Washed out!

The mind is like a horse – works well when reigns are pulled. If left to itself, it just goes out of control. Till yesterday, stressed by exam fever, my mind was at its creative best. It was brimming with ideas, pleading me to pen them down. And come today, with stress gone, my mind is in its own world. All the ideas have vanished in thin air. Me wonders what to write….

A horse@ IMA Dehradun

Silly Point

I have shared my blog with a few friends and listening to their reviews, I feel on the top of the world! Thanks all of u for your encouragement! Thanks to your encouragement, I am confident that regardless of whatever CGPA I fall into, I will surely do something good in life.

Well, now a serious problem I want to share with you all. Unknowingly, I have become a blogaddict. Sounds cool but I feel like a fool. I have a monstrous exam tomorrow and while others are busy practicing, the blogger in me has overpowered the studios me. Blog addiction is worse than any other addiction. Coz when u feel the urge, u have to satisfy it there and then. And your creative mind can have the “Eureka” moment anywhere – in the middle of the lecture, on the road,in the metro, at a social gathering,  in the washroom or even in the middle of the night. If not addressed at that moment, the idea vanishes, leaving behind heaps of regrets. Reminds me of my amateur poetry days. The peom had to be penned down the moment it was thought!

Since stress brings the best out of me, I have given in to my Eureka moment. And I have convinced myself to rush to preparation the minute I upload this (result will be the same anyway, so might as well give myself a few moments of joy).

Today’s blog is dedicated to a very special member of my project group thanks to whom, I have spent 2 precious hours of my preparation time completing something that was HIS responsibility. As I dug deep into the error full work he had done, I almost reached my boiling point. And he simply made a cute face and told me, “This is a group effort. Please complete it. You can vent out your frustration later via your blog!” All through the process, instead of taking onus, he has been simply doing status checks & motivating us that he trusts our capability. To top it all, when I was taking notes in the class, he asked me to compile everything and mail him a ready reckoner! Wow!

Whoever said diversity enriches the group should come now and take tomorrow's exam on my behalf. And as for the group member, on an optimistic note, I’m glad he atleast made an effort (though an effort full of errors). But then, in the words of all the bosses in this world, that’s what people management is all about! 

Raja@Neemrana mod

Few days ago, I was at Neemrana mod to catch a bus. And look at what I saw! The doggie on this cart looked like a maharaja enjoying his ride. He seemed glad God made him a dog and not a horse else he wouldn’t have had this luxury! I immediately nicknamed him "Raja".

Look at him...

The Maharaja enjoying his sawaari

What to do in a boring lecture

Hi,

I am sitting in a boring lecture. I usually am a 100% attendance person and try my best to be attentive but this particular class is as torturous for the students as it is for the professor. I look at him…words flow like a rap, you can just feel the bass without making sense out of the song!

Since time is as judicious as the non renewable sources of energy, I thought why not spend this 1 hour doing something I like! Lets blog! So I began thinking what all can be done and in the process traveled from my school days to college, to office training sessions & MBA days. 

Today’s blog is dedicated to all the wonderful things you can do while stuck in a boring lecture. I call it captive creativity! Here’s a list of options - 

1. Surf net on your phone.
2. Update your friend about the latest gossips.
3. Finish off the Tiffin (did that so much in my 12^th standard physics lectures)
4. Play game on the phone (mute mode!)
5. Plan for the day ahead
6. Sit on the back bench and complete assignment of any other subject (pretending you are religiously taking notes)
7. Catch up on sleep
8. Plan for the blog (for a blogaholic like me!)
9. Watch cricket match live on your laptop
10. Draw a cartoon of the professor
11. Read newspaper (mostly applicable for MBA finance students)
12. Practice arithmetic – count no. of seconds left for the class to finish
13. Concentrate on professor (only if good looking, if guy. If lady professor, note the clothes, jewellery, makeup, hair and all that girlie stuff) and gossip about it
14. Organize eyes wide open sleeping tournaments
15. File nails
16. Practice maths - Calculate probability of good food in the mess (if a foodie like me)
17. Plan what to cook for evening and inventory situation inside refrigerator (if u r married…used to do that in my evening French classes)
18. Practice maths – count number of lectures to attend to qualify for minimum mandatory attendance requirement

This isn’t an exhaustive list. Please feel free to contribute for the benefit of anyone who in future may refer to this blog to explore options while stuck with a boring, buzzing professor.

Pic Courtesy : Google Search

Doggie@Amrita Shergill Marg

Delhiites love to take their canine companions with them wherever they go. The lush green spaces of central Delhi provides ample opportunities for dog lovers and u’ll see many people flocking to Lodhi Garden with their proud possessions.

While passing by Amrita Shergill Marg, I saw this dog at the traffic signal in an auto rickshaw. He looked well fed and taken care of. Being used to the comfort of air conditioner, he probably wasn’t enjoying the autorickshaw ride & so chose to look outside for timepass! He looked too cute & adorable & the shutterbug in me just couldn’t resist. Here’s a pic…isn’t he cute?

RIP Bal Thackerey

A leader is born, not made. And when they walk, millions walk behind them, trusting the path they follow. Such a leader was Bal Thackerey. I have never seen him nor been to Mumbai, but sitting in Delhi, I have always heard of his headline making comments in media. When he roared, the roar reached Delhi in no time. I was feeling not too optimistic about his state when I read 2 days ago that filmstars cancelled their events to visit him and when I read about his demise in the morning paper, it reminded me of my mother’s demise last year. Since I lost my mother, I have developed a kind of empathy with every departing soul. Whenever I come to know of someone’s demise or see a cremation mass, I pray for peace of the departed soul, strength for his family and happiness for my mother, wherever she is. Sometimes, when I see a corpse being taken to the cremation ground, I silently ask him/her to tell my ma how much I miss her. I know it sounds weird, but when u suddenly loose someone u love so much, u crave for even an atom of that soul.

As the last rites were being telecast on TV, I could see his son, trying to hold his emotions, following the directions of the priests. Celebs too are humans. There are moments when you feel like being alone and manage your grief. But when their happiness is public, so is their sorrow. And he looked alone among lakhs of people who joined him in his grief.

In this age when people are bound to gather for a common cause or have to be enticed to come for rallies or protests, it’s amazing that lakhs of people came to pay their respects to their leader. People who were unrelated to him, cried bitterly at the loss. In life, we all strive to cater to our desires,, ambitions etc. But there are people who look beyond and walk to make a change. And they are remembered not for who they are but for what they did and how they made a difference to the lives of people they worked for. Such was his leadership. RIP Bala Sahab Thackerey

Soya rolls on the street

I’m a born Brahmin, brought up in a house where garlic was a forbidden item; married in a family where eggs are considered something that destroys your dharma, or religion! So, u can well understand my exposure to carnivorous stuff. The sight of tandoori chicken or kebabs arranged on skewers fills my olfactory senses with all sorts of foul smells.

Lately, I have been spotting many outlets with the usual stuff (looks like chicken parts) hung on skewers. But wait! the signboard mentions 100% vegetarian! Wow! My friends tell me soya tastes almost like non veg. I decided to give these a try.

Mom in law was super skeptical. The sight of the usual things on skewers made her cover her nose in anticipation. I reassured her it’s just soya, the one we cook at home.

There were no chairs, no classy crockery, yet I was amazed to see the crowd which grew as dinnertime neared. Just six round tables with a pack off tissue papers on each. The waiters wore no uniforms but could be easily identified as the busiest lot, hopping between the tables, cash counter and kitchen, making a mental note of the order sans any order pad. There are no errors; the right dish goes to the right table, or the car.

There is something about street food. The outlet opens by 7 each evening and the daily footfalls might give any restaurant an inferiority complex. Delhiites can go to anywhere as long as the food suits their palate. Its futile waiting for table there, so people mostly enjoy their treats in their cars.

We managed to get a corner table, below a peepal tree and the waiter hurriedly kept a menu card and left. Mom in law and I felt like total amateurs. So many treats to offer out of the simple soya!

Hubby ordered Soya rolls while we went for the malai soya chaap with rumaalis.  Succulent soya wrapped around ice cream sticks, marinated in a blend of spices, immersed in creamy gravy, here was malai chaap. I told mom in law, “this is what you looked at covered your nose, I am sure you wouldn’t want to have this!” She smiled and pounced on the treat accompanied by unlimited onion rings and green chutney!

But I went gaga over their rolls! You see I’m a rolls afficionado. From the street side corner below my office to wah ji wah, soya express, I try ‘em all. But this was simple and yummy, no greasy sauce, no oil dripping out of the rolls. I enjoyed the chemistry between soya marinated and roasted to perfection, and soft, warm, thin layer of the wrap. I could actually concentrate on the original taste of soya without irritated by the oily, greasy sauce. To add to this, the onion rings and chutney kept me asking for more and the waiters obliged with a smile every time. At 120 bucks, the treat was just not bad! One of the best soya rolls I had so far!

We have become regulars now, though now, we too enjoy the rolls in the comfort of our car. The Amritsar chaap corner is definitely must a visit for those who love rolls sans the greasy sauce and oil!