT Table
Moi: DD! :-)
That's where DD is most likely to be found @ any given time :-) Sports is her true passion!

Scene: My room, H-11
DD: “Tu “manually” data copy kar rahi hai kya PC se HD main?! :P”

Scene: RanDoM
The dialogues below have NO relation with each other and have been spoken randomly!

DD: “Tujhe abhi bhi gussa aur rona saath main ata hai! Grow up! ”

DD: "They mis-spelt my name AGAIN! :-("

AM: “Maine bola THA...”
DD: AmruTHA ne bola THA

DD: "Waye Mudd!" ;-) ;-D


Scene: DD’s home, one day before she flies to the US
Moi, AM : “Take care” and “Study well…choose courses wisely” and
“Learn swimming” and “Did you take that Teddy?” and “Be careful of strangers” and “Enjoy yourself” and “Come back soon” and “Why don’t you take that green jacket?” and “Keep in touch…” and “Skype!”
DD: OK! :-)

Hey DeeDums,

Here’s wishing you ALL the luck in the world…Go on…Fulfill your dreams…Cherish your journey as much as you will enjoy the destination!
Be brave, be strong and you’ll shine through (I am saying this @ the cost of sounding typically like me, as I am sure you’ll say when you read this… :-P)
We’ll sure miss you here…Take care...Hoping to see you soooonnnnnnnn…

Bon Voyage!

Loads of Love n Luck,
GSPADE

PS: This video is especially for you...

A penny...er..."pensieve" for your thoughts!

For the un-initiated and non-Harry Potter fans: A Pensieve is a stone receptacle used to store and review memories. Dumbledore had one to store his thoughts when his mind became too cluttered!

A few days ago, when I was on my way home, I met this girl, sitting right opposite to me in the train, and smiling as if she knew me....now we all have at some point or the other smiled at random strangers just like that...But, no, this was different...she was gesturing and looking at me as if I would acknowledge her and exclaim "HII!! So long since we last met...!"
Well, her face seemed familiar, and although I pride myself on my memory
and don't forget people easily (at least I thought so till then!) , I couldn't for the life of me imagine where I might have met her...

Then she asked me if I recognized her. I stuttered a bit and finally admitted that I couldn't recollect exactly who she was and where it was that we had met...
She then reminded me that we used to go to the same tuition classes during the 11th std...hmmm...yeah...now that I thought of it...yeah...may be she was right, but I still couldn't remember her name...

I felt real foolish, especially when she started on how we used to hang out together and stuff...GOD! Was it embarrassing! I couldn't do anything else than "yeah-yeah" and nod and wait for my station to come...and think "How CAN I forget her name?!"
It was not if I had forgotten everything about my 11th/12th std. tuitions, I am in touch with many of my friends from there AND some of my Profs too, but THIS particular girl I couldn't remember having been with!
It was as if some one had torn that single page with this girl in concern out of my memory...

Another incident added fuel to this fire of forgetfulness...
The other day, my mother and I were discussing my admission process after 12th std and how I had goofed up at the process for Medical CET @ JJ hospital(the goof-up is another story altogether, and deserves a post of its own) but again , the point is I DID NOT remember having EVER been to JJ hospital at all!
My mother in desperation to make me recollect, started giving out hints like "Don't you remember there was this lonnngg winding queue and we had met XYZ person and you had forgotten to bring your black ball pen...etc etc"
I tried and tried, but come what may, my grey cells refused to budge and remember anything even remotely related to JJ hospital!
At long last, after much effort, I asked her whether there was this Hanuman temple bang opposite the Hospital which we had visited. Although that turned out to be true, I couldn't remember having ACTUALLY been INSIDE JJ Hosptial...
It was as if my memory had been wiped out clean just at that particular point - leaving everything else intact!

Now this had started getting creepy, there were parts of my life, not too distant a past, mind you, just 4-5 yrs down the line and I seemed to have forgotten them as if I had never ever lived them! :-o

Then it struck me!!!! OH, how convenient! Amazing! How I wish I had a pensieve!!! :-)

A real pensieve, where I could store away ALL of my memories, good-bad,happy-sad, new-old, silver-gold and never have to worry about forgetting anything ever again!!
How very very awesome could that be!
Just imagine this - you could remember every single thing your best friend and you shared, talked, gossiped and laughed and cried(?) about!

