My travel encounters in India (Part 4)

Next in my series of posts on my India trip ... 

I think the term 'bumper to bumper' to describe a traffic came from India .. With my first scary ride in auto, I mustered my courage and trusted my instincts to  drive my scooty around in Hyd traffic ... Hyd is notoriously known for bad driving with no one following the rules... If you do follow the traffic rules, ppl give you a weird look ... So while driving these days, I noticed that at any red signal, there is absolutely no gap between the vehicles to even walk and the vehicles are jus couple of inches short of hitting the vehicle in the front ... that is when I sensed the true meaning of that phrase which is very commonly used in US to describe a heavy traffic jam !

As one might know, Food and I are best friends .. .I love eating as much as I love cooking :) ... these days, I am hogging on a lot of street food ... the lil 'telas' selling different kinds of chaat or haunting my fav chaat shop (bn their loyal customer for now 10 yrs or so)... and since it is raining once in a while, I get the pleasure of having a cup/glass of chai (tea) with hot mirchi bhaji/molaga bhaji from the roadside stalls...It is not the healthiest of places nor the most comfortable one ... but it is an amazing experience in itself .... One of the things I miss the most while living in the US . 

I have a bunch of more topics to write abt but laziness is creeping in .. Lets hope I am able to overcome that and continue writing :) 

My travel encounters in India (Part 3)

As the famous saying goes, “ A picture is worth a thousand words” (~Chinese Proverb) … I thot it is time I include some pictures .. they may not be in best pixels or great in details but they do capture the essentials                                                 Temple Temple Everywhere

 

                                The Balloon Man

My travel encounters in India (Part 2)

Continuing the previous post…

One of the things which has not changed at all is the traffic/driving style… for now I can comment only abt Hyd but I am guessing it hasn't pretty much changed anywhere else in India…There are bikes and autos and buses running everywhere… My first auto ride, I was more about the auto than the driver himself…I was trying to cross the road and tried to follow rules a lil bit but realised soon enuf that I had to take charge and not be afraid … there was a time when I was an expert driving thru such traffic but not I am not so sure as of now .. may b once i start driving my scooty/kinetic, i might feel more in control …

 A weird thing which I noticed about myself is that I am converting the prices of various things back to Dollar  to see how much it would cost me in US and whether it is worth buying it here and lugging it back … I am not sure why I am doing this ..the reason this is significant change to me is bcoz one things which we tended to often when we move newly to US is convert every dollar to rupee to see how expensive it is .. it is considered not good and we are recommended to lose this habit ASAP .. for some reason, I lost it soon enuf and also advised everyone the same .. But now I am not sure what  I am doing by this reverse converting .. Hav  I become a lil too much American and lil less Indian .. I jus hope I find the perfect balance between the two !

On the same not of being somewhere between Indian and American, I seem to have lost the art of bargaining .. The reason I call it art is coz u need to practice it to make it perfect and should also have a knack for it ... I gen go shopping with my mom ... Every shop I visit, i pick and choose what I want ... My mom's approval comes in the form of the "Indian headnod" (refer Outsourced TV show for more details) ...When the times comes for the bill, as soon as the shopkeeper starts telling me the price,  I neatly point him to my mom and say "talk to her, she is the one paying the bill" and thus starts the show of bargaining, where they each haggle until both parties are satisfied !!

My travel encounters in India (Part 1 of the series :D )

Every trip to home (India) is an adventure in itself.. beginning with a big shopping list and even bigger shopping bill ... trying to find the best deals and venturing out to buy things that never made it to ur shopping list in the first place .... trying to fit this enormous shopping into 2 suitcases 50lbs each (23 kgs each for the folks living in the rest of the world outside US :D) .... a 40 hr journey full of anticipation and excitement, crappy leg space and feels-super-long layovers... BUT then again, this is all totally worth it ... to see the happy faces of your loved ones waiting for you at the airport arrival lounge !

