Refreshing myself

Dhatttt...heights of laziness..Where m i lost?? Last post that i wrote in my little blog was in Feb 2009.Thats 1.5 years back.. Y-E-A-R-S.. not months or weeks or days. People are so active with updating their space in the world wide web and look at me..I am not at all bothered. I wonder for what reason I had started writing my blog, anyways my absence from the blog world was majorly due to other important happenings and occupancies in my life.
But now m seriously thinking of posting some good stuffs that i plan to do in the coming days..months..etc.
Need ideas and more ideas on what to create which will appeal and attract people to see and may be to buy as well..
I started on with learning Paper Mache, watching all videos and tutorials, thou I could not succeed much..But i wont quit..Will keep on trying.
Other ideas that are currently playing in my mind are:
· Customized & decorated name plates.
· Customized coffee mugs
· Fabric Painting
· Oil paintings
· Acrylic paintings
· Origami flowers
· Wall hangings
· And the list goes on...
From the above list, the first one is under trial (Will post it soon). Ceramic painting and origami I haven’t tried yet but I am interested in trying those.
Rest, painting is something that I keep on doing sometime or other, so that shouldn’t be a big deal.
Lets see where does my quest for learning different forms of art & crafts take me..

Immotional Attyachar!!

Writing after such a long time cos I didn’t have anything great to write recently. May be I was more occupied with other things which has kept me away from my blog. 

Now coming to the topic, my friend and I daily observe some people at our office who have a typical mannerism in their way of talk, behavior, walk, etc. which are quite interesting and attyachar at same time. To add more spice to this unique comportment we have given a special name and song that suits each one of them. A place where more than 10000 employees work , its not easy to spot any particular person daily but since these ones sit in the same floor of ours, we get to see them & their acts daily. But seems we are changing our block soon.. so gonna miss them. Lets see whats so special abt these species. 

Morning the first person that we notice is Miss Vicco Turmeric. Madam Vicco spends most of her time in the washroom applying vicco turmeric on her face. Morning, noon and evening, shes so addicted to that cream that.. the air fills with the smell whenever she breezes by. Bas the moment she passes us.. the only song that we can mutter is “Vicco Turmeric .nahi cosmetic.. vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream..keel muhaso ko jad se mitaye..haldi chandan ke gunn ismein samaye.. twacha ki raksha kare ayurvedic cream” Did I mention anywhere.. she has a lot of keel & muhase (pimples). Hehe. J

Later in the day we get to see Miss Haule Haule..or Miss Hille hille.. This lady doesn’t walk straight but jumps & shakes a lot while walking. So we sing the song for her : "Haule haule se Sapana chalti hai.. haule haule se woh hilti rehti hai.. haule haule se nahi rukti hai… haan…" This Maa’m needs a speed breaker. 

Then there is a Champakali and her Champak who are the inseparable species. Seems God had decided to make them joint twins, but forgot to fasten them at the last moment. “Tu jahan jahan chalega.. mera saaya saath hoga..” is what goes true to them.. 

Now my friend has 2 besties (Okay.. I call them her besties actually, cos she cant stand them) - Billo rani & Hasumati . Billo rani is the ultimate nautanki types. She talks, walks as if straight from a Shilpa Shetty movie. And Hasumati.. don’t wonder why I gave such a name for her. That’s because she always keeps her lips in the form of smiling, thou actually shes not. Default face hai uska.. 

Latest addition is Miss Masakali Matakali. Inki aankhen bahut matakti hai..aur sar bhi. So a special song dedicated to her. “ Masakali masakali..udd matakali matakali..” You should see her walking with her matakti eyes & head kept too high (as if looking at the ceiling).. Hillarious!! 

And then there is one short heighted Aunty, who has a typical way of dressing. Her Salwars / Formal pants taper 1 inch above her ankle. Till date we have never seen her wear any normal attire. May be her tailor never reaches her feet. 

Madam Mawwali is also an unique piece..Thou she looks like a girl and has long hairs.. she does confuse us by her behavior..Typical Mawwali ki tarah chalti hai. And ringtone bhi Mawwali eveteasing wala whistles hai.. Shes the DON.. “ Mai hun Don.. Mai hun Don.. Mai hun mai hun mai hun Don.” 

