Friday 8 March 2013

Happy Women's Day

Pic Courtesy:Google Search


Women’s day comes & celebrations galore! A day to recognize, appreciate & acknowledge the lovely women around us who give meaning to our lives – mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, teachers, friends, nurses. Can’t imagine a life without them. Not to forget Mother Nature. As Geri Helliwelli sings “God bless Mother Nature, she is a single woman too! She took over heaven, and she did what she had to do!”
Pic Courtesy:Google Search
And how can we ignore ourselves? It’s a moment to take pride in the girl inside who has come way ahead of being just the weaker sex. There are times one is made to feel “You are a woman, you can’t do this”. It’s a moment to celebrate the victory of women who have rose up from this “cant” to “you have done it!”

Though the greatest woman in my life – my mother is not with me today, I celebrate this day for having spent some wonderful years of my life with such a rock solid woman. Thank u God! Every year on women’s day, she would tell me about the conservative state of affairs during her times & would appreciate the strength of countless women who have broken the boundaries & come this far!

It’s also a celebration to the women who have the grit to change the mindset of society, without even stepping out of their homes. I look up to women like my mother in law, who, despite living in a conservative society, nourished their dream of empowering the generations to come! And because of such strong women, our generation has the much desired freedom to chase & live our dreams.

While it’s a day of get togethers & parties for us, government is trying its best too…trying to give us women our safety & security back, which has faced a major threat in the recent times.

However, what good is a celebration when I pick up a tabloid and read of a girl being raped right on women’s day! There are still some thankless souls who, instead of acknowledging the women in their lives, abuse their femininity shamelessly. The real celebration will be the day when the respect comes for real, from inside & from all fronts. You can’t teach an animal to become civilized in a day. But you can train them to follow step by step. And the first step for such souls is to learn to respect their own women – their mothers, wives & sisters who they openly take for granted. Only when they learn to clean their house will they learn not to litter in public!

And hopefully, when such good times come, every day shall be women’s day! A celebration of our love, freedom, success & dignity!

Here’s a song by Billy Joel to all the lovely women on this planet who make the world a much better place to live in!


Wednesday 6 March 2013

Shameless Optimism


It’s not a good habit to wash one’s dirty linen in public. People often hide their flaws and inflate even the minutest of qualities they have. I choose to be honest with my blog. I have never been the athlete types (though I ran the Delhi Half Marathon 4yrs ago). My visits to the jogging park near my place are more like one time guest appearances. Like majority of women, marriage has given me too bliss in the form of extra calories & piles of weight.

2.5yrs back, hubby & I went for a trek to Valley of flowers (am yet to blog about it! How lazy of me), Tungnath Chopta & Deoria Taal. I was like a kid who had to be shown lollipop to get work done. Hubby was at his motivating best, as I struggled & gasped for breath. After that trip, I decided to go for a trek only when I have consistently built lung capacity by running in the park. However, humans, being humans, love to procrastinate.

The dormant volcano in me was erupted by Discovery Channel last week. They showed a documentary on an all women group from the Indian Army who went & scaled Mt Everest. Immediately, my heart pounded with enthusiasm – when they can, why can’t I?
Someone rightly said “Dil to bachha hai ji, thoda kacha hai ji”. I was horribly bad with the Valley of flower trek & here I was, secretly dreaming for scaling the Everest or any such tough trek!

I looked on my side, mom in law & hubby were happily enjoying the documentary, oblivious to the khichdi that simmered in my mind. But the question was, how could I even mention? Like in movies, I even imagined myself disclosing my plan to them & almost instantly becoming laughing stock.

So, I just sighed. “This trek is tough na?” I asked hubby, pretended just curious. “Tough, it’s the toughest! Only few members of the groups are able to move from Camp 4 to the summit, & so many people even lose their lives. Besides it’s an expensive trek” He said. “Hmmmm….”, I said. Me wondered & wondered. “Forget it Shaivi, they will laugh at u.” I convinced myself & tried to focus on the documentary.

