DANGER !

Yesterday was just killing time browsing when suddenly heard the BREAKING NEWS .... serial bomb blasts in B'lore . Really shocking news....within a couple of minutes new blasts at different areas were discovered . Thank god,no much harm to people and properties . 1 killed and 8 injured as of now OR as revealed ! seems a negligible number but it is 2 much for the friends and families of those victims . Innocent lifes were risked by this unfortunate act . Everything so well planned, makes 1 tremble!
No place is safe to live . South India esp Karnataka was supposed to b some peaceful place but its no more that. over a few decades , B'lore has been a hot spot . Being the garden city , IT capital , hosting people from all over the world , life in B'lore is not at all easy . We all know about the traffic conditions there and problems finding a house! still, my experiences there :
I wanted to look for an accomodation in b'lore in a place somewhat closer to my workplace .went for a hunt . people say its so easy to get a PG acco there,house there that this ! I agree , V do get, but the point is ....r those places worth living !? almost all the PG's I saw were 3/4 sharing in a room.common bathroom. I tell u guys u get a cot and a shelf for urself .Apart from that u r lucky if u get place to rest ur feet! This is the condition...highly commercial! well no comments on that coz its the way of making a living for them!with this comes ur adjustment with the rest of them in the room . well better not say anything on that. That depends on the situation and how u carry it on.some twin sharing and single rooms r also available.The problem is u'll not get the assurance of safety and security . well lakhs of people r living and continue to live , thats a different story but for me and girls like me its highly impossble.Also have heard some stories of PG's being raided with many suspicions....this that....fingers crossed! but cant say what kind of people r staying with us, coz as i said B'lore is the host for every kind of people from everywhere !
Well next looked for some single bedroom houses also as v friends could stay together . Far better that PG's but has problems of its own kind.1. high rents , cant help . 2. again the the environment problem .3. Gas stove and cooking problem ! 1 house was okok...affordable rent , well situated, decent owners....but distance problem! another house....again rent ok,area ok, owner ok....when v were abt to leave that place thinking this is the last search, noticed that there is not a single window for the entire house ! ooooooooof god! such a poor ventilation. V would die if there is no power for some 2 hours! and there is so frequent power cuts these days! another 1 , very good looking, neat, they have actually modified a car garrage to a room cum kitchen !but still ok coz of the finely ordered things, but rent 8K! another single room attached to a house, again no place left if u put a cot!
There is no choice but to adjust! but will there not b a limit for such adjustment! In the heavy traffic of B'lore, cant even imagine travelling daily from relatives place....1 day also tried that, boarding bus no.201 . bus started at 9.20....i reached my work place at 11.30...this is common in b'lore but i cant even imagine myself travelling daily for 4 hours hanging in the bus !
And now to all this , the problem of terrorism has been added ! All the best B'lore !

!!CHANGE!!

I dont like changes . Starting from behaviour of a person, traditions , customs , whatever !it used to be very difficult for me to accept changes . Even now I cant imagine changing our house , or vehicle or some other possessions . But u see 1 cant b a stubborn sticking to a point . It used to b very uncomfortable for me when changing something or seeing a change .
All this was only until I heard "Change is the only thing that is permanent " . Just a deep thought into it , and I realised the truth in it . Not that I never knew it before!but again it takes some external force to awake u at times ! when i say this I remember our NTSE coach Mr. ShivKumar. It was in our 10th std .In between the problems, he used to speak generally,on life, career self improvement etc .One day he said a few lines on Television ."Watching television is the only activity during which ur brain doesnt work . It doesnt think anything else. just absorbs whatever imparted by the TV ". Well that was not the first time I heard something like that . My father used to always say "dont sit in front of the idiot box for hours, it'll make u idle , switch to reading books instead of serials and movies ".I never had taken this to mind!After that class , again a deep thought into his and my fathers words, what a gr8 realization! I wondered how these days I used to sit foolish watching those dumb serials and movies !from that day , after a few mins of watching TV, i feel I am really wasting precious time! well , some programs r informative, entertaining....yes yes i completely agree. I do watch them !
Let all the change happen for good !Thanks to the person who coined that statement :) There should b a cause for every change and reading this statement was for mine!

LAST ...

As the situation was with the past 7 study holidays , again this time was holding the book in hand , eyes stuck to the page ,but the pages were not moving at all --- coz the mind was moving everywhere ! exams from 14th of this month---u ask whats special on tht?? These r my last exams ! well , I dunno everything infact anything abt my future but for now , these r my last study holidays, last exams, last fight with vtu, last time i'll b anxiously waiting for results, with mixed emotions !!
4 years have passed before realizing it! but had lots and lots of experiences in the meantime . exciting, disappointing, unforgettable memories some of which have made to learn very good lessons !
To b very frank I'm actually not getting very emoted this moment that my college days r coming to an end !There was the last technieks, last Acefest, last sports,last working day! . Everything passed as usual! Even on the farewell day nothing like "oo! v r having our farewell!" came into mind. well, dunno the reason for such "no expressions" but i'm sure its the case with majority of my classmates. I dont think I'll be wrong if I say its the case with "all" !
But still, sometimes when i sit alone, of course to study but when my mind will not b ready for that, I realise that for all practical purposes, I will no more sit in a classroom for a lecture,will not have a chance to bunk the class either! I'll never again go to canteen either for food! or for record completion! or for timepass ! Never again will v stand in the parking lot gossiping! no more collecting question papers, getting notes xeroxed ;) y all these ! will never again go to college! I dunno if this is a "loss" or "gain" or whatever ! But i know something is happening that'll make something else to happen !
Being very well aware that life is a constant process of learning and I'll always b a "student", I still feel like making this sentence , even if its not fact from all perspectives, its atleast true for the near futue!

