Chatpat Jhatpat McCain

While returning home from my office, I picked up my cousin from his school as my aunt was out of the town to attend a conference. The distance between his school and home was hardly of 10 minutes by walk even then at least ten times he repeated ‘I am feeling hungry’. Hungry kid! As soon as we reached home, I throw my bag in the cupboard and rushed in the kitchen to cook something for him. I got up late in the morning and like other days I couldn’t find time to do some preparations for lunch. Thank God! I have McCain packets in my freezer. I took out an already opened packet of McCain Smiles as he liked them very much. I quickly prepared them according to his taste buds.

Apple McCain Smiles

Ingredients

McCain Smiles – 4

Apple – 1

Tomato – 1 small

Butter – 1 tablespoon

Tomato ketchup – 1 ½ table spoon

Curry leaves – 5– 6

Powdered white pepper – ½ teaspoon

Red chilli pepper flakes – ¼ teaspoon

Salt to taste

For Garnishing

Coriander leaves – 2-3

Method

1. Cut the apple slices lengthwise.
   
2. Apply butter on upper side. After that apply a thin layer of tomato ketchup. Sprinkle salt, chilli flakes and powdered white pepper on it. Microwave it for 3-4 minutes.
3. Cut the tomato in semicircle and remove the seeds. Chop curry leaves finely.
4. Take out 4 smiles from McCain packet. Quickly make the tomato cut outs as smiling lips of smiles and fill the chopped curry leaves in the two holes on smiles with a help of toothpick. Spread a thin layer of butter with a help of knife on it.
   
5. Microwave them for 3- 4 minutes.
6. With a help of broad edged knife place the apple on the plate then put the smiley in the centre of the apple.
7. Place the coriander leaves in between the smiley and apple which will look like its’ green hat.
   
8. Beautiful and delicious smiles are ready. Serve hot.

“Did you wash your hands?” I asked him seeing him in a different dress.

“I not only washed my hands but face also.” He replied.

“Food is ready. Take it.” I handed over the plate to him.

“Beautiful flowers are blooming in the balcony garden. So, I will eat in the balcony. Today, my teacher told the students to spend more time near nature than on laptop, mobile and tablets.”

I arranged his table and chair in the balcony and asked him to have McCain snacks there. I returned in the kitchen to finish other chores. A few minutes passed, he came running to me with the empty plate in his hands.

“You finished it so quickly.” I asked with a surprise in my voice. “Did the plate fall off?”

“No. As I was about to eat Apple McCain smiles, a crow came from nowhere and sneezed it from my little hands before I could put it in my big mouth. I got scared and pushed my chair backward. Another crow, must be its close friend came and took away another piece from my plate.”

“Put this plate in the sink. Wash your hands. I will give you the two remaining ones.”

A big smile appeared on his face. “You have more.”

“Yup! Will you like to eat them near the nature or .......?”

“In front of T.V!”

After finishing those he said, “I am feeling hungry.”

“Oh! My God!!” I uttered. “I am damn tired.”

“My left side of stomach is still empty as the crow took my share. You can touch my stomach and feel. It is still empty.”

 “Your favourite smiles are finished. There were only four pieces left in the packet which I have already cooked for you.”

He opened the freezer, took out a fresh packet of McCain French Fries and said innocently. “I will eat it.”

I prepared this recipe for him.

McCain French Fries in Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

McCain French Fries – 15-20

Roasted Bengal gram powder – 1 table spoon

Peanut powder – 1 tablespoon

Coconut powder – ½ tablespoon

Powdered white pepper – ½ teaspoon

Mustard seed – ¼ teaspoon

Dry red chilli (crushed) – 2

Dry thyme – ¼ teaspoon

Dry rosemary- ½ teaspoon

Garlic powder – ½ teaspoon

Chopped curry leaves – 10-15

Sour buttermilk – 1 to 1 ½ cup

Butter – 1 table spoon

Olive oil – ½ table spoon

Canola oil – for frying

Salt to taste

For garnishing

Chopped basil leaves – 7-8

Sliced tomato – 1 small

Method

1. Heat canola oil in a pan and deep fry McCain French Fries in it. Take them out in a plate and keep aside.

2. Take coconut powder, peanut powder and roasted Bengal gram powder in a bowl. Mix them well. Add buttermilk slowly so that lumps are not formed. Add salt and powdered white pepper to it.