The heart, well, had other plans. Almost involuntary, something inside me got busy planning. “So what if it’s expensive, I could delay that ring I have been wanting to buy. Saving my salary plus some borrowing would help. But what about the main issue, remember how he was laughing at me when I was ready to give up after every 100m in the last trek? But, that was 2.5 yrs ago, this time, I will practice hard, go for a 3km run every morning so that I don’t lose breath. You only live once, why not stretch the limits, adrenaline rush, blah blah blah……” The heart was going on and on! The whistle of the cooker finally interrupted my fairy tale plans.

Being realistic, I don’t aim for Everest at this stage, but even if I manage a tough trek by the end of this year, it would give my self-confidence a new high score!
Still don’t have the guts to reveal my secret plan to Mr. Hubby. While chances are he will ask me to work on an action plan to build my stamina, I fear he may laugh at me & remind me of the previous treks. But despite knowing my previous trek records, not once has my heart/mind thought, “I can’t”. Not once have I stopped planning for it.
That’s optimism – shameless, at its best!
Pic Courtesy : Google Search


Tuesday 5 March 2013

My first Blog Award!


So this is a buy one get one free moment! My last post celebrated my blog getting the “WOW” from Blogadda & I write this blog to celebrate my 1st blog award – The Creative blogger award! Yippeeeeeeeee!



A big thanks to Bushra of Confessions of a stillettomaniac for appreciating my blog & conferring this title to my blog. When I began blogging a few months ago, I wasn’t even aware that some blog awards exist. And here am I today, receiving one! All thanks to Bushra dear. From shayari to fiction, her blog is a daily darshan for me as there is always something short & sweet awaiting there!  

You know what, as a kid, while watching film fare awards, I have prepared numberless thanks speeches. Today, as I write this post, somewhere I amm in the same mode! Haha! The child in me is bubbling with enthusiasm & shouting! Yipppeee! 

And let me now tell u a bit about this award. Presented to me by Bushra, this award is an appreciation of the immense creativity that flows across blogospehere. But wait, you have to earn it by blogging your creative best & following some rulzzzz (They aren’t compulsory though, but following would be good)

And we are done! Now that’s pretty simple….Hmmmm.
So now, my turn to answer…

Three things About yourself.
1. Well, I am a somewhat crazy & hopelessly positive person, pestering Mr. Hubby with my whacky ideas & asking him to materialize them!
2. Love to read, write, sing, click, travel & eat
3. A total child at heart (well, that’s what people who know me say)

Two things People don't know about you.
1. I sing well
2. I have won national awards twice for poetry

One thing you want to change about yourself.
Now, this is tough. Even though I am my favorite (like kareena Kapoor of “Jab We Met”), there are soooo many things I would wanna change(improve) about me. Well, I would like to be less sensitive, to start with…

Now, for the nomination specialzzz
(I feel like a celeb giving some interview! Lolz!)

An incident in your life that you describe as_unforgettable!
Losing my mom….she was my battery & u know how a phone becomes without a battery...

When your blog was just a new born baby, what is the craziest thing you did to increase your followers?
Well, to be honest, NOTHING. I began this blog just to express life from my spectacle, just to savor the joy of writing. It was only when I was few posts old that my friends suggested I make it public.

What are the three things that make you smile and the three things that put you off?
3 things that make me smile –
1. Unexpected pleasant surprises (Mr. Hubby reading this would know I am indirectly asking my next gift)
2. More than anything,happiness & togetherness of my loved ones. They mean the world to me
3. When I observe people enjoying the simple, small joys of life, it makes me smile from the heart

3 things that put me off –
Double Standards
People who are insensitive to other’s emotions
Super smart people who think all flattery & little work can reach them to the top

If you were granted 1 wish to wish for anything_what would you wish for?
I would wish for more empathy in this world. Coz the lack of it is spoiling everything

If you were famous, what would it be for?
Well, if were famous, it most probably would be for my creative & expressive self.

Wow, that was fun to do!
And now, I nominate the following awesome bloggers with oodles of creativity for the “Creative blogger award”-
Nandini nandinispeaks
Indrani - isharethese
Farzana & Aliasgar Mukhtiar -  farzanaaliasgarmukhtiar
Debjyoti -  factsandnonsense
Valli - poetrymyfeelings

Congratulations! I enjoy reading your blogs & find them very creative. I now pass on the baton!

My questions for the nominees -
1. What does happiness mean to you?
2. What’s the best thing you have ever done to bring a smile on someone’s face
3. If you get Aladdin’s magic lamp, what would you do?
4. Whats the best thing you love about your blog?

That’s all, get starrrted! 



Saturday 2 March 2013

WOW Moment!



Happiness, they say come in small packets, from unexpected corners. I usually write for my own happiness & have only recently started participating in blogging contests. Blogging gives me so much joy that sometimes I tell Mr. Hubby “This is what true love is” and he gives me “a hullow, wat are u saying?” look! Haha!

I am a big fan of writing prompts. They bring a kind of regime in blogging schedule. Sometimes, it’s a challenge to blog on something that’s not well known to us. But, I love challenges, they prompt me to test my creativity & figure out thoughts I otherwise wouldn't have discovered.

One such activity is “Write over the weekend” (WOW) by Blogadda.com. Every week, blogadda puts up the topic. All one needs to do is blog about the topic, copy the code & mention the link” and it’s done!

Who says prizes are the only motivation? Appreciation & encouragement comes first & lasts longer. This morning, a pleasant surprise awaited my facebook page. Entries which were WOW received a special mention on the Blogadda page. 

Not expecting much, I thought, “lets check out which posts are WOW” but the moment I went to the Blogadda page, my heart & mind chorused WOW! Incidently, this was in a way related to the theme of this week’s WOW (My heart was saying “Yes” but my head was saying “No”). My entry received a special mention as a “WOW” entry! Now that truly made my day! You can read the post here...

What more, I even get to flaunt a WOW badge on my post now! 

More than anything else, it is the appreciation a blogger really craves & when s/he gets it, it’s a WOW moment!

Thank you sooooo much Blogadda!

Monday 25 February 2013

Academy Awards – Yo Yo Oscars!


It is that time of the year! Academy Awards were announced today. Frankly speaking, more than the awards, it is the red carpet I look forward to the most – ladies and gentlemen looking their best. Ladies dolled up in the Pradas & Diors & men throwing the Oomph factor despite their simple Tuxedos. So much fodder to last a week of office gossip – from makeup bloopers to miss perfect ten, nobody is spared.
Pic Courtesy:Google Search
Pic Courtesy:Google Search
Pic Courtesy:Google Search

Hubby & I had decided to do our own little evaluation this time. We had planned to watch all the nominations in the best film category, predict our winner & see if that film actually wins. But, hectic schedules, wave of cough & cold & the demise of a close relative spared us no time for our review.

Anyway, the awards were announced today & of all the winners, the best actress in a leading role (Jennifer Lawrence) & best song (Adele) for Skyfall categories brought me immense joy & excitement. Not because I am their big fan (though they are flawless artists in their own craft), but because these were the only 2 nominated movies I had managed to watch.

Sometimes, happiness comes from the avenue least expected. While I had looked forward to watching Daniel Craig play yet another suave Bond avatar, the poor story of Skyfall disappointed me. (this is purely my personal opinions & bears no relation to anybody/anything else). To me, it seemed like an overhyped pataka that, instead of going “Boom”, went “fuss”. Towards the end, it felt as if I was watching a Bollywood movie – the Bond had to catch the tube train only after it left the station – just because he was Bond. The villain, no matter how good with his moves, had to die, be it in a hasty climax, just because Bond had to win, the shine on his suit & shoes had to be intact. So many things were forced into the simple storyline. Get real guyz. Bond is born, not made. Having grown up watching Pierce Brosnan, I was expecting much more. But Adele was flawless with her enigmatic voice & hubby had instantly appreciated the magic of her vocal chords.
Pic Courtesy:Google Search
When Jennifer Lawrence’s name was announced, I felt tremendous happiness, as if she was my own sister, thousand miles away! Hehe! I loved her act in “Silver Linings Playbook”, a girl disturbed by an unfulfilled wish & a tragedy behind. Even as she told Bradley Cooper about her sex addiction, she maintained her dignity – not an inch more or less. Justice to the role, and a special mention to her black nailpaint & Kohl eyes (am a girl, can’t help notice all that!). Apart from her fall in the Oscar ceremony (Opt for outfit u can manage, gal), everything about her was so apt, or shall I say “set" in the words of my 13 yr old niece.
Pic Courtesy:Google Search

I did feel bad when Bradley Cooper didn't win despite a great performance – anybody who sees his act would sympathize with him. Robert De Niro gave another perfect performance as a father stuck with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, with unconditional love for his wife, son & betting. Poor thing tries hard to get some discipline in his son’s life & to bind his family together with his frequent attempts at “Family time activities”. Anupam Kher as Bradley Cooper’s therapist was a pleasant surprise. Now I know why few days ago, I read about Mr Kher dedicating his documentary film to Robert De Niro. He looks super cute with his painted face when he comes with his Desi gang for the football match.
Pic Courtesy:Google Search

The best part of the movie is the dance competition. Jennifer Lawrence (Tiffany) & Bradley Cooper (Pat) take part in Dancing with the stars – a long unfulfilled wish of Tiffany. Their aim is not exactly to win the contest, but to score a minimum five, as Pat's father had betted on that. When the scores get announced, others feel sorry for the imperfect scores while the cheering gang jumps in jubiliation, having won the bet! It was fun to watch the expressions of judges & co-contestants, shocked  at someone celebrating a score of five! 

Their final performance, with the perfect footwork was garnished with lifts that left my mouth wide open! Reminded me of the Salsa classes hubby & I attended few years ago. The movie was sweet & sweeter – perfect romcom with a nice dash of drama.  

A must watch – full paisa vasool!

Pic Courtesy:Google Search
Pic Courtesy:Google Search


Friday 22 February 2013

Apfel Kuchen @ Frau Stadler


I first read about Kuchen in my German lessons. But at that time, my knowledge was confined to the translation cake=kuchen. Actually, Kuchen is much harder than our normal cakes, with a pie like outer covering & stuffing inside. It was only after I started going to the carnival at the German Embassy that I began to flirt with Kuchen, torte, Kartoffelpuree, Spatzle etc. But the carnival doesn’t happen every day & I haven’t been able to find a good affordable German eatery near my place.

Knowing my love for food & calories, God acted kind. I got married into a family where one of our close relatives is German. So, this time when I visited them, I raided their kitchen & expressed so much love for their cuisine that Mausi happily ordered 2 Kg apples & made not 1 but 2 Apfel Kuchens that I even got to carry to my Hostel!

So, here’s recipe for Apfel kuchen that I got to savor at Mausi’s place –

For the kuchen, you will require (this is a recipe for 2 cakes)
Apples – 2 Kg
Cinnamon (goes really well with any apple dish) – as per your taste
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Sugar – to taste
Refined Flour (maida) – 1 kg
White unsalted butter – 300g
Cream /milk – to knead the dough

Method –
Sieve the refined flour & baking powder together. Then, add the unsalted butter & knead a stiff dough using milk/cream. Once the dough is done, rest it under a moist cloth for 15-20 min. This time can be utilized to prepare the filing.