These r my LAST STUDENT DAYS and they r ending VERY SHORTLY !

Where is "GOD"

Does god really exist, y the hell there r so many problems around....if only god existed , if he had those super natural powers as v read in mythological stories , all crisis in this world can be solved in a fraction of a second right! well the debate that whether "god" or any other supernatural power exists or not , will continue forever. I dont want to drill on that.
What was making me uncomfortable since a week was the death of a person. Not very close , no emotional bondings , hardly have seen a couple of times , to b frank never had spared even a few minutes thinking of her or speaking abt her , and never had spoken to her coz she was born dumb :(
When i heard that she is no more , some kind of sadness, some uneasiness and all these thoughts came to mind. People irritate us with their big mouths and some others show such an attitude to speak properly! this lady , who never parted her lips to tell something , whose existence could not be recognised, has filled emptiness when shes no more .
What comes in front of my eyes is her clear round fair face , those sparkling eyes filled with all ambitions of this world, a million dollar smile with no hidden expectations, intensions behind , just like a small kid!always would ask with her gestures ,"how r u ",hows ur sister, u've grown so tall !
V cry all the day for what v dont have , share it with all friends and relatives as if lifes goin to end without it, expect the whole world to listen to us ! what might b the intensity of sadness of such deprived people! v still see so many of them around us living optimistically, loving to live!
Such a harmless creature, god sent her to this earth as a star but forgot that she should b made to twinkle, existed as a dot among all others and on one unfortunate day dissappeared into sky :(
when " existance of god" becomes strongly questionable , I feel thers no point in believing souls....and of course no way reincanation. dunno what to say....i can just say without uttering a word, u have kinda lead a model life....cheers!
I remember this heart moving line " I was crying that i don have a pair of shoes until I saw a man with no feet "

My Experiment with food-Shubhada ;);)

This has made me to again write abt my cooking! well this 1 is more interesting and exciting!!and ofcourse will b looooooooooooooooonnnggg 1 coz i'm feeling like writing everything from mustard to kabab;)....Acethetics has always been more interesting for me than technieks ( for those whor nt familiar with this....Acethetics is our department fest and technieks, college cultural fest) . Ace fest has been scheduled for today and tomorrow. As usual our sports events were there and shortly it'll b my post on those events....almost since a week me and shwetha r goin to coll everyday, idly spending time there and comin back....v even saw the acethetic posters on the notice board but remained reactionless . Yesterday after our throwball match in the evening,while comin back our conversation," hey cooking ge hogbodu....jasti entries iralla mostly....atleast v'll have fun ! so v'll collect details and go"! v r at our respective homes by 6 pm. nw called the organiser and collected details. v were supposed to get stove, utensils and everythin needed ourselves. First problem for our first plan.....STOVE. who has a electric stove or our dear kerosene stove! how the hell can v carry the other stove with cylinder!! tried here and there,no use then started to think abt menu! it was 7.30 by that time. V could nt meet as shwetha was supposed to go to dance practice which was nt confirmed and for our luck it started raining! Shilpa's mother had some books on recipes but v could nt even get that. k finally decided to search for a dish on the net! by this time a worm had entered our heads tellin nt to go with a known indian dish,that judges will completely comment on each and everything if they know somethin abt it...so our motto was search something different!( how different?? dunno!) .
V were asked to prepare 1 main course and any no of side dishes in 2 hours of time . First thing v agreed on was masala lemonade coz v were fully impressed by what v had taken in Pizzahut.So 1 item was ready. Next search was goin on passing the url's through yahoo messenger!it was 11.40pm by this time. Stove prob was kinda solved....Chaitra had agreed to get that from her uncles' place! couldnt come to a conclusion abt menu, bt jus marked a few recipes and decided to decide next morning!
Morning at 7 i msged her....from her bed itself she asked "should v go" she had lost interest and had dance practice also. I went to her place at 7.30. Planned that me and Shilpa will go for cooking and she'd carry on. But the next moment decision change !got back interest and v were to continue. Browsed again and finally came up with the following menu :