Now that I have given an elaborate  intro which is totally not wat I wanted to focus on, lemme finally get to the point which is to write my observations about anything and everything ...TIME to begin

1. A minimum of 1" inch heel sandals is a common place for any girl...I wonder how they are able to walk on the uneven road surfaces +  run around to catch buses/trains ... Personally, I am not able to wear them on a daily basis even when the roads are good

2. Usage of the new Rupee symbol - I really liked the new rupee symbol ... But  I find it really weird when I find it in place of the  very familiar "Rs."  .. .It would take a lil time to get used to but it is a nice change and I am proud that India now has its currency symbol


3. The good old habit of reading newspaper (I mean the non-virtual one) in the morning .... I remember the days when everyone in my family would wait for the morning paper and fight for being first one to read their fav sections (esp on sundays)... I missed that while living in the US where we are so much into the internet and reading news as such.... It was wonderful to hold the paper in my hands lying down on the easy chair, listen to the lil sounds while turning the pages and making a mess of the pages by mixing the page numbers by the time i finished reading them.. plus luckily there was no fight today morning coz there were 2 papers, and with my sis still slping and dad out of town .. it was jus mom and I (and yes, I got up at 5.45 am, a thing which is usually unknown to me - courtesy jet lag) reading a paper each and then being very amiable when the time came for exchange :D

More observations to follow as and when I find time to write about them between my shopping sprees and eating home cooked food and also the not-so-healthy street chaat ! 

Who are the top 3 ?

"In fashion, one day you are in and the next day you are out"  ~ Heidi Klum

You would recognize this famous quote if you are Project Runway follower. I have following this show since Season 4. The show is one of those reality shows which interesting coz of its fashion creations, what the judges think and the little drama here and there ! Some designs are brilliant and some others are out of this world ( I mean literally).. Not to forget Tim Gunn and his most of the time brilliant inputs !!  Anyways coming to the point, I though I would  try predicting who would be the top 3 contestants in this season .. So without any more wait, here I go

1. Mondo - He is very bold and colorful in his designs ...Reminds me of "Fierce" Crisitan from Season 4 in a way ....  Has won 3 challenges straight in a row (as of the last episode) and the judges love him.. He has got a great editorial eye .. he jus need to keep doing the good work ..

2. Gretchen - She has got a good sense of style (very classic and fashion forward) and play with more neutral palette (Well most of the time) .. Jus the opposite of Mondo .. Again she has won 2 challenges, and been in the bottom once (a team challenge which she kinda was the leader for). But I still think she is strong contender

Now the 3rd spot is usually a competition between 2 more people just before the Fashion Week .. I am not able to decide now itself as I would definitely have to see their final collection .. Usually they bring out their best and worst work in this collection ... anyways my choice of the remaining 2 contenders are

3. April - She has a very dark  styling .. .most of her dresses are in black, has a strong edge to it and is very good when she stays true to herself... her only setback is tat she doesn't have enough experience but that again has not mattered as seen in previous seasons


4. Andy -He has a got strong design sense with a lot of Asian influence .. .He is very good in styling and has created some unique dresses ... His biggest weakness is tat he can sometime get too lost in his design and is easily affected by emotions .. He might need to keep his emotions in check to succeed

Now I just have to wait and watch how my predictions turn out to be.

Jus another post !

Now that I have graduated, I seem to have lot of time in my hands but still feel there is not enough hours in a day... Even though I have a bunch of things I need to finish up before I am off to India, such as writing 2 papers, apply for grad skl among other things, I seem to be focusing more on the my cooking and watching TV .... U already know I love cooking even it is jus to cook something to fill up the bellies of myself and others .. One of the projects I have been assigned (which I came to know recently) is that I have to cook all the recipes from this 1000 page cookbook which M gifted me, the timeline being my lifetime :D ... *Thinking ... every gift comes with a price....Ironically I havnt even cooked a single dish from that book yet !!  and may b wil not start until the next yr .. My other timepass is catching up on all the Fall shows old and new .. I wud b definitely missing the season ending of all of them but I will hav a gala time catching up when I come back from India ... I am experimenting wit all the new season premiers and see which ones do I like.. One of my suggestions is Nikita ... hots babes, action fights, wat more can one ask ;)  ...One more  thing I shud b doing is reading my novels .... I loved reading and sepnt a decent time everyday reading .. but I suddenly seem to hav lost the urge to read ! It is like having a reader's block ...I am trying to find the right genre which would pique my interest .... Now there r a lot of things I would like to do in the next yr and I am hoping I am able to do it :)

Summer movies’ reviews – Update !