It’s not the best thing to peel & slice 2Kg apples, but enthusiasm makes everything possible! Anyway, once the apples are done (slices shouldn’t be too thin), add sugar to taste & generous amount of cinnamon and mix it well.
The stuffing
The apples go inside
Then, grease a cake mould, dust it and line it with a thick rolled sheet of the dough, covering even the sides. Then fill the stuffing inside & sprinkle few dumplings of the dough on top.

All set to be baked
The cake is all set to through the grill, oops, bake! Their oven was a 2nd generation gas oven (I doubted its capabilities, till I saw the perfect cake baked). But you can use a normal preheated oven at 3500F. Bake the cake for approximately 30-45 minutes. 

The Oven
Once the cake was out, all of us started behaving like kids, ready to pounce on the cake. The aroma of freshly cooked apples with cinnamon….Oooh, you have to experience it to understand.

So, I suggest you try out this one & lemme know!


Kuchen is ready!

Another thing, unlike our usual cakes that become hard with time, Apfel Kuchen tastes best when eaten a day after!

Tempting

Bon Appetit!



Friday 15 February 2013

He cried for help, but nobody heard…



Last weekend, I witnessed something that shook me inside. For some of you, this might be a normal scenario, but maybe I am over sensitive. 

Anyway, last weekend, I was walking besides the flyover at IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon. With constant traffic coming from Delhi-Jaipur highway, that road never sleeps. As I was walking, I heard painful shrieks that were so disturbing that.....I have no words to describe here. The sound was coming from the roadside. A beautiful, healthy black Pig lay on the ground, surrounded by three cruel men. The men brutally hit the Pig's head with bricks, kicked & hurt him with sticks. Shocked, I asked my friend what was going on.

“Oh, it’s a normal sight here.” He said. They are going to kill the Pig and cook & eat his meat. I know some or the other creature has to lay his life to satiate the desire of non vegetarians. But I was more surprised when he told me the people hitting him are the ones who raised him. This was shocking. I have been a proud owner of many pets and never in my wildest dreams can I imagine killing my own pet to satisfy my hunger. This wasn't even a do or die situation & the people didn't look so malnourished that they were forced to kill that Pig so brutally, just to satisfy their hunger.
Pic Courtesy:Google Search


Man is a social animal, they say. But that day I realized that some human beings are worse than animals. I am not trying to voice out my anger against non vegetarians, after all each one of us have our own preferences. Nor I am advocating vegetarianism through this blog (though I shall be glad if through this post I am able to invoke sensitivity towards animals in even one person). I am a vegetarian & maybe I can never understand the joy of biting into a succulent leg piece.

But before being vegans or non vegans, we are all humans. And just because God has made us stronger than a lot many creatures, this doesn't mean we are free to abuse their right to existence. Yes, there is a law of food chain but I am sure there was no desperate need to kill that innocent Pig. It was killed so that few people could eat his flesh, drink some cheap country liquor and make merry. Its tough to get birth as a human and its sad to see few brainless souls spoiling their karma for momentary pleasures.

The Pig’s howls became more painful every second. I stood there frozen, wondering what to do. I am no activist & didn’t have any number in my mobile contact list that could save that poor soul in the next few minutes I had. Few rickshawallas enjoying the scene looked at me, smiled and said, “Madam, this is a usual scene. They will have a feast tonight. What good was this Pig for anyway…hehe” I felt my blood boil & I wanted to tell them to first go and kill so many human beings who too are no good to this world. Rather they leave no stone unturned to trouble others. Atleast this Pig hasn't done anyone wrong.
Pic Courtesy: Google Search


 The shouts reached a high & then subsided, getting lost in the sound of traffic. The Pig has had it enough. He had given up. He lay motionless & powerless, perhaps with few breaths left while the assaulters smiled & sighed with relief at a task accomplished.

I looked up at the sky and said a silent prayer. May God make those assaulters Pigs in their next birth.
Pic Courtesy:Google Search