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.

Being with you..

"Can I play with you? Can I spend some time with you?"

He asked her jovially. She kept quiet. She seemed a bit apprehensive about it. Something at the back of her mind was not letting her do it. Her eyes however said something else. You could make out that at the way she was looking at him.

Not fearing the outcome she somehow gathered the courage and approached him. She had wanted to know him better. She had spotted him in the crowd. The aura around him had impressed her.

"Glad to have you with me", he said. "I am sure we will have a good time together." She wanted to know him more. And spend moments of laughter and joy together. He and his sister were excited about it too. Their joy knew no bounds. But there was something else in store.

"Please don't take her away." He pleaded. Her dad had other plans. He was not amused at his daughter playing with the guy and his sister. He could not let his daughter go and play or enjoy with a person from a different clan.

Perhaps the father did not intend to do what he did. Netra and me had a completely different interpretation of this entire act. I am sure many would understand it. Its a small analogy to the thousand of couple stories back home. Perhaps would be mine too someday.

Childhood Memories | 1987

One fine day in March 1987, a good 21 years ago, I started a new phase in my life.
Going to school. Now... I had never been to a school before. So, I had this whole excitement within me, about going to a school and all. And to
The sad (or the good) part was that I was going to a boarding school in the hills of Darjeeling.

We were a group of four guys who had started off together in this new school called the Sun Shine School.
Praveer, Piyush , who were brothers, Nazish and myself. And we remain the best of friends to this date.


It was this view from the hills of the plains below that I remember clearly. This is the city of Siliguri, the largest city in Northern part of West Bengal.

I remember not even looking back to see my parents going away, leaving me at that unknown place, as I was so mesmerized by this view from the dormitory window.
Little did we know at that time that this was going to be a view that we would see for the next 11 years.

We used took the GL Express train from our hometown to the Siliguri railway station. GL stood for Guwahati- Lucknow, and in those days for a meter gauge train to travel that distance was a feat. It took us 12 hours to reach Siliguri from our home town and an interesting fact was that the train left my place at 12 pm and reached the destination at 12 am!

Our home for the next 3-4 years was the town of Kurseong. Kurseong means the "Land of the White Orchids". I am sure as a photographer, I would love to go and explore all the rare species of orchids that are found there.

One thing i remember about Sun Shine School was the grill on the school gates and the way the SSS formed a nice logo. I had liked it a lot then and would often end up drawing it on the back of my copies.

Little did I know that some 20 years later I would be in a profession dealing with logos and capturing images that would inspire many others.

Recently I had a chance to capture this shot of the Himalayas.


The Himalayas was something that I saw for a major portion of my life at the Darjeeling hills.
I guess the foundation for becoming a photographer was laid way back then.

One Two Three...Jump

There are many a times that you will not do things with people you love.
You do it alone.
It's moments like these that makes life interesting.
People call me crazy. Some say I am daring.
In the end. It's just me. I am what I am.

Here I was .. harnessed up waiting to go 14500 ft above the earth in a charter plane...
Waiting to do what ?



JUMP of course! What else!!






The moment of truth... the binary state. Either you survive... or you don't.


And to make matters worse... just before take off in the interview they ask you..
What are your last words to your friends and family...You say something casually ..

Standing at the doorstep.. my life gave me a super quick flashback. What if the words I said was indeed the last.
Wait.. was i actually doing it? For real ? I must have asked that question a few times in that short duration!

And then i saw my friend jump first. Down he went...


And in the other fraction of a second I was in the air.
Falling at a speed of 120 miles per hour... heading towards the unbounded stretch of corn fields below. The tiled land below was something that one could go on viewing for hours and still not get bored. I missed Netra up there. But then as I have also mentioned before, many a times there are things that just your eyes sees and captures it for eternity.
That moment was one of it.



Something that I cannot recall well whether it was my left foot first, or the right one, or did they actuallty just push me out of the aircraft.
But there I was .. breathing the freshest air...just that the speed made it hard to do so.
All muscles were distorted to a beyond recognition state.... but yes.. it was still me.