This post is continuation of my post on review of movies I watched this summer. If you have not read my previous post, you can find it in this link. I had mentioned that I would watch following movies:

• Twilight – Eclipse
• The Last Airbender
• Despicable Me
• Predators
• Knight and Day
• Inception
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
• Salt
• Eat Pray Love

So here goes the reviews for the movies I watched
Twilight – if you are die hard Twilight fan, then this is a MUST watch ( now I dnt even have to say that). I thot this movie was pretty good summary of the book… when i say summary, i need to stress that again .. The book was one of the longest/biggest of the series and when they made it into a movie, they kinda jus showed you a glance of each chapter of the book..Still I think you could watch it once! On a positive note, Jacob was HOT… with all his six pack and stuff ! On a negative (for me personally), I felt that the fight scene in the end which is so described in detail in the book could have been longer in the movie. I was somehow looking forward to it. (***1/2)
The Last Airbender – Went for this movie without much expectations and thus was not really disappointed like many others …the movie was aesthetically well taken and I liked .. may b coz I had not watched the cartoon before (Heard it is much much better). I would not mind watching the sequels but it is not one those movies which is going to be my top fav list. Caution: if u loved the cartoon series, u wud hate the movie .. so dnt bother. (**1/2)
Despicable Me – Went for this movie as it was an animation … Knew it would be cute from its trailer .. Didnt expect it to super cute and fun. Definitely a good watch and fun entertainer .. One of the good releases of this summer (****)
Inception – DEFINITELY a must watch … by the time i wrote this post or u read this post, u wud have def watched it, not jus once, may b even twice… If you havn’t yet tho, then do it ASAP! brilliant storyline with direction and screenplay worth mentioning. Caprio did a good job too … It was like living within dream ! Enuf said already (*****)
Eat Pray Love – You must of read or heard about the bestseller book of the same name .. I have not read the book yet but I am thinking it is a pretty good adaption of the book… .I think the movie is a pretty decent one, at times boring or too long. Loved the way they showed Italy (esp the food) or depicted Bali with its scenic beauty – Wanted to go to eat in Italy and have a vacation in Bali right away … The only thing I didnt love about the movie the way they showed India… I think there was  much more potential to truly represent India but then again I am biased coz I know about India much more than I know about Italy or Bali. Julia Roberts rocks … So if u r a big fan of her work, then definitely go watch this movie. If you prefer books to movie, I would probably suggest reading it. (***)
Yet to watch Predators, Knight and Day, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice & Salt. Blame it on my thesis! Will definitely watch at least a couple of the above if not all.
So until then, enjoy the rest of ur Summer :)

Beete Lamhe!

Ever wondered why suddenly memories of the past
come flooding back to you one random day, causing
you to frantically look into the tiniest details of those
memories in your head … you start looking for
pictures, videos, movies or books anything tat is
representative of those memories .. you try very hard
to imagine how you felt then and then try to recreate
those moments in your present life …One thing leads
to the other .. you start remembering your school life
and the pranks you played on unsuspected victims,
annual days and sport days, finding out lil details
about your crush(es) …getting excited about your
freedom during summer holidays, climbing tress
without getting caught or playing games for really
long hours till you mom threaten you with beating if
you don’t come “immediately”, preps for boards minus
the TV … you think that is that is best time of your
life when you suddenly are into college, with more
freedom and a new set of friends, ragging by seniors
in your first year followed by you ragging ur juniors
the very  next year, your own gang of friends, the
dhabas and movies and beaches you visited with
them … the long bike/car rides speeding above limit,
remember those days when you would cram for your
exams and have late night teas to keep urself awake
so that you can “pass” the exam, about the times when
you would have long conversations with your hostel
friends about random things in life and of course the
gossips going on in the college … you remember the
long walks in your campus or umpteen visits to the
canteen, running at the last min to enter your hostel
before the curfew, mass bunking classes jus coz you
are bored or want to watch a movie as a gang,
getting ODs for college culturals and  tech fests,
song dedications and proposals and rejections, bday
bump and bday treats, huge mess bills and even
bigger canteen bills, sneaking out to meet your bf/gf...
prepaid sim with unlimited SMSes… regular visits to
archies and CCDs to enjoy the AC, a lil bit of tension
of getting “placed” or GRE/CAT prep ….and off you go
to start another phase of your life offering a new
path…