3. Heat butter in a pan. Add olive oil in it and mix them well.

4. Add mustard seeds when they start to splutter then add curry leaves and crushed red chillies.

5. Pour the already prepared mixture into the pan and stir it. Heat it to the boil.

6. Add garlic powder, thyme and rosemary in it. Reduce the heat. Gently put the fried French Fries in it and mix very lightly.

7. Take out the French fries in a plate.

8. Garnish it with basil leaves and tomato. Serve hot.

“This is more delicious. From now, McCain French Fries in Peanut Sauce will be my favourite!” He declared this with a beaming face.

Bonding

These days, not only younger generation but older generation is also caught in the clutches of smart phones. Everybody spend more time in virtual world then in real world. My cousin who was only five years old was always busy playing video games like ‘Snake’ and ‘Angry birds’. His eyes were always fixed on the screen while taking his meals or drinking milk. Like my youngest family member, my grandmother was always busy on the phone. Whole day, she chatted with her friends, relatives and even next door neighbours. I had to wait for several minutes if I wanted to talk to her. Similarly, my aunt was always busy in dealing with business enquiries on phone. In her free time she preferred to listen to her favourite songs with the ears phones than conversing with family members. I desperately wanted my family members to break the shackles of digital world and came together to enjoy the beautiful moment’s life has given us.  

I saw the advertisement of Kissanpur on T.V. I ordered tomato seeds online and downloaded the ‘Tomato Growing Guide’ from Kissanpur website. I arouse the curiosity of my cousin by explaining him that Kissan tomato ketchup which he liked so much is made of tomatoes. Moreover, we would be growing those tomatoes in our house. He opened his mouth in amazement.

We together sowed the seeds in the moist soil and placed the container on the refrigerator. My cousin at regular intervals climbed on the chair to watch it. He was the first to notice the first sapling of tomato. He was so excited and happy. Now, he wanted his eyes fixed on the tomato plant while eating and drinking milk.

When all the saplings came out, I put the pot in sunlight as they now required sunshine for the whole day. I went out of the town for three days to attend the marriage of my close friend. When I came back, I was surprised to see my grandmother watering plants along with my cousin. They both were enjoying each other company and I too joined them.

The plants grew up to the height of 6-8 inches I put support to the plant by adding a stick around it. The tiny flowers of tomatoes were very beautiful and we loved to watch them blossom. The fruits appeared and their size increased. The colour of fruits started changing from green to red.

One day when I was in my office, my cousin was in his school and my grandmother was in temple attending a spiritual lecture on that day, devastating hailstorm came. I was feeling that our efforts to produce tomatoes would fail. The storm was so strong that it would destroy the tomatoes. When I came home, I rushed to check our tomato plants. I was quite surprised to see them swinging happily in cool breeze. My aunt came smilingly and told that she put a temporary shed to protect the tomatoes from hail storm.

On that night, all family members experienced the ‘Real Togetherness’. We sat near our tomato plants, watched them in full moon light. Red tomatoes were shining brightly. After that, my family started spending time with each other, watching stars, moon, clouds and tomato plants.

Thanks Kissanpur for bringing my family together! :) 

Ravana Dahan

Today, while passing through a road, I came across these artistic faces and realized that the preparations for the celebration of Ravana Dahan were in full swing. On Dussehra, these faces will be mounted on the huge bodies stuffed with hay and fire crackers of Ravana, Kumbhakaran and Meghnad . The person playing the role of Lord Ram will target them with flaming arrows and will burn them to ashes depicting the end the evil. 

Healthy Halwa

Today, I prepared Navratri special - Bottle gourd and cashew-nuts halwa. Many people cooked giya ka halwa in these days as it is liked by many in the fast days. I opted for more healthier option shakar (powdered jaggery) instead of sugar in it.

Ingredients
Milk - 1 1/2 liter
Bottle gourd - 1 big size
Malai (Cream) - 100g
Powdered cashew-nuts - 25g
Powdered cardamoms - 7-8
Powdered jaggery - 300g
For garnishing
Musk melon seeds - 1/2 table spoon

Method
1. Boil milk, cream, grated bottle gourd, powdered cashew-nuts and cardamoms together till it thickens. Stir it continuously.
2. Add jaggery and mix it well. Stir the mixture continuously till it leaves ghee and the sides of the pan.
3. Take it out in a bowl and garnish it with musk melon seeds. Serve hot.