Sometimes, I really wish I had a pensieve, a place to stash away all my thoughts, aspirations and dreams - always there, easy to find and relish on a lazyy lazzy rainy Sunday afternoon!
Just dig and voila! there's your buddy from Kindergarten happily munching her tiffin while taking a sneaky bite out of yours :-P
Look, that's your very favorite dress *sigh* how you used to love wearing it!
But wait! It'll also have ALL of the things you tried hard to forget, the pains, the trials,the tribulations, insults belted out and insults borne, friendships that withered with time...things which are best forgotten (and forgiven).....

May be, as they say, forgetfulness really IS a gift...

I can't quite figure out how to end this post, so I leave it up to you to make up your own mind...
So long then,
Till I decide whether I want a pensieve or not,
Signing off!

Random Ramblings

I am writing something after ages...not as much due to the busy schedule and blah blah as much due to my laziness...:-)

Disclaimer: (Should be read as "Statutory Warning") - This one may seem full of cliched gyaan and highly over-the-top for some (read "most") of my friends. ;-)
I highly recommend skipping this post and waiting for a better one! (in case I decide to publish this)

Well, if you are still reading this, here's a set of absolutely random ramblings from the past 6 days - things I did/didn't do - thoughts I had/didn't have - some may not even make any sense and seem (rather they ARE!) totally out of context.

1. Your family is THE BEST GIFT you have ever got/ever will get.

I can never be enough grateful for a wonderful,understanding and supportive family - all of whom pamper me silly (well, they always do but the dumbo (dats moi) had self-realization).
Love you people!


2.Sometimes, you find humour in some of the most unexpected and unlikely of places/books/events.

I had sworn I will not read another Chetan Bhagat book after the crappy "One night @ the call center"...but circumstances in the past 6 days, forced me to read "2 states" (I had no access to any other book immediately and had entire 2-3 days to kill).
2 states is 2 goooddddd - it had me rolling,guffawing,snorting and rollicking with laughter - so much so that when I was reading the climax (and had a heavy blanket draped around me) my Mom asked me whether I was shivering!!! (hey folks, this is a true incident...trust me ;-) )
It helped me tide over the initial shock of the hospitalization and the initial two days... :-)


3. It is better to just let go - let go of prejudices - let go of grudges - let go of expectations - let go of fear - just let go!


4. A higher qualification may not always give you higher common sense!

My nurse had tons of common sense - much more than the trainee doctor who pierced my right arm twice in search of a vein (unsuccessfully each time...wonder whether that's the reason why doctors "practice" (no offense please!) )
Anyways, she suggested that we should try the left arm instead - that way she will be able to eat her food by herself...
Good old common sense - hope we get more of that!


5. You need not worry about a thing BEFORE it actually happens.

Well, this may sound strange, but if you know that you have a blood test scheduled in 4 hours, it's better to block all thoughts of it till the time it actually happens- else you tend to feel the pain a hundred times during the 4 hours you spend dreading the test when in reality you needed to have faced it only once i.e when it actually happened.
Again, common sense!


6. Friends are the Next BEST GIFT you ever got/will ever get.

Played "Yaaron Dosti" in a loop... :-) Guess my "sorry & thank-you ki dukaan" can never ever find a substitute for friendship...
I couldn't have gotten past these 6 days without your moral support - Deedums, AM, Gayu, Sush, Harshada(plural) (sorry for the PJ;but guess that tells you am back to normal ;-) ),GL,Kanchi, Chitra,Anu,MB, AJ, DVB, Tree Trunker, Sandy, SK, PP(the official ASC Cult Secy) and all my friends who called/missed call/SMSed ...
:-) :-) :-)


7. Well, I accept, this one's a bit over-the-top... Sometimes all you need is a "divine" little signal.

I know (at least MD will say so!)this sounds like the gyaan the sadhu/baba on the "Aastha TV" show your grand-mom watches @ 6 AM in such a loud volume that the songs/keertans enter BANG into your head :-)
But couldn't help writing this one although can't bring myself to write about the exact incident...but I guess you got the point.


8. All manual labour is dignified.

Sadly, not every one thinks so. It's time we learnt to respect and recognize their presence - not merely assume that no one has walked past your desk,or move away under the pretext of being thirsty - when the janitor comes to clean it.


9. OK, this stuff is getting sentier and graver - fear not, I have no more gyaan to baato-fy.
Just one thing - F.R.I.E.N.D.S Roxxxxxxxxx - TOTALLYYYYY !!!!! :D :D :D

Well, Congo - you have managed to reach the end of my ramblings (for today) ;-) Hope you are still sane and sound. :-P
I promise not to get freaky and belt out another one of these (soon).
Till then, ciao!!!