All this while you see a sea of faces, some of which you
prominently remember, while others are faded
memory, best friends, arch enemies, juniors, seniors
and super seniors… names bounce of your head and
make you wonder where are they and what are they
doing now ...they are others you are in touch with…
you wish for gathering with all the different people
from you past .. wish some one would take initiative
from their busy life to organize  something where you
can relive your past… there are ppl with whom you
never spoke before but are now best friends with …
laughing about all the missed years of friendship ….
then they are others who were your best friends but
now you don’t even have any idea what they are up
to…sometimes you wish you had been more active and
stayed in touch and  other times you wonder wat
exactly happened to cause this drift  …

aahhh .. these memories … bring both a smile and tear
on your face…makes you wonder about the different
paths you might have taken and the results of those
paths…And then you realize that you even don’t
know the future of the path you have taken now…this
realization makes you hope that the
relationships which you have now last forever and
grow stronger by the hour … makes you hope that the
you forge new bonds and also repair some of the old
ones …. makes you hope tat you remember all these
moments in the future as vividly as they are now!!!

Crossroads of my life…

Recently, my life has been real tumultuous… I have been

faced with two or more choices and forced to take a

decision … There is this fear which exists al the time about

whether I am making the right decision … As always, I

think,  I analyze, I discuss, I argue (with myself), I justify, I

rethink before I reach a final decision … Currently, I am

faced with many options … as I told a bunch of ppl .. I am

right now at the crossroads of my life/career .. I do not

know what I would be doing 3 months from now .. But I knw

I would be doing something …I have a lot of open options ..

I want to go down all the roads and check them out … One

day I think one path is right , the next day the same path

looks less attractive … I have been confused like this for a

while … With my internship too, I was confused … I kept

asking myself y did I want to this unpaid intern ? esp an

intern job in which I already had a experience from my full-

time job .. But something in the internship attracted me

and I couldn’t place my finger on that … In the end, I

decided to do it going by my gut feeling and now I am happy

tat I made that decision…With all this confusion, I recently

got very excited coz a new door of possibility opened …At

first thot, it was like ‘oh no, not another road to my set of

crossroads’ but slowly as i explored this possibility,  I got

more excited …It was kinda perfect path for me as

it satisfied a bunch of my requirements .. But once the

excitement began to wear off, I saw how much prep I need

to make before I actually set foot on the path which even

takes me to that road … this road would then take me to

the right door …a new determination has risen inside me …

to make sure i reach the door … and Hopefully, with all the

choices I am forced to make, May this be the best one out

there !

When I am bored at work…

Things I end up doing when I am bored at work !!

1. Graduated high school.

2. Kissed someone.
3. Smoked a cigarette. (May be one day)
4. Got so drunk you passed out. (At my own house party :D  )
5. Rode every ride at an amusement park. (Don’t think I will ever do this)
6. Collected something stupid.(in my case, Greeting cards, trivia from young world)

7. Gone to a rock concert. (I will strike this as I have gone to other concerts)
8. Helped someone. 
9. Gone fishing (Want to but I think I will get impatient pretty soon)
10. Watched four movies in one night. (one too many nights)
11. Lied to someone. (a lot of white lies :D, no harm done! )
12. Snorted cocaine.(No, thank you!)
13. Smoked weed.(Thanks but no thanks! )
14. Failed a subject.   (umm..thinking … cant really think of one!, may b a quiz )
15. Been in a car accident.(Thankfully no and dnt want to b in one either )
16. Been in a tornado. (Does being in a tornado warning zone count?)
17. Watched someone die. (Sadly, but yes)
18. Been to a funeral.

19. Burned yourself. (Still have the marks)
20. Run a marathon.(May be one day)
21. Cried yourself to sleep.
22. Spent over 10,000 bucks in one day.(Wish I could, looks like I need to win a lottery soon)
23. Flown on an aeroplane.(Yup)
24. Cheated on someone. (May be, may be not , depends on how and wat u define cheating)
25. Been cheated on. (Again, depends on high I have defined cheating)
26. Written a 10 page letter. (And never got a reply back. Yes, my life is a tragedy.)
27. Gone skiing. (Someday…)
28. Been sailing. (one of my best experiences of life)
29. Cut yourself. (who hasn’t gotten a paper cut)
30. Had a best friend. (ya and stil have)
31. Lost someone you loved. (I miss u grandpa! )
32. Got into trouble for something you didn't do. (Thanks you, sweet sis :P)
33. Stolen a book from the library. (Nope and will never do)
34. Gone to a different country. (Yeah yeah and looking fwd to go more)
35. Watched the Harry Potter movies. (All of them except the last one.. read their books… does that count?)
36. Had an online diary. (Once upon a time)
37. Fired a gun.
38. Gambled in a casino. (Does slot machine count?)
39. Been in a school play.