At the mercy of the other professional diver whom I was harnessed to ...I failed to pull put the notch to open my parachute.. but thank god that he did it for me.






It was by far the darest thing I have ever done so far. I am sure there will be other things to follow.

I could not take Nikky up there with me. The organizers did not allow me to take anything. I am sure she would have loved the view from above. She definitely is not up for jumping from that height, but still the view itself from above was mind-blowing.

Till the next account,
Adios.

It's not about the money, Honey!

"But you know... It's not about the money, Honey!"
I said to Nikky. She however seemed to disagree with me.

She smiled.
She smiled at my foolishness. She smiled at my ignorance.
She smiled at my not being to able to understand the value of money.

And hence began another of our thoughtful conversations.


I began by asking this to myself and I also ask to others....
How many times have you done a thing without a monetary motive? Or rather how many times in the past have you done a thing that has really pleased you and made you happy. And this could have no consequences. No results. No Gains. You do it just for the sheer joy of doing it. All because it pleases you and you are happy doing it. When was the last time you did it?

Now, there are different kind of people. Some tend to view everything with a business point of view. So any idea you propose to them, you are asked back, What is the business value in this. How will you gain funds for it. etc etc...

Just the other day I was discussing with another friend about having a passion in life. In doing a thing that is apart from your job. Doing a thing that does not require a business plan. A thing that does not worry if you don't get any thing materialistic out of it. A thing for which you dont feel bad if you spent a few hours on it and still don't benefit from it. I am sure that everyone has something or the other like this.
Many do not realise what is, and many others do not want to accept what they like.

After all this ramblings, Nikky and me came to some agreement.
In the end I guess it not ALWAYS about the money. There are certain phases in everyone's life when Money is everything. Their world revolves around it. But then not always. What more money is required that being able to have a shelter and a fill stomach. Ideally that should be the case. But I know it is not.

I click not for monetary gains, but for the sheer joy of it. If something comes along the way, its welcome.
When that happens I get some new glasses and other accessories for Nikky. And I know that she will be happy about it. And as a result of it, I will be happy.

Monologue ...

Sitting at the coffee table at Barista, I discuss this with Netra often.

Basically it was a monologue you could say.
She did not say a word and it was just me doing all the talking all the while.
There is this thing with me.
If I am not talking, I would not talk, and if i start talking, i just go and on.

"Today's fortune: You are the master of every situation. "
I read that in an online fortune message. How true it is I thought.



I often say to people who ask me for advice, the best person for the solution to your problems is yourself. The others are just to guide you.

What I am is because of me.
What I will be is because of me.

What I will do is because I like doing it.
What I seek is because I yearn for it.

I am an integral part of me.
Every success is mine.
Every failure is mine.

I am the creator of my dreams.
I am the follower of my dreams.

I am the creator of my problems,
I am the finder of the solutions...

I am the center of my universe.
So I am me.

Also read similar thing at my friend Sharanya's profile and have loved it.

Intuition

I woke up today morning with a bad intuition. Reached office and found out that yes there was indeed some bad news. Another terror attack. A few more innocent lives killed. Bangalore witnesses 9 blasts in the span of an hour. So been in this pensive mood since morning.
I love the city of Bangalore. Netra and me have really fond memories of it. It was there that our love blossomed. We got to know each other better. The weekend outings had been memorable.

And then suddenly there is all this happening. And this is not the first time that this has happened.
Why do people have to do it?
Many like me would have asked the same question.
Many like me do not know the answer to it.
Many like me would perhaps stay quiet and just pray that nothing like this happens to our loved ones.
Many would start to think, if at all there is a place that can be called safe is not vulnerable against these social evils.

One of the best outings that Nikky and me spent was at the Madiwala Market.
And yes, this was taken at the very place one of the blasts happened on Firday.
This was one of the most satisfying portraits I have taken.

After this incident, I am sure, so many more mothers be worried about their children who have been staying in the city, far away from family.

People would start looking at each other with suspicious eyes. No one would feel safe.


May the soul of the deceased rest in peace.