Nothing in particular: Rocket Singh, Avatar, Chicken in yoghurt, 2 states et all

Farewell thy desktop.. you have served us well!!!

Its been a long time since i logged in... and finally now that a laptop (not mine.. so the joy is shortlived) is handy, i can finally put in some kind of a post!!! Hopefully, will get a permanent solution soon..

***************************************
Its been amazingly hectic.. did i mention that weekend before last i was in hyderabad for an afternoon and then in delhi on sunday and back in Blore on monday.... jet setting i am not.. i am still recovering from all our jaunts!!!

But while on Delhi, I had amazing tikkis.. though i did not get the time to go to my favourite place to eat tikkis / chaats / parathas/ bhature / chole kulche and the likes...

***************************************

While all my blogger friends have suddenly ventured hi fi cooking (!!!!).. i also tried my hand at something new.. i havent tried continental stuff really.. a couple of weekends ago, we skipped lunch and we were very hungry in the evening.. that time of the day when you feel very hungry but dont feel like eating a full indian meal. So i checked recipe books, changed some things here and there and prepared chicken in yoghurt or something... marinated chicken breast in yoghurt, ginger garlic paste, paprika, pepper, salt, lime and mint leaves.. yeah thats about it i think.. after marinating (i put it in the fridge) for about half an hour - 40 mins, i fried it in very little oil. And that was one of my first attempts at continental food .. a proper chicken dish i mean.. turned out to be ok ok types...the only thing was that, there was too much chicken to eat just between the 2 of us.... so much so that we skipped dinner!!!
***************************************
I watched Rocket Singh and Avatar... Rocket Singh i like.. what a nice movie.. i think everyone who is working can identify with the thoughts of entrepreneurship entering their minds some time in their worklife!!!! Ranbir Kapoor was great.. I thought Gauhar Khan was quite good.. I really liked Prem Chopra .. he looks and talks like a complete surd.. these guys have taken care of the smallest of things.. like an old crumbling switchboard that a colleague pointed out.. they did not need to have it in the movie.. it just seemed real.. pretty much like Khosla ka ghosla where you actually feel you are sitting in Delhi..

And what was real was the work life.. unlike many movies where they sit with empty files or with one piece of paper.. or like the scene in corporate where Bipasha Basu tells Minisha Lamba that its great that you are taking your parents out over the weekend.. in corporate life, you dont get to do that, kind of bull!!! In this movie, its as real as it gets!!! And i enjoyed it!!!

On the other hand lets come to Avatar... the most hyped movie of the decade.. its welll.. nice.. the 3D is quite cool.. the recreation of another world is super fab.. and then our seats were fab.. this is the first i watched a movie in the gold class..i was delighted with that experience... the super duper seats.. with cushions.. and a blanket, can you imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so kicked about it!!!!! This i discovered during the interval.. and then plush seats which has extendable legs, and reclining seats .. i should stop calling it seats.. i should call it sofa!!! But anyway, as you can see i was very taken by the "gold seat" experience.. i loved it...

Oh but wait, wasnt i talking about Avatar... oh well!!!! I liked the conceptualisation.. and eh ...the forest... and sam worthington (he's a dude).. hmmmmm... the movie of the decade..hmmm.. i wonder if people have responded under pressure (as this is James Cameron's 2nd movie post Titanic)... No, you say?? Hmmmm.... great seats though.. :))

****************************************************
I loved 2 states.. maybe it reminds me a little of my own story.. i did say a little.. we are from 2 states (though both from the the south)... a cute story.. though it does drag in some part.. but what i liked was that neither of the protagonists were shown to be politically correct.. people like you and me.. i found it really cute.. maybe because as a girl i have come across some of these situations being in delhi, a south indian in delhi i should say.. and at times even down south... funnily enough, when i was studying economics for graduation, a gentleman in delhi came upto me and said economics is not for girls.. we should study maths as thats only theory and girls are very good at mugging.. the counter point in south...
an aunty to me: what are you studying..
Me : economincs
Aunty : didnt get through engineering / medical? The expression being people even study Economics ??

A total timepass book that i loved reading... brings me back those old memories of the great north-south divide... could relate to it very well, having experience both sides
**************
Yawn,.. i should participate in essay writing competition you think? lol.. Good night.