40. Been fired from a job. (50/50 would have quit myself)

41. Taken a lie detector test.
42. Swam with dolphins. (One day)
43. Voted for someone on a reality TV show. (Naah)
44. Written poetry. (Will read, not really a poet!)
45. Read more than 20 books a year.
46. Gone to Europe. (Transit :D )
47. Loved someone you shouldn't have. (Who doesn’t love bad boys?)
48. Used a coloring book over age 12.
49. Had a surgery.
50. Had stitches. (My wonderful “fall from the 3^rd floor coz I was looking at guy on the road” story)
51. Taken a Taxi.
52. Had more than 5 IM conversations going on at once. (Most of the time)
53. Been in a fist fight

54. Suffered any form of abuse

55. Had a pet.
56. Petted a wild animal. (Held a python in my hand for 10 mins.. man, are they heavy)
57. Had your own credit card & bought something with it. (One too many)
58. Dyed your hair.

59. Got a tattoo. (Nada!)
60. Had something pierced. (My ears.)
61. Got straight As.
62. Known someone personally with HIV or AIDS.
63. Taken pictures with a webcam.

64. Lost something expensive.
65. Gone to sleep with music on. (Almost every night)

 

Summer Love = Movies !!

As many of you might already know .. I am a movie buff esp when Summer arrives .. Last summer, I didnt watch a lot of movies as I was in India .. But this yr, I am compensating for the loss .. Have watched almost all the movies currently in theatre (Bn to atleast one movie a week for the last 8 weeks).. so thot y not give my take on the movies...and Here it goes

Kites –A complete failure in terms of story line or the hype it has created .. u can watch the movie jus for Hrithik’s dance moves, body and the chemistry btwn Barabara Mori and him… oh ya .. Barbara is hot too ! You would get a few laughs too here and there ( and esp at the ending ) ..I jus thot is was mix and match of different hollywood films (*)

Raavan(an) – Though I didnt watch the hindi one, I wud suggest may b gng once for the following reaons  1.Cinematography, 2. locations 3.music 4. Coz it is Mani Ratnam’s movie … If you are one of the few who understand both tam and hindi (or telugu and hindi) .. then go for the tam/tel version jus to see Vikram’s acting abilities .. He did an awesome job! Oh ya .. it is loosely based on the Ramayana 

Tamil *** 1/2 and Hin **

Rajeneethi – Good acting performances ..have a bunch of well-known actors, ….Katrina does a pretty good job too… story is interesting but start is confusing coz I lost track of who is related to who and how .. def worth a watch  (****)

Sex and the city 2  - Didnt live upto my expectations … wasnt even half good as the prequel …. but the only i went for it for the outrageous dress Carrie wud wear and to check out other designs .. it is one of those movies where the dress plays such as important role  + plus it celebrates girlfriends (** 1/2)

Robin Hood – should have been named how he came to be known as RobinHood .. good  movie tho .. first 2 hrs u r lost on what is happening coz u r expecting something and it is not gng in that direction … the last 10 mins solves the puzzle … unless u r a history buff, u can watch it online (***)

Prince of Persia – loved it … used to play the game when i was  a kid .. so it was nice to see it as a movie .. the movie reminds scenes from the games esp the jumps and the fights he wud have to do each level … loved the story line with its twists and turns … the hero is good too and hot ! a def watch (****)

Iron Man 2 – not one of the best sequels .. but one could still watch it coz of the tech stuff … kinda repeat fights but the villan was brilliant and suddenly looked more appealing than the iron man in terms of knowledge … Downey Jr looked old and wish he has better make up! (***)

Toy Story 3 – LOVED it .. one of the best sequels I have watch in a long while … a def watch … wil make u miss u toys for sure .. a lil long but u wudnt mind it … and will b lost in the world of toys ! (*****)

Shrek 4 – it is one of the sequels where they r using the brand to make more money … Tried to bring in new characters but I think the first movie was the best .. One thing tho, which I loved in this movie where the babies of the dragon and donkey .. they were adorable … one can watch this movie if u have already watched the other 3 .. if u skipped it, u didnt miss much either .. ( ***)

The A team - When I went for this movie, I didnt expect much but ended up liking it .. if u like strategy, planning and plotting, this is one of those movies .. I gen love those funny one – liners in btwn a serious movie .. and this has many of them .. I thoroughly did enjoy the movie .. But not sure if it would appeal to all audiences (*** 1/2)

The Karate  Kid – Dnt go to ths movie coz u loved the original one … Go for this one coz u like Jackie Chan and u r interested to see wat Jaden Smith can do .. Both of them do a really good job … Also it is interesting to see an African American kid stuck in China and how he faces peer pressure .. You could kinda relate to him in this ! Some of the scenes are good .. the movie is very predictable, most of the times  ! (***)

I have a cpl of movies to catch up such as Letters to Juliet among others .. I am also watching old movies in Hulu and Crackle … Also, looking forward to more summer releases .. That list goes something like this

1. Twilight – Eclipse (yuppie gng first day first show at 12.01 am :D )
2. The Last Airbender – looking fwd to the graphics
3. Despicable Me (Animation)
4. Predators – May be
5. Knight and Day – Tom Cruise - May Be
6. Inception – Di Caprio – May Be
7. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Nicholas Cage
8. Salt – for Angeline Jolie
9. Eat Pray Love – heard the book is good (one my reading list)

 

my “Love Story” – the Hollywood style!!

* Key to understand this post – All the answers are movie quotes,
 movies are listed in the bracket.
*Disclaimer* - A little change has been made in the quotes, 
but it doesn’t change the essence of the original quote.

* How did it start ??
          I had this guy leave me a voicemail… so I called him back…
and then he emailed me after reading my blog, and I texted to his
cell, and then we just went around checking all these different
portals (to communicate with each other) (He’s Just not That Into You)

* What was the result ??
         In his own words -  “You had me at hello, Sharanya” (Jerry Maguire)

* How long did it take??
         Three weeks together  (not literally), that's all it took, three
weeks for me to fall for him. (Dear John)

* How did he convince me??              
          Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that
at some time, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this
thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll
regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're
the only one for me (Runaway Bride)

* My eternal question “How can you be so sure”??
         You don't know me, but I know me. (The Notebook)            
         (my reply) You're lucky to be so sure.
         (his reply) It's like the wind. I can't... see it, but I feel it. (A Walk To Remember)

* What do you know about me to like me ??
          All I know is... you're beautiful. (A Walk To Remember)

* What is your fav color :D ??
         Try blue, it's the new red! (Wall-E)

* What did he say in the end ??
          P.S. I love you (P.S. I love you)

* What  did I say to that ??
        And I love you without knowing how, why, or even from where (Patch Adams)

* When we met, what did he say (to convince me again) ??
         I know what I want, because I have it in my hands right now. You. (P.S. I love you)

* His thoughts on food ??
        (me) What is it you REALLY like to do?
        (him) Eat! (your cooking) (Julie and Julia)

* Food – his love??          (him- to me) You are the butter to my bread, you are the breath to my life. (Julie and Julia)

* What do I (we) want now ??
       When you realise You want to spend
       The rest of your life with somebody,
       You want the rest of your life
        To start as soon as possible. (When Harry Met Sally)

Spring Fever

Excited about Spring  for the reasons below:

•  The weather for one reason ( Dear Snow, I do love you still :))
• Ohio Union for the 2nd (atleast for the fee I am gng to be paying for the rest of my term at skl)
• I am turning 25 :D yippie !! (Silver jubilee of my existence on earth and I think I am happy and proud of most of my life :))
• Finally, I am gonna be an Instructor for a course.. Have taught cpl of times here and there but nothing as concrete or intense as this one .. and Dear dad, I dedicate this to you !! :) ( Come to think of it, I dnt think my dad yet knws , need to tel him soon ! )

Inspiration to cook – Update!

Didn’t make Pav Bhaji but made Pineapple Upside-down cake from scratch (with the help of a friend).. came out preeettttttiiiiieeee well  :) :)
the IRONY – took about 30-40 mins to get the ingredients ready (2 ppl) , 50 mins in the oven, 5 mins to cool and less than 5 mins to finish the cake (4 ppl) :D
But loved it !!

Inspiration to cook!

Last night I watched ‘Julie and Julia’ movie .. it is a movie based on Julie Powel,  who gets inspired by Julia Child’s book on French Cooking and decides to cook 524 recipes in 1 yr, while blogging about her experience. The movie also talks about how Julia Child got in to French cooking in the first place…
So why am I talking abt this movie …. one may b because I really liked the idea of Julie taking up the challenge of cooking everyday and writing abt it …. I know a bunch of ppl who do tat themselves  … and I always wonder how do they hav the time and patience to actually make a dish, photograph it extensively and even blog abt it … but they do it and kudos to these bloggers.. coz i can now easily find recipes to cook something  everytime i run out of ideas…
Another thing is bcoz I do like to cook and consider myself a decent one if I put some effort … Coming to think of it .. I am onto a similar cooking spree (at least for the past 2 weekends) .. This is in addition to what I cook on a regular basis…Lets c how long it lasts …
Last week -
1. Made Pan Fried Chilli Paneer (wid the help of a “stil-recovering-from-cold-but-will-eat-panner-anytime” friend) .. it turned out be okay …
2. Made authentic chole which was awesome (to the point I licked my plate clean :D )
3. Made gulab jamuns (with my roomie & another friend) which was so yummm that we finished it standing in the kitchen over the big dish wid forks in our hands  and there I was thinking that I cud either invite over a cpl of friends or jus eat ourselves for a week ! ha!

This week -
1. Made Potato Sandwich – grilled bread toast filled with potato tikki !
2. Currently baking my very first Banana bread – fingers crossed – hoping it comes out well. ..
3. Thinking of making Pav Bhaji – my al time fav dish in this whole wide world
I wish I wud take more effort into bloggin my experiences in the kitchen but alas I don’t see it happening in the near future …. But I would like to thank my dearest roomie who patiently eats everything in my expt cooking and also helps me in the making of the dish!!
To my readers --- if you hav any suggestions on what I shud make (in future) and also would be kind enuf to be my guinea pigs, you are most welcome…
But for now, al I wanna say is Bon Appetit :) !!

Q & A.

Following a request from a friend about writing my blog as a Q&A
session, incidentally I came across another blog which had that
format . I am jus following the lead here and going ahead and
answering some random questions about me. So here it goes …

(Note: This blog was written on Feb 4, 2010 at 3.15 am)

1.What is your current obsession?

Eating nuts from the trail mix (almonds, raisains, peanuts and a
bunch of other stuff)

2. What are you wearing today?
jeans, t-shirt, sweater, winter coat, scarf …. well the usual

3. What’s for dinner?
Pulav and Raita by my dear roomie

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
lunch – tomato basil soup with ravioli and a hard boiled egg

5. What are you listening to right now?
my heater making noise .. but if u r referring to a song .. it is Dil to
bachcha hai from ishqiya

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
nuthing coz no one tagged me :D

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
New York City .. wudnt tat be awesome :D

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
My Sunglasses

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
My home in Hyd .. my parents moved to a new place .. wanna go there :(

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Korean or Chinese (guess influence of my friends at skl :)

11. What’s your favourite quote?
my “about me” quote by Marilyn Monroe

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
my sis :) miss her and also so that she could buy me a lot of black dresses.. lol :D

13. What is your favourite colour?
RED

14. Give us 3 styling tips that work for you.
Wash my hair – no need to comb, jus blowdry (not really needed)
Roll up your jeans and a simple black t
Kajal (Eye liner)

15. What is your dream job?
To run my own skl

16. What’s your favorite magazine
Cosmopoiltan – only bcoz i got a free subscription and bn reading
it regularly

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Clothes + a new tote + accessories + shoes

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Being underdressed in a party

19. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?
Ash Rai-Bachchan

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
Curls with short hair :D might be my next hairdo

21. What are you going to do after this?
zzzzz

22. What are your favourite movies?
too many to list

23. What inspires you?
anything and everything

24. What do your friends call you most commonly
Sharan, sweetchoco, sheru, sharu etc 

25. Would you prefer coffee or tea?
Tea, of course

26. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed
talk to some one or slp

27. What makes you go wild?
nuthing really …

28. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
i read random blogs .. and if i like them, they go into my reader

29. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Gulabjamun

30. How many tabs are turned on in ur browser right now?
10, coz i am working :D

31. Favorite Season?
fall – love the colors

32. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?
guilty as charged .. i wud :)

33. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
dnt let them knw u r hurt, smile and be extra friendly to confuse
them

34. What are you afraid of the most?
roller coasters , for now :)

35. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
my light-dark circles

36. What brings a smile on your face instantly??
my friends :) or a kid

37. A word that you say a lot?
So, i guess

38. What would you do if you were made President of India for one day?
not really sure .. may b i will make it compulsory to go to skl or
abolish caste system in education and work or invite FDIs

39. What is that one thing that keeps you going.
my spirit to be happy

40. Whats one thing that you used to love that you left
writing my diary

41. What would be your reaction, if you come to know that today is the last day of your life
sad .. there r so many more things i wanna do in life still

Quotes which inspire me !! –

"Trust is earned . .. it cant be magically handed over."



"Don't worry about what others are thinking about you… they
are worrying what others are thinking about them."



"If you love somebody, let them go,  for if they return, they
were always yours. And if they don't, they never were."

why do women fall for bad boys ??

As I had mentioned in my previous blog about
watching “Vampire Diaries”, I realized that I am
in love with the character of Damon Salvatore
who in spite of being the one of the main
protagonist, plays the bad boy character. As many of
you might already (or not really) I have thing for
killer smiles in guys :D …. Not only is Damon stud-
looking with killer smile, he is still in love with his
“dead” girlfriend…. According to his bro, he doesnt
take revenge but usually gets what he wants…. He is
shown as the bad guy but I still love him … The same
goes with Chuck Bass of Gossip Girl or Neil Caffrey of
White Collar …..



I am thinking this is a common phenomena among
girls/women around the world .. we (always) fall for
the bad guys even in real lives ..Our friends tell that
the guy we like is not good enuf for us ...They talk
abt how he is a jerk and that we deserve better… The
problem is that we ourselves know it but we still
continue the relationship … I bow to the person who
sed that “love is blind” … Not once, not twice, I have
seen this happen several thousand times …. Some of
the are success stories, other fail … but life goes on as
it must … I jus do hope and believe that I fall for
a guy with a killer smile (no. 1 priority) and who
loves me for eternity for wat I am and I would do the
same for him (even if he is a bad-ass)…

P.S. – My ideal guy wud be a combination of several
characters from TV shows and movies .. now tat
deserves a whole post to itself ……

vampire craze

         I think I am into this so called vampire craze .. I knw it is cheesy
and it is so teenage but I did love reading the twilight series book
and watching the 2 movies …. As if that wasn’t enuf, I am now
watching The Vampire Diaries which is a part of this “vampire
craze”,  according to Forbes.com …Dunno how long this will keep
me  distracted … Hopefully some thing else catches my eye soon!!
    On the same note, I am TV show addict: meaning I take up a 
series and watch it like there is no tomorrow … The current
series is Scrubs ..It is comedy set up in a hospital …  If you havnt
even watched it yet .. check out atleast one episode from season 1-8
to understand the chemistry between JD and Turk :D (characters in
the show.)
    Can recommend more shows according to your taste … You
could also recommend me some!!

I wonder why?

I wonder why some ppl can’t take a joke on themselves but expect others to ?
I wonder why ppl say/do things when they know it hurts their loved ones?
I wonder why some ppl are subjected to random conversations or given TMI ?
I wonder why some ppl don’t trust u with their secrets when you trust them with yours?
I wonder why it bothers others if one eats non-veg or drinks alcohol or smokes?
I wonder why ppl don’t realize how much they are hurting the other person?
I wonder why they expect others not to shout when they themselves are shouting ?
I wonder why they expect the person to be on time when they are not?
I wonder why, I wonder why?

The year that went by… aka 2009

Looking back at 2009, one thing that struck me out is that I didnt even write a single blog… which is very sad .. not tat I am into writing as much as my other friends/colleagues are… I did want to do more blogging … but alas it didnt happen .. So I was coming up with excuses for myself (and now I am sharing it for your benefit) on why I didnt blog. This is the list I came up with


TOP 10 REASONS WHY I DIDNT BLOG - 
10. Addicted to TV shows
9. Writing papers for my class(es)
8. Partying with different groups of friends
7. Sleeping in free time
6. 16 credits per quarter + TA
5. India Trip in Summer
4. No motivation to write
3. Completely forgot I had blog (trust me thats true)
2. jus plain LAZINESS
1. Now.. I am out of excuses too !!

Hopefully 2010 will be a better year for my blog as I have a good start already… Wrote my first on in January itself :D