These were the various types of girls.. and now comes the turn of guys..  

Ek hai Mr. Jhoola. Pot bellied, dwarf like creature. He swings and sways so much while walking that hes got hit on the workstations & the wall a lot of times. And add to that daily I get to hear his besura songs.. 

Then there is this Takla.. who sits across my workstation. Dunno what childhood problem he has, but he stares at every girl on the floor, and we too are not spared. Ek toh bilkul baal nahi sar pe.. but khud ko pata nahi kya samajhta hai.. Uska takla fodne ka bahut mann karta hai. Wish ki aisa mauka mile soon.. J

Mr. Chintu, another 5 foot & “khud-ko-smart-samajhne-wala” guy. Kitna bolta hai yaar.. humse nahi.. but on phone.. and kahin bhi khada rehke itna baat karta hai.. Style se English maarta hai to impress all. But yeh bhool gaya ke bachu tu dikhta bhi nahi jab aajubaju koi aur khada hai. 

Dadaji Gaurav ke baarein mein kya bolu.. He must be about late 20s, but stoops and walks like an 80 yr old.. bechara.. kaam ke bojh ka maara.. umra se pehle hi buddha ho gaya.. bas haat mein lathi lena baaki hai. 

We also have one South Indian sitcom actor here. Fullto Mixture of Rajnikanth & Chiranjeevi. And guess what, he has a married girlfriend, whos daily spotted with him. 

And finally we have Mr. Kaalu.. Total black with only white teeth showing, 6 ft, healthy doesn’t look any less than Kumbhakaran cos we always find him dozing at his desk. 

But Jokes apart, I have a real gem of a friend, whos the hottest gal in the world - desi girl - Sonpari. J

Sabudana ki Kheer..

Today is Dussehra, Vijaya Dashmi.. and a day to enjoy. Cleaned up all the house and offered puja to all the electronic items. Mom told me to prepare some kheer and offer to Goddess Mahalaxmi. So i thought of trying something new today. Thou experimenting something for the first time and not having someone here to taste it and give a verdict.. is pinching me... but i can assure,that its tasting awesome.. :) .. and its true... hehe

Sabudana ki Kheer ( For 2, Preparation time : 15 mins)
Ingredients:

1 cup sabu dana (sago)
1/2 litre milk
1 tsp cardamom powder
few dryfruits(almod, cashewnut & raisins) chopped for garnishing
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Mawa

Preparation:

Soak sabudana in water for an hour (Dont soak more than that, else it becomes very soft)
Boil the milk and add the sugar.
Drain the water from the sabu dana and add them into the milk
Let it boil till the consistency is a bit thick.
Now mix in the cardamom powder and mawa.( i took some grounded peda instead)
Kheer is ready.
Garnish with chopped dry fruits.

Enjoy Cooking!!!

Durga Puja : Navratri : Dussehra

Today is MahaNavami and the last day of Navratri. Some reminiscences of my childhood wanted to share here..
My father is a Central Govt officer because of which we have travelled places. Thou, getting transferred every 7 years to a new place, leaving old friends, getting accustomed to the new place, roads, people, the environment, the language, the surrounding, etc used to be a challenge. Still, the interesting thing was learning the traditions of the state, their culture and language. The opportunity to interact with new people and making new friends, plus we also got a chance to visit all the other cities nearby in the state.
Talking about the traditions, each place had its own different way of celebrating the festivals.
Come October and there begins Durga Puja.

In Madras (now Chennai), people celebrate these 9 festive days by building artificial steps in their home and placing dolls (Golu / Kolu). They decorate the steps with lights, flowers and rangoli. People visit each other’s homes to see the exhibition. The dolls mostly depict Hindu Gods & Goddesses. I had got the chance to see these at my neighbors and friends place. And the Prasadam that they made was also superb. Dussehra is considered the most auspicious day, hence Goddess Saraswati is worshipped and children commence their learning of classical dance & song on this day.

When we got transferred to Bhubaneshwar, celebration here was totally different. This festival here is observed for 10 days to honour Maa Durga (Shakti) for her victory of good over evil. Massive images of Maa Durga are installed on decorative Pendals and Puja is performed. There are competitions between Pendals for being the best decorated one.
At Cuttack, we could see the Durga idols bejewelled with Silver filigree work, locally known as Chandi Medha. It is a delight to see the entire city, adorned with lights and other decoratives.We used to specially go to see those pendals at Cuttack.There is so much of celebration in the air. Schools and colleges have puja holidays and that adds to the charm as crowds pour into the Puja Mandaps to enjoy the festivities
On Mahashtami. Oriya women celebrate Bhaijiutia, a fasting carried out for whole day to seek Goddess Durga's blessing for the long life of their bhais
Finally on last day, i.e Dussehra, the Puja Idols are taken in a spectacular procession for immersion in the river. Also, on this auspicious day, Puja is performed for all the electronic household items, vehicles, books, pen etc for the blessings of Maa Durga & Saraswati.
In the evening, we get to see Ravana poda, where huge effigies of Ravana are loaded with crackers and burnt to mark the triumph of good over evil. The fireworks are a spectacular sight. Me and my cousins had made it a point every year to see this event.

5-6 days later, the full-moon day after Dussehra is celebrated in Orissa as Kumara Purnima (also called Sharat Purnima) and on that day, people worship Goddess Lakshmi - the Goddess of Wealth and also the moon. Wearing new clothes, we used to be awake all-night & have many sessions of playing Cards. Thou it’s not a form of gambling but we enjoyed meeting all relatives and counting the amount of money we won at the end of the night.

Cut to 2000, we shifted to Ahmedabad, and there I experienced another unique form of celebration for these 9 days. Here, mostly celebration begins at night with worship and dance, hence Navratri..The entire state gets rejuvenated at the night. For the first time I saw a tradition where everyone enjoys, from a little child to the oldest one. Everyone who stays in Gujarat by default knows the two danceforms - Garba and Raas and they swing to the tunes dedicated to Maa Ambe all night. The colors, the lights, the enthusiasm makes everyone enjoy to the full. The interesting part is seeing all the girls and guys being in perfect sync while dancing. Navratri in Ahmedabad has been a real lovely experience. And Dussehra is incomplete without the special Fafda & yummy Jalebis.

Missing all these years and looking forward for another exciting experience in future.

HAPPY DUSSEHRA. May Maa Durga bless us all.

Jahni Alu Posto

Another Oriya specialty which I tried last evening, turned out quite well. Surprisingly my friend was very impressed with it and I promised to share the recipe of Jahni Alu posto with her. The name doesn’t click to non oriyas, so for them it’s a dish made of Ridge gourd and khus khus and very much unique to oriya cuisine with no masala at all.
Don’t know what else can be prepared with this vegetable, except 2, one that I learned at my house ( Jahni Kaari) and other that is more often eaten at hubby’s house (jahni alu posto).
Though the preparation varies from home to home, my version is very simple and purely suited to our taste buds and preference. So here it is.

Jahni Alu Posto ( For 4, Preparation time : 20 mins)

Ingredients:

3 medium sized Ridge gourd (Jahni/Dodka/Turiya)
2 medium sized Potatoes (Alu)
1 Onion
½ tsp mustard seeds
8-9 cloves of garlic
6-7 cashewnuts ( Kaju)
1 tbsp KhusKhus ( Posto) soaked in water for half an hour
3 green chillies
5-6 curry leaves
2 tsp Oil

Preparation:

Remove the edges from skin of Ridge gourd.
Cut the potatoes, onion and ridgegourd in thin n medium length sizes.
Make a paste of garlic, khuskhus and kaju
Heat oil in a Kadhai and put in the mustard seeds & curry leaves
Add the onions and green chillies and let it fry
Then fry the ridgegourd and potatoes.
Add salt acc to taste
Mix in the paste and cook on medium heat, till its cooked.
Add little milk, if consistency is too thick.
Serve Hot with Chapatis.

Enjoy Cooking!!!

Tomato - Khajuri Khatta

This is my post after almost a month, cos I didn’t have anything substantial to write. Suddenly an idea struck to me to write a little bit about my other hobby (hobby out of compulsion) and that is Cooking. Thou I am still a Learner and haven’t got my permanent license yet, some of my experiments do turn out well and i get praises from few, apart from the only victim of my so called culinary skills, my Hubby.
Yesterday being an Sunday and having bunked college, I had all the time to prepare for a perfect lunch consisting of Pakhala, Machha fry (bhaja) and Mashed Alu with badi chura. Later in the evening our friends were to come, so on demand of hubby, I prepared one of the most unique and easiest dish of Oriya household.
Tomato- Khajuri Khatta, which normally acts as a side dish with dal, rice and vegetable fry else it can be taken alone with Vegetable Pulav. Below I have tried to give my version of the khatta.

Tomato- Khajuri Khatta. (For 4, Preparation time: 10 mins)
Ingredients:

4-6 juicy Tomatoes
4-6 pieces of seedless dates (Khajur)
3 tbsp jaggery
Pinch of salt
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp mustard seeds (sorisa), cumin seeds (jeera) and fennel (saunf) mixed
1 tsp cooking oil

Preparation:

Cut the tomatoes into small pieces.
Heat the oil in the kadhai and put in the mustard seeds, jeera and saunf
Then add the chopped tomatoes and the salt
Fry till tomatoes become soft.
Add in the jaggery, dates and chilli powder.
Cook in medium heat till the tomatoes are boiled completely & gravy becomes thick.
Serve it hot /cold. Anything will do.

Enjoy Cooking !!!

बस पाँच मिनट और !!! Conquering Siddhagad !!

Mumbai Monsoons….The word itself creates a magic in the mind. Mumbai may deal with potholes and water logging but the outskirts flourish with floral delight. Raj & me wanted to have some unsual experience this monsoon. And Aug 15 being a Friday was a boon for us. We made plans with other friends for a trek to Siddhagadh fort, which was organized by an adventures firm.


The plan was to reach Bandra stn by 6am. So we stayed the night before at Ani & Shash‘s house. Adventure had already began. We were meeting post 3 months, so all of us slept around 1 .30am after a lot of gappe-shappe & card games.

“Uth jao yaar…Bandra pahuchna hai.” Sab ne ek dusre ko uthaya. Raj called up Amit who stayed at Santacruz... “ Chal uth ja yaar.. gaadi chali jaayegi warna”
By 6.30 sharp all had assembled. The leader was a dude and had instantly impressed Ani.
Four of us gals had to adjust ourselves at the backseat of the Qualis while the guys conveniently occupied the middle seat ( piche unko jagah nahi hoti waise bhi..hehee) and zoom started our weekend trip.

At Kalyan, Yogita, the other leader was picked up. By this time almost everyone was terribly hungry & desperately wanted to have breakfast. So they stopped at some dhabba. Misal pav & Egg omelet with hot tea was fulfilling for the moment.

Finally we reached the base village, Narivalli, where we put the bags on the backs and got ready for the trek. It was pouring a little so everyone flashed their colorful rain-gears. The organizers gave a Sleeping bag & liner to each of us to carry along. Me & Raj had to manage by carrying 2 extra polythene bags. Small polypacks of a Oatmeal snack and bhujiya aside, there was not much to look forward to as far as the stomach goes.

Around 11.30 to 12, we commenced on our trek. The idea of walking in mud and rains with mosquitoes and worms was creepy to me. But since ours was a big group, it was good fun walking with everyone. We weren’t so regular trekkers so it wasn’t a usual thing for us. After a few mtrs we came across a dirty stream, full of muddy water. At first, we were very careful and tried to avoid the water. Jumped sideways and did all possible things to avoid getting our shoes dirty. But later, a portion of road came where we had no other option but to step into the water. So all of us rolled up our trousers & jumped into that water.. Eeeks.. !!!!Walking in the ankle deep dirty water felt gross.
Shoes, and socks all had united in the march and oozed muddy water energetically while our feet tried to find some respite from the mud.

Sauntering for some half an hour, we reached the lovely paddy fields. The view from there was simply gorgeous. It created a stunning landscape picture. The lush green fields and the lovely blue mountains with sparkling waterfalls was so exhilarating. There we got to know that we had to climb that mountain. Phew!!!. “Abhi tak aadha ghanta hi hua tha.. Abhi toh kitna kuch conquer karna tha..” . We reached a village on the way, from where we picked up some local guides.

Again began our journey walking thru the fields, thru the narrow trails, avoiding the grubby slippery portions, and some small streams. Then came a huge river, which we crossed holding each other’s hands. It was almost knee deep, flowing at a decent speed. Here started the dense green forest. It was a lovely view. On one side was the dazzling waterfall and on other side deep forest. We had already started climbing the mountain range. It was quite tiring, holding a bag on shoulders, carrying the sleeping bag in hands and getting wet in the showers.

Cutting past the tree branches and rocks for abt 1 hour we reached a big stream. All of us were completely exhausted. Most of them went into the water and had a fun time getting wet. The water was chilled. Sat there for some 15 mins and then ascended. When ever we asked Yogita for the time left – She had only one answer “ Bas Paanch minute”. And Paanch minute Paanch minute karke ek ghanta chala deti thi. After abt half an hour climb we reached another waterfall. Few people, who were descending that time, said the top was another half an hour from there. Hearing this we were like.. “Nahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii aur nahi jaana.. bas hua. “

Ani, her sis and me were the last climbers. All others were quite fast. Mr. Photographer, Amit was busy taking his brilliant snaps. And Raj bichare was also tired holding the bags and climbing. He was constantly behind me so as to save me from any mishap. :) (Yehi mauka tha hero - badla lene ka... hehe)

We were completely wet plus it was raining. This made me freeze. We were literally climbing the rocks of the stream and sometimes it was quite slippery. At one point our guide took us the wrong way and we were aghast at the thought of getting down and climbing again. But there was no other alternative. Finally after some 3 n 1/2 hours, around 3.30, hiking up the dangerous path, we reached the entrance of the fort. Our joy knew no bounds. The clouds went past us making us feel in heaven.

There was a temple at a “bas paach minute” climb.We all were wet and shivering. Our guides took out the lunch pack then. Theplas & Kachoris, with chutney, curd, cheese spread & thessa. Nobody knew the count how many each of them had. The hunger was at its peak at that moment.
Anyways post lunch, all of them planned to go to the village- Siddhagad wadi to look for some arrangement for the night. I wasn’t in mood to go anywhere.So it was decided that four of us stay i.e. Kash, Sanj, Raj and me. The rest of the gang went off on expedition.

I was shivering like anything, with gooseflesh and teeth chuttering. I terribly wanted to have some hot tea. We all then changed to dry clothes and wore our raincoat so as to feel little warm. I didn’t realize when I had fallen asleep on that wet dirty floor. There was no door at the temple to close, so cold breeze blew in unstopped. I literally felt that I was gonna fall sick.
Round abt 6 pm all of them returned. Then we packed our things again and headed towards the village. It was 15 mins walking. Crossed few small streams and reached there. It was still not dark outside, which helped us to see the hut. There I came to know there was no electricity since May in that village. The path was quite a gross with loads of buffalo dung and soft mud. “Pich.. Pich” was the sound coming from our shoes. Yucks!!!.
The guides had managed to arrange a big 1 BHK hut there. (now don’t wonder – villages also have BHK). The village was on a big plateau and hardly had some 5-6 homes with a school. The hut had typical mitti ka choolha which we find in villages and along with it only one small lamp. After getting fresh, our group got inside the sleeping bag and had some hot tea prepared by Yogita, followed by some hot Soup and Maggi noodles, which took approx 2 hours for her to prepare. Bas bhook ke maare sab kuch achha lag raha tha, thou I must say kuch bhi khaane layak nahi bana tha…In between we had our usual humor and ghost stories by the men. The ambience was chilling. A desolate village, with creaky sounds by insects, dogs howling and faraway there was a villager playing his harmonium and singing songs. I prayed for the night to end soon।

The morning was drenched in rains. We woke up with the cock-a-doodle-do from the red rooster. After packing our bags we started off for our down trail. Climbing down the hills seemed as difficult as climbing up to us. The more we went down the more we were surprised at our own courage which pulled ourselves thru this altogether different experience. Through all the body pains and killing aches, what we took home was this invigorating experience of being so close to nature.