What's going on?

Reading
Currently am reading "Buddha" by Deepak Chopra, almost about to finish it.
Have another few books piled up.
"A Wedding in December" is one of them.
Apart from that been doing a lot of reading for my courses here at college.
Philosophy, Design and Art books! Uff.. too much !
The only problem that I have is to read these course work stuff from the laptop. And I don't like to print just for the sake of reading once.

Movies
Saw "Before Sunrise" yesterday, very sweet movie.
I so want to visit Europe someday! I remember when a friend asked me if I had visited Europe, I replied saying that Europe is too romantic of a destination to be roamed alone!

I am also trying to catch up on watching documentaries.
Just saw "Ocean Odyssey", Simply outstanding. These BBC and Nat Geo folks definitely know HOW to make Documentaries!
And ya my desire to make documentaries keep increasing day after day!

Catching up with people
I love to stay in touch with people. Just the other day, I got in touch with a friend from school who now is a lead Bass guitarist in the band Silver (www.silvertheband.com), which won the Yamaha Rox 2008 and the Independence Rock 2008 in India.

Cooking and Eating
Relishing on South Indian Food lately! Thanks to my roomie and the awesome friends !

I read somewhere that a person in his/her life makes a career shift four to five times. I wonder when mine first one is going to be. I get a feeling that it may be pretty soon.

Troubles

....as if the floods were not enough, India gets another set of serial blasts to deal with.

God.. Why!!!
Why can't these (whoever they are) people just think a bit on the grounds of humanity instead of just animosity.

I was surprised by a comment by a person on an online group I am part of
Me: :( Another Serial Blasts rocks India.
XXX: @Happy, Blasts have become common here...

It appears that the common man is also starting to accept this as a way of life.

I would strongly suggest to see this movie "A Wednesday".


Apart from some brilliant acting by the veterans Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher, I totally loved the refreshing concept of the movie.
It has a very strong point to put forward as well. I think its high time people did something like this.

Donate for Bihar Flood Relief

Fav Movies

These are the few movies that I have loved.
Not in any particular order.




















These films inspire me day in day out to get into film making!
Someday surely I will.

Contribute to the Flood Relief Work

Here's a link to different ways in which one can contribute to the flood relief works in Bihar.

Ways to Contribute

Everyday I have been following the happenings across the different India based news sites.
I am sure there are stories of inspiration and wonder also in this times of trouble. Wonder why they do not cover that?

Lost Smiles

This is in memory of the many people who have been rendered homeless in the recent floods in Bihar.

Lost Smiles..



In the darkness of the day,
a deluge unwanted arose.
from the waters untamed..
..which were once a blessing.

To territories once abandoned
..to places one thought safe
making its presence felt ..
in lives it never dwelt.

One lost those crops
Some lost a beloved
Some their kins...
but all their smiles.

Haunting memories...
it leaves each day.
stories to be told
for centuries later.

How am i to...
laugh again.
how am i to get back
to the future
without a scar
of the recent past.

How am I to smile again?

A taste of India

It had been a while since I wore the Chef Hat.
Cooking is another of those things that I love to do from time to time. This time I had an occassion too. The Indian Independence Day.
So the chef in me decided to make something that was truly a taste of India. And when I think about India, I think really sweeeeeeeeet sweets!
And yes .. you guessed it right.
My favorite , the gulab jamun.


So I got this MTR mix, which I think is not as good as the Gits one. Though, I must admit these mixes has made making gulab jamuns so easy.
Tip #1 here is that you add water slowly slowy and then kneed to a dough. Else you end up with a not so good mix. And thats when the trouble begins. As you will keep trying, to solidify it a bit.

While you are doing this, make the sugar syrup which is basically boiling sugar in water.

Add cardamoms to the syrup when its boiling. This adds a wonderful aroma and taste to the syrup and is very authentically Indian.

Tip #2: if you end up adding more water to the mix , leave it for a while. The water is soaked up by the mix. If that does not help, add extra mix. If you cannot find a gulab Jamun mix, like me, A rasmalai one would do too :D

Apply some ghee onto your hands, so that the dough does not stick to the hands.

Tip # 3: Do NOT put extra ghee onto your hands. All equipments around you would be greasy greasy if you are handling them. Especially like me when I was trying to click the pics myself too and Nikky was getting bruised and battered with the desi ghee.!

Then make spherical balls with the dough in your palm. The rounder , the better!

Fry these to dark brown in a low heat.

Tip# 4: Make sure you stir these. Else they tend to get roasted unevenly. And not only does it taste bad, it also Looks bad!

Tip# 5: Fry in low heat. The outer layer get brown so soon, that it is misleading. You would think its done, whereas actually its still raw in the inside.

Dump those fried ones in the sugar syrup that is still warm.

Serve it in a glass bowl, to make it look better! And add nuts to the taste!

And thus finishes the gulab jamun making experience!

Happy Independence Day!

I hope your experience was just as sweet as this is.