Pranayam (Breathing Exercises)

Pranayam means control of breath. It calms the mind and provides more oxygen to the brain. The most common pranayam are bhastrika, kapalabhati, jalandhara bandha, uddiyana bandha, mula bandha, anuloma viloma and bhasrika. I am teaching pranayam to my students from the past nine years. In these two videos, I explained the procedure of doing pranayam. 

Dear readers, you can daily watch these videos while practicing breathing exercises and be benefited from them.

Eyebrows of a cow

I find this very funny that somebody painted the eyebrows of this cow. I must say 'Height of Creativity'!

Begun Bhaja

Today I tried begun bhaja, a delicious n delightful recipe of Bengali cuisine. One of my close friend who is a Bengali shared the recipe of begun bhaja. Her method was to deep fry sliced egg plants and then sprinkled it with salt and spices. I gave a twist to it to make it more crispy and tasty. And my recipe is like this .....

Ingredients
Egg Plant - 2
Rice flour - 1 table spoon
Red chillies - 1/4 tea spoon
Black pepper - 1/4 tea spoon
Mango powder - 1/4 tea spoon
Roasted cumin seeds - 1/4 tea spoon
Salt to taste
Desi ghee for shallow frying

Method
1. Sliced the egg plants in half circles. Wash them in water thoroughly.
2. Rub the rice flour on both the sides of the egg plant slice gently.
3. Shallow fry them in a pan.
4. Sprinkle the spices on it and serve hot.

Unique colour of mushroom

After rains, mushrooms come up anywhere and everywhere in gardens or in wild. It is so common. Most of the time the colour of mushroom is white, offwhite or light brown. I noticed this grey colour mushroom growing in the park of my society. I found this colour somewhat uncommon so sharing with all of you.

Dengue and papaya tree

Aftereffects of dengue on this papaya tree can be seen very clearly. I noticed it during my evening walk. This tree is not diseased with dengue. But the people tore it's leaves because papaya leaves juice is considered good for curing dengue. It is the best home remedy that one can afford free of cost if there is a papaya tree in their surrounding. :)

Ace, King, Queen and Joker

I won an interesting quiz or a lucky draw I do not know. But the interesting thing is that I participated in a competition organised by Delhi Book Club on their Facebook page in which one has to suggest the name of the authors as Ace, King, Queen and Joker of the pack. According to me it was like this -

ACE - RAVINDRANATH TAGORE
KING - W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
QUEEN - PEARL S. BUCK
JOKER - CHETAN BHAGAT

And according to you who out of numerous authors you have read is Ace, King, Queen and Joker of the pack?

Movie Review : Talvar

Talvar movie is based on Arushi murder case which took place in 2008. Meghna Gulzar has handled this sensitive topic brilliantly by keeping the viewers engrossed throughout the movie. An extensive research on this unfortunate incident has been done to do the justice with every angle of the case.

Irfan Khan as Ashwin Kumar has acted well as the investigating officer of CDI (Central Department of Investigation). Tabu has a small role as Ashwin Kumar’s wife. Neeraj Kabi plays the role of Dr. Ramesh Tandon. Konkona Sen Sharma as Nutan Sharma and Dr. Ramesh Tandon’s wife looks natural on screen. The rest of actors played their respective role very well.

The best scene in this movie is when the investigating team are presenting their view points and facts to support them. If you love to watch crime investigation then this movie is a must watch. 

Exercise for back ache

Dear readers, here is my first video on yoga. In this video I am explaining how to do exercise which helps is reliving back ache. This is the best exercise for back pain. Do it regularly and say good bye to back ache.

Medicine for meditation?

Actually, I am taking medicines for meditation that's why I forget the things so frequently." Mrs. 'A' told me this in Hindi except the word 'MEDITATION'.
"MEDITATION!" I was shocked. "I am doing meditation for more than fifteen years. I have read the works of varied saints and authors on meditation but never heard about the medicine or injection for meditation."
She said these words in Hindi. "No....... Actually .....what we call it............." She pondered for a while and then said, "'DEPRESSION'."
I repeated, "DEPRESSION! You are taking medicines for depression!!"

Should I laugh or cry on her 'Angreeze'?

Speed

I can’t imagine my life without internet. These days, internet is a multi-faceted tool which can be used in various settings of life for doing enormous things. Now, it is the time to use high speed internet.  Internet connection with superb speed is what one desires!

Airtel 4G has unbelievable speed and is more reliable. With this speed I can view more pages, send more emails, watch more videos, download and upload more content and can do much more.

1. Business - My working efficiency has increased with the high speed of internet connection. Now I can do my business more effectively and more efficiently. