One from my diary.

स्त्री म्हणजे विश्वकर्त्यानं आपल्या पहिल्याच साखरझोपेच्या वेळी
टाकलेला एक हळूवार निश्वास वाटतो मला॰ त्या निश्वासांत पुरुषाच्या
जळणाऱ्या मनाला शांत करण्याची प्रचंडा शक्ति असते॰ स्त्रीच्या प्रेमळ
सहवासात माणूस जगाचं क्रौर्य विसरु शकतो, अपमानाचे कडू घोट
पचवू शकतो, नव्या परक्रमाचे पर्वत उभे करू शकतो॰ तरुण मनाला
ज्याची नेहेमीच ओढ़ असते असं जीवनाच्या वाटचालीतलं सर्वात
मोक्याचं ठिकाण॰

- An excerpt from the Marathi book "Mrityunjay"
by Shivaji Sawant

First mover's advantage??

I wonder why people expect the other person to
make the first move always?!!

Nostalgia

As usual the restless soul was upto generating work
and keeping oneself occupied all through the weekend.

So while at that I tripped upon some long lost items of
my creation. It was so nice to see those diaries and cards
and stuff - it took me a time gone by and still made me feel
so fresh.

Was very heartening to read the notes in my slam book from
my friends at school and work. It was hilarious to moving.
And so was the diary where I penned down lines which had
moved from the books I was reading or the poems/Sher's I
found interesting. Some of them can be truly revisited any
number of times without a hint of boredom.

aaah.... good ol' times :)

Finally

My prayers have been answered and it has rained in Pune.
Aaah... the rains made it so much better... its cool and nice
but a tad too warm for monsoon :) Nevertheless.

I wish

I wish I had more friends in my hometown.

Most of my friends from work are based in Bangalore,
where I used to work. The ones from school/college
are all abroad mostly. The ones from my current
organisation... whom am I kidding :)

Have only 3 friends in town.. of which one is a visiting
friend.. hehe... so he doesn't technically count. The
other is one with whom I can discuss only career and
the last one is a little more fun, but he is out of town.

So... any ideas... or wanna stop-by? :)

It is sooooooooooooooooooo...........

Bloody hot out here!!

God, please send the monsoon soon... :)

I'll be back...

Zoooo... I am back in India... to the gentle heat and pristine
surroundings.. hehe... :)
Yea its far far away from the scene above but I hope it becomes
that way some day. But its HOME and I love being back.

So starting the proceedings for my next location now...
and I hope its DE again.

lol....

War es Treue oder Sehnsucht?
War es Treue oder Sehnsucht?
Jahrlang habe ich auf dich gewartet
Doch nie hast du mir offenbart
was du mir heute endlich sagst

Hilflos weinte mein Herz im Stillen
Was soll ich nur tun?
Denn ganz plötlich ich est liebe

If you happen to translate this to Hindi, you will rofl :)
And if you dont, ask me.. I will tell you what it means.

Chicken!

Butter chicken was delicious.

No, I didnt cook it, my roomie did.
And was it good or was it good ! :-)

Just too good. He earlier also cooked chicken achari
and it turned out much more delicious than the one
served in the best hotel in town!

Muaaah! :)

Suisse

Jaane na kahan wo duniya hai
Jaane na wo hai bhi ya nahi
Jahan meri zindagi mujhse
Itni khafa nahi...........

I know... its in Switzerland :-)

But......

The sambar I cooked today ... kicked some ass! :-)

The most delicious sambar I have ever cooked.
And the recipe for the curious...

Dal - depends on how many ppl you want to feed
Moong Dal - depends on how much you like it

Cook it in a pressure cooker of your choice.

1. In a pan heat oil (of your choice and as much as you like).
2. Splutter mustard seeds, dried red chill and a little fenugreek
seeds.
3. Then add the garlic and let it brown.
4. Then add onions and fry them as much as you want :)
5. Then come in tomatoes and again let them sog as much as it allows.
6. Then add tamarind paste as per your taste and water.
7. Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and chilli powder to taste.
8. Add salt as much as your guests can digest.
9. Cover it and let the mixture cook.
10. After around 5-10 minutes or (50 if you like!) add the cooked dal.
11. Let it boil for 5 minutes.
12. .... And its ready to eat.

See.. its so easy - all it takes is knowing your taste and that of your guests.
:-)

Guten Apetit.

My first disaster in the kitchen

was a pasta dish I tried :-(

It turned out edible but not so lip-smacking good.
Was disappointed. I think I should look at some good
cookery shows about pasta making.

But the pasta ration is over and I dont think I will try it
out any soon :) Thank God (goes my roomie).
There's a nice place in the city center that has awesome pasta
I heard.. will try that out some day and then try out my hand again.
Surprisingly I HAD tried making pasta back in India and it had
turned out pretty well.. Anyway.. There's always a next time

Today's special - Kadhi Pakoda

If actions are anything to go by, I will not have to write anything more if
I show a pic of my finger licking roomie after eating the kadhi pakoda
I made today evening :)

First try and well worth the praise :) Not bad eh!

Clarity

The clouds of uncertainty are gone and there is light :)

Looking for another project now. Not sure of my release date yet.
Will be clear soon.

Hoping to get my next exciting opportunity sooooon.

Easter Weekend Trip - Part I

Had an amazing long weekend during Easter holidays. Went around Belgium
and Netherlands and the trip was really fantastic.

Landed in Brussels, BE and headed straight to Rotterdam, NL in a cute Fiat 500.
The journey was not long and was an easy drive on NL roads. Belgian highways
reminded me of some of the old highways in India - rough, patchy and dented.
NL highways were smooth as butter and driving thro'out the NL was a lovely
experience.

Rotterdam was a totally different from what I expected. Sky-scrapers, modern
architecture, jazzy offices - no this wasn't what I expected in Europe! :) So was
quite an evening walking around town marveling at the modern landscape.

Next day was reserved for Keukenhof - the famous Tulip Gardens of NL. Was so
excited about visiting this place that every minute delayed felt like I was gonna
miss something there. Thanks to the online tickets we bought we didn't have to
waste time in the long queues outside. From the moment one enters the garden
to the time one gets out - one is total awe of nature. The manicured landscape of
the garden is inviting and makes you want to spend more time with nature. The
thousands of different varieties of tulips - I can't even begin to describe. Till the
time I visited Keukenhof, I had only one picture of the tulip in my mind. After this
visit I am a little more conversant and if you don't ask me the botanical names I can
even tell you what all kinds :) Also saw the famous tulip farms on the way and they
were just like I imagined them! Sigh, couldn't get closer to them :(
So after a long day marveling, wondering and saluting nature headed back to
Rotterdam.

Then came the most tiring day of the entire trip. Hadn't planned it that way, but
since there was a car at disposal - made the most of it. Headed towards Delft - a
scenic, picturesque town on the way to Den Haag. It is known most for the blue and
white ceramic ware or Delftware as its called. It was a treat to the eyes watching
the cute little windmills in blue and white. Delft like most of NL has lot of canals
inside town and of course small little bridges over them.

After this lovely detour the next stop was Den Haag or The Hague. It used to be the
capital in earlier times and houses a lot of offices even today. The beach was choc-a-
-bloc with people and so was the parking, of course with cars. After spending some
time with Nord See (North Sea in English) we headed north to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam was an eye opener - literally. ;) Well before we go there let me also
mention - it reminded me of Mumbai. The central station looks very similar to
VT (or the new CST). The crowds are also similar -well demographically Indians
are a minority like the foreigners are back at CST. But the crowd is as much. It was
difficult to walk without nudging or being nudged. To get a respite we took the
Canal ride. It was cool looking at Amsterdam, its buildings, the various districts,
the people, their boat offices and homes (yes people do work out of their boats - how
cool is that!). It was in that ride that I came to know about the amusing central
station. It apparently is built on some 9000 wooden poles and amazes one no end of
how much rail traffic it handles day in and day out! Now comes the eye opener part.
Visiting the red light district of Amsterdam is a kind of ritual every tourist performs
while in Amsterdam. I was no exception. After a brief search we reached the narrow
alleys of the district. And I couldn't keep my eyes shut... lol. They were beautiful
women, barely clad, standing in the window of their one-room apartments waiting
for customers or negotiating with probable ones. That was a bold display and no
trace of shame or shyness to it. There were tons of people around flocking to see
these beauties and they were generous enough in giving them what they came for!
There was no turning back after this and so I headed to a show. Contradictory to my
gut feel I wasn't grossed out at all. It was pretty well done and even had acts like in
a regular theater act. There were sections to please different sets and to ensure
everybody went back happy - lol. So I came out with a smile on my face rather than
a grimace - and that was a pleasant surprise.

It was a long night already and the way back to the hotel in Rotterdam was even
longer. I enjoyed Amsterdam and would like to experience more of it some day again
- and this time a visit to a 'coffee shop' will NOT be missed. ;)

Thats the NL trip. Will write about the BE part soon. So long..

The Uncertainty of the times

is UNSETTLING.

Recession has officially reached my German client
as can be seen from their actions.Europe anyway sees
things 6 months late, so here I am - unsure of my job,
unsure of my stay here and hoping that things will
improve SOON.

Lets hope for the best.

Headstone Hunters

Apparently, this is what will be written on my headstone - if I get
buried and not cremated that is :)

"NO VACANCY"
You are one of those people that others will remember at places
away from the grave site.. One of those people that the rest of us
will think of everytime a joke is told or something brilliant happens..
You may not get flowers on your grave, but you will be thought of
everytime a glass is "clinked"... I'm surprised you even took the time
to take the quiz!

Who knows...

What do you think btw?

Spring in my feet

Spring is officially here as of last Friday.
But the weather hardly shows any sign of it.

Its funny the way the weather reflects our moods,
its nice and bright and sunny on the weekends and
dull and gloomy on the weekdays.

Talk about a conspiring universe eh! :P

Unravelling your other side

I have been experiencing newer aspects of myself since the time I moved to Europe.
It has more to do with the need to do so rather than wish.

The biggest change is me in the past 10 months has been my growing fascination
towards cooking. Believe me you, someone who had "a good cook" as a criteria for
zeroing on her could-be husband - this is a huge huge change!
But like I said, it has more to do with the need.

It is so absolutely difficult to eat German food EVERYDAY. Sorry Deutschland.
And the Indian food options are not that great. Well you may say something is better
than nothing, but you should try it yourself before you recommend it to me. Besides
being unreasonably priced it is as far apart from authentic Indian cuisine as the moon
from the earth. (Of course there is '1' good restaurant which I love, but it is not one
where one could go every week without pinching your pocket.)

So the last resort - cook your own meal. I did have a penchant for cooking and
whatever I tried out back home turned out finger-licking good :) Honestly. But I could
do that only once in a while. No, no, don't doubt my ability to recreate magic every
time, cos I can. It was just I was lazy. And who will not be! When you have so many
different options available!! I had a cook (who to be honest didn't churn out as good
food as I did, but like I said I was lazy to cook everyday), there were fine restaurants
nearby(not to mention they were affordable), you had home delivery service
available, you had tons of options of snacks to choose from, you could visit a friend's
place if you craved for some authentic dish from that part of India - so why would
anybody have to cook?!!!! Ah, the luxury that is India! :)

So now I have moved from that phase to this phase where I cook almost EVERY
day! Well, I DO cook everyday, sob, sob. (Yea my roomy does cook, but the mess
he leaves back is too much for me to handle. So I let him be most times) Anyway.
So like at other things, I am good at this too. Hehe. My inherent creativity has
cooked up dishes I could never imagine possible from me. And I am getting good
at it day by day.Necessity is the mother of invention they say. In the case of the
kitchen one could say boredom is the mother of innovative dishes.

Cooking your own food has its own pros you see. For one you can always believe
what you are eating, unlike at the restaurants. Secondly, you KNOW it is
hygienic and don't have to believe the hypocritical certificates the restaurant
flaunts. You always have the choice to "order" your own dish unlike where you
have to pick from "1,2,3". I think you get the point. So.. I am enjoying my time
in the kitchen. I ain't cooking any story here, honestly I am :)

So long... until next time, Guten Apetit.

Happy Holi

to you all.

I was missing out on splashing colors and water balloons
this day and ofcourse "Puran Poli".
Thanks to the wife of a colleague who thought of the brilliant
idea to surprise us all by getting Gulaal to our work place :)
Yeah it was fun dusting it off over and over and eventually
just letting the tikka stay so you dont get splashed all over again.

That was fun. :)