1.Stuffed corn leaves .
2.Soya kabab
3.Vegetable chopsuey
4.Paneer Amritsari
5.Masala papad
6.Masala Lemonade
Made a list of ingredients v had to buy and went to Shilpa's house . After discussions there went to buy things. Shwetha went to her practice. At shilpa's place v both ordered all the items and fortunately got the idea of trying soya kabab once! take a look on our ingredients.....many r missing ;)
hey i had forgotten to mention 1 important thing! V absolutely have no experience in cooking, zero knowledge abt recipes . Praise our courage to enter a competition that 2 without trying any of the selected menus beforehand!
k coming back,yeah opened the soya seeds cover.There was the first shock...her mother said....this is nt the soya u have to get....this will take a whole day to boil! ooooff rushed to a nearby store and bought the other variety!With her mothers help made the first kabab! awesome it was superb....got a big strength there! a ton thanks to aunty without her it'd have become a big flop show!
Shwetha came around 12.45 and the competition was at 2. Shilpa's mom had made nice kashmiri pulav for lunch! had that and came back home to get some more utensils and vegetables. The next problem was waiting for us there....there was no knob for the stove! Having gone to put the knob it was realised that there was no gas in that cylinder! Again back to Shwetha's house cylinder exchange and finally v were at college to start!
By this time v had dropped Stuffed corn leaves from the menu considering the complexity and time limit! Actually this was the item picked from my World Cuisine South America book which has a story of its own ;)
yes, Started now....chopped vegetables....i was supposed to fry the onions for the chopsuey nw. Tried to lit the cylinder, busssssssss o no off again tak busssssssss no way....nw shwetha came to light it.... Bloody stove jus 2 mins i've put the oil and onion it turned brown! that means i had overheated! okay nw had to place the pan down, did that. It was nt 2 late when it was recognised that i had brought fire also down with the pan....next was frying vegetables which brought shoulder ache....stupid raddish and cabbage....didnt become soft howmuch ever i stired finally stopped it!!Then was the main thing...adding vinegar soya sauce and cornflour and boiling with these vegetables....did that with trial and error method for pepper salt chat masala and all! finally kept that aside....
By this time soaked paneer in boiling water but v didnt know when to take it out! some guess some suggestion by Shilpa the gr8 finished that work with paneer!V were left with an hour more from now! and v had nt finished a single dish when all others were done either with 1 or 2. So nw decided to finish the chopsuey stuff. Opened the hakka noodles cover! Had no idea how to boil it or fry it or whatever! our gr8 minds could nt even read the instructions aback.....our logic----" if v boil in water,it'll become noodles so v'll fry in oil! " and started....2 mins 3 mins 5 mins no improvement but it started turning brown! then decided to add some water....added a lil.....chssssssssss o no stop! left like that for another 10 mins....nw it was neither chopsuey nor noodles but v could nothing but remove from the pan! transferred it to a plate added that curry and the chopsuey was ready! Decorations for that with cucumber and cauliflower!
See our serious discussions on proportions of ingredients ;) and also the "how to cook" paper v had carried ;) nyways this is a different sheet shilps has focussed!


After this gr8 experiment v had decided to drop paneerAmritsari also ;)















next moved to soya kabab....as expected this came out well....

Masala papad also didnt become a trouble....as it was very simple ;)
V had some 10 mins more....had to clean the table also.
Now for lemonade squeezed the lemons....our gr8 minds told us nt to add the soda now itself as it'd loose its effect by the time the judge comes! so kept that aside and cleane dthe table. Decorations for kabab was again superb....this was again shilpa's mothers idea and shilpa's efforts ;) Now v felt v still had time....what to do....there was corn which v had taken for a diff purpose! added that corn to a bowl with salt sugar pepper chatmasala garam masala mirchi powder lemon juice ...i think hopefully only that much ;) and our masala corn was ready!!again decorations for that (my idea)!!!!!!!!!!
so v were done! Jayashree ma'm was the judge....as she was abt to come near us added soda and chat masala to the juice and shwetha had a quick taste....yuck without further thinking the glass was kept off the table! ma'm was happy for our kabab- a high protein diet!! no reaction for chopsuey....was pleased with corn and okok with papad....she asked abt ingredients and method and v were through!

The moment ma'm left our table....it was "ATTACK" by all the juniors surrounding there..within no time all the 3 plates were empty except for chopsuey which only daredevils tried a spoon or 2 nt even 2 a spoon thats all ;)
After another 10 mins the results were out and......... v had got the second prize !!!!!!!!!!!!!!hahaha kinda shock bit surprised extremely happy lil expected totally v were filled with mixed emotions;)
Now time to look into our dear frying pan :( poorthing.... v went to wash it along with 2 more plates!
finally back home with all things dumped to polythene bags!
Gr8 experience had lots of fun....Never should any1 miss such a chance. winning is nt important but the experiences after adding every ingredient along with which there adds a friends comment....some1 cracks a joke inbetween and a 1 liner from somewhere behind....cant get these days back....shilpa u did a good job by taking videos can see them and laugh for a life time
And finally a word..... to whoever said cooking was difficult........i bet u friends there cant b any other job easier than this....i'l tell u y....add whatever u want , in any proportion , everything is edible. If its nt friedrice its chitranna if u have added 2 tomatoes its tomatobath thats all! ;) Big deal! afterall v should eat to survive nt survive to eat right;)....i think this statement was coined by some gr8 chef like me ;) Its nt u right, shwetha?? Shilpa is it u??!