The miracle thats hot water

As you may have guessed by now, i was in a wedding till bout last week!! We were staying in this renovated house in a small town.. there were easily about 20 odd people staying there.. the house was big.. but 20 people is a bit of a stretch..

Sleeping was not so much of a problem.. but getting ready!!!!!!!! Oh dear me..

The first day of our stay there was fine as not many people were there.. we could get ready on our own time. but then everyone started trooping in.. we were (immediate family) sent upstairs along with our stuff.. so that we dont lose anything and are in a place with relatively less confusion!!!

The showers there... the place is recently renovated and hence no geysers !!! There was an electric rod to heat water.. but obviously preference was given to kids.. and with all the functions and running around happening, the priority was to get ready much in time.. to take a shower somehow and get ready in peace!!

So cold water was what it entailed...... cold cold cold water.. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr .. and everyday.. day after day... when washing hair too.. it used to take me 5 mins to motivate myself to get under the shower.. of course once you get under it, it was just a matter of seconds when you jump out!!!

I am a person who uses hot - lukewarm water, no matter what the outside temperature or season.. i love hot water!!!!!!!! Just lurrrvvveee hot water!!!

The first thing i did when i reached home...... switched on the geyser and took a shower with boiling hot water!!!!!! What a delight!!!

Small towns and the likes..

The fun part of the trip is to be in a small town (ok, so i am out on a trip.. for a family function).. i have stayed in a village .. my family's ancestral house was in a small village in kerala. We used to visit that place every summers as children... it was an awesome place to be at.. no electricity.. a huge ground to play with a house smack in the middle.. a well.. no gas stove (a chulha)..and a forest(thats what we used to call it) surrounding the ground... it had jackfruit, mangoes, coconut etc trees..And oh we had this pool.. which had these steps leading into it.. the olden days type of pool!!!

So coming back to this one.. I am currently in a small town in Andhra called Samalkot.. its near Kakinada.. it would be probably be about a few kms.. 10-15 odd perhaps!! Thats it.. thats the length and breadth of the town!!

In the morning one awakens because of the huge amount of noise made by hens!!!! The house i am staying in is quite modern.. its been renovated.. pretty much like any of our houses!!

Its fun to roam around and see how the town is... the snack shops (hot chips shops its called)are these one box kind of a structure.. with a glass panelled table enabling you to see all the snacks... and a guy seated behind that!!!

We went to Kakinada the other day.. which is the bigger town.. the main market is one long road.. it has its titan shops and all.. we were in search of a beauty parlour.. an extremely funny or weird thing we discovered.. there is this one apparently very famous beauty parlour there.. for bridal make up they charge 10K!!!! And just for you to compare, Lakme charges 5-6K which includes trial session!!!!! I was zapped. For mehendi (henna), they (local parlour) were charging some 2.5 grand for the bride.. and to top it they wont let you select the design.. I was stumped!!! And said as much.. the lady literally showed us the door!!!

After this extraordinary experience we went hunting for parlours.. one person gave us some directions and off we went.. we got lost ..had to ask a few people.. the funniest bit was we bumped into these people (who we asked directions from) again as we were lost.. and they gave us directions, the shopkeeper of the shop near where we were standing overheard us and gave directions, the other customers at the shop also gave us directions!!!!!!!!!! And then one lady gave us directions from her terrace.. and actually came to down to tell us the right way when she saw us taking the wrong direction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The level of interest and helpfulness was totally a strange experience coming from a bigger city where nobody bothers really!!! Strange but quite nice an experience!!!

The post is not complete without mentioning the food!!!! The food here...... the amount of chillies they use in their food is no joke!! By the time you finish eating, you are literally on fire.. smoke coming out of your ears.. tears intermingled with sweat streaming down your cheeks.. it is HOT!!!!!

2 more days to go before am back to the sinful and the "cosmopolitan" big cities.. where no one pays attention to anyone.. Am i saying i want to live in a small town...am not sure!!!!! But its an experience for sure.. and all of us should undergo it sometime or the other in life!!!

When in a crowd

I dont like crowds. I just dont. Be it in open spaces.. like a shopping street.. or at home!


I dont like going to parties / places where i dont know people. I am distinctly uncomfortable. And once i have decided i am uncomfortable, all i can think about is how to get back home quickly. It becomes literally an obsession - finding out of ways and means to get home OR get out of such engagements.

At these times, i feel like going back to being a child. At least i can raise my nose and walk off!!! Not much luck now... being an adult!! Need to smile and smile even more ....

I love my space.. cant be around people for long.. long meaning more than 2 days.. ok, this does not apply always :)

I am usually quite sociable.. i talk a fair bit.. but find it difficult to uphold things for more than a few hours!!!! But we try ... what to do... some perils of being an adult... :((

After some time, i need to be alone.. in my own home.. my own bathroom.. my own bed... my own computer.. my own everything!!!! A whiny child i am.... i know, i know..

A Coward.. meet moonshine..

When i compare myself to what i was earlier (pre marriage) and what i am now.. i used to be complete bindaas.. where now i am careful.. a worrier.. dependent.. thats whats describes me!!!

And believe you me, its got nothing to do with the person i got married to :)... its just me.. i have become so dependent for everything on him!!!!

As an example - earlier, i used to have my own car.. and i used to go everywhere without caring 2 hoots about parking, about not knowing how to get there etc.. i still remember i had just learnt driving and i had been invited to lunch at my boss's place.. his place was easily around 30 kms away.. and an area that was alien to me.. i just took my car and somehow managed to reach after warning people that i still not know how to park properly.. that was the first time i took the car out alone and drove such a long distance!!! I never used to bother about anything.. one fine day my friend invited me over to KL (Malaysia).. and i went.. lost my luggage at the airport.. found it.. and that was my first trip abroad.. when she went to work, i would step out , take a cab.. and roam about all over KL on my own!!! I used to travel for work.. traveled to Bareilly, ludhiana , patna everywhere without a second thought!!!! You get the picture?

A taste of me as i am now - "Should i take the car? I dont know if there's parking.. forget it, much easier to take a rick"... "how do i get to this place.. leave it .. will go when A is around".. " I am traveling alone.. should i take the flight from bombay where there will be others?"... " they are not sending a cab.. how will i get to the hotel".... etc etc etc

I have become totally dependent.. thats what it is!!! Or maybe i am growing old.. nahhh.. am becoming dependent..

So when i traveled alone to Singapore.. it was fantastic.. reminded me of how i used to be... I loved it when i was able to access the BIAL wireless.. all by myself... (i know its no big deal.. so what)..

And just to remind myself , i am still me.. i promptly threw my phone cover (a real nice black case) into the dustbin instead of the empty water bottle!!! And much to the consternation of the observing public, i fished it out of the bin!!!

And then i traveled in S'pore on my own.. the little bit that i could travel i.e. .. it was fun.. being amongst a group of people none of who you know from before.. it was so much fun.. though initially i was a bit unnerved!!! It was an amazing experience.. traveling alone.. one that i had forgotten about!!!

And this weekend again i find myself alone... so yesterday, roamed about in Blore!!! I have forgotten how much fun doing timepass by oneself is.. i went to this small hole in the wall kind of a lingerie place (there are many of these).. had fun shopping.. had a sub when i felt like it.. went to Crossword and browsed!!! Did all the things that i used to do!!! It was so much fun.

At times, its good to be able to do that... though here, i am not meaning to say that its not fun when 2 people do it.. its just that at times you need to remind yourself that you will do fine even if you are left alone.. you need to be on your own.. just do your own thing.. get out of the house.. and go wherever the mood (the auto guy rather) takes you!!! :)

I am happy.

The 8 course dinner...phew!!!

Back from S'pore ... We had this full non vegetarian dinner at a restaurant in the hotel where we stayed...

We walked in and they just asked us one thing - veg or non veg (I opted for non veg).. they seated us and then brought us stuff one by one to the table... so here's the course..

1) Scallops in mustard sauce - this one was really nice.. a very small portion though.. loved the mustard sauce flavour .. yummy
And after this dish, our happiness (all of us at the table) ended....

2) Item no 2 was shark fin and crab soup.. uh.. well, i tried.. it tasted ok.. very mildly flavoured.. there were onions slices.. which looked like fins.. could not get to eat that.. i had about 1/4th.. no no 1/5th of the soup!!!

3) Bacon and seaweed roll - bacon was nice.. i did not have the heart to try seaweed.. once had seaweed cookies.. i still get that taste in my mouth at times!!!!

4)Steamed live hock - before we got this dish, i went around asking everyone at the table if they had any clue of what this thing was.. it was fish they told me.. spent quite sometime wondering why was it "live" and was extremely curious to know what would we finally get... it was steamed "dead" fish (!!!).. hahahaha.. it was ok.. the sauce was nice but very less.. it was as good as eating steamed fish!!!

5) Roasted duck - someone at my table said" i dont like duck" - they did not mention any reason though.. of course i soon found out! When i started eating.. i was like.. hey this is like chicken, so tell me again why dont you like it.. but then i went on chewing it.. i chewed it for 5 mins.. and then could not get it down my throat.. i forced it down gulping lots of water and coke and fortunately i was able to keep it down as well!!!! Its after taste is soooooooooo strong!!!!

6) Some veggies and tofu.. I was so happy when i heard veggies are next.. as you can see i was almost done with the non veg bit.... but to my horror...the greens looked limp.. you wouldnt feel like eating it at all!!! the tofu.. 2 bites , thats all you can manage!!

7) Steamed noodles in shark bone stock.. whats with them and sharks!!!!! It smells like crazy.. its an achievement to be able to dig in!!! I was brave enough to try a bite.. but the smell is too overpowering!!!

8) Dessert finally... it was mango something with sabudana (dont know what its called in english) and another fruit that i havent heard of and now i dont remember.. i ate all the mangoes in any case!!!

A pat to myself on my back.. at least i tried!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

A special.. coming right up : Cooking shows :)

Joy to the world!!! Comp has started working yet again!!!! Thank you thank you.. bless you.. muaaahhh.. A :)

Ok, so now that my life is complete and back on track.. :))

I like watching travel shows / food shows!!! I am very fascinated by cooking shows.. i dont know why.. maybe because many years ago, my mom used to watch these shows every sunday morning (and i used to watch it too for the want doing something better on sunday mornings)... and generally, i like seeing the entire process of chopping, frying.. making something delicious of things that dont look like much in their original state.. of course what helps now is that i like food as well!!! And it shows too!!! Some of the shows that i watch now or used to watch.. programmes you tend to stay on when channel surfing -

Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazana - my earliest memory is that of this guy's cooking shows.. that my mom used to watch.. watches even now faithfully!! Actually that guy makes everything look so simple!! And i think it was he who changed the face of Indian Cooking shows!!

No reservations - But of course. I love Anthony Bourdain!! That man can eat anything.. can do anything!!! Its quite adventurous.. watching this show.. you never know what are you going to be seeing next!!

Lock, stock and 2 smoking tikkas- This one used to come on NDTV Good Times.. a chef called Marut Sikka and he used to make regional cuisines.. and would make it extremely simple.. in fact i have written down a couple of his recipes.. Murgh do piaza was one.. turned out ok too!! The rest i confess i am yet to try!!

Nigella Feasts - One has to, has to, watch this show.. it is all about her close ups and food close ups.. she is quite pretty.. and is always shown to be munching on something..

Top Chef - Honestly, i like this one better than Hell's kitchen (saying this even though do like Gordon Ramsay.. well , who wouldnt!!)... I like watching the challenges.. the competing chefs come up with such original stuff !! I love watching them put things together and come up with a totally new dish.. its very very fascinating. In fact i remember one the challenges to be .. to prepare breakfast for 40 surfers.. keeping in mind that they are sportsmen..one had to come up with healthy stuff but enough to feed their hunger.. it was awesome.. just watching all of them in action!!!

Highway on my plate - This one is on NDTV good times.. there are these 2 men who travel on highways.. and eat at all the dhabas possible!! Its fun to watch them gobble up all kinds of food.. today i learnt (just now), there is a sweet called palangtod in Punjab!!!

Chak De India - How much does this guy eat, i wonder everytime.. again comes on NDTV Good times.. he visits various places.. and eats up everything in sight.. and he is lean!!! How???? Just 2 days back i was watching this show.. he ordered the entire rann (the restaurant ppl say that you can order this only if there are 4 ppl) .. mutton paya and some one more chicken/mutton dish and proceedd to eat every thing!!!! Geez.. quite entertaining though!

Foodie : Does this come on Times Now or CNN IBN.. not sure.. but this guy, Kunal Vijaykar, literally drools over the food being prepared.. you can almost see it!!! He loves his food and the name of the show is very apt too!!! :)

I also have watched Kylie Kwong.. Floyd's India.. and many many cooking shows.. remember Yan can cook? lol

Whats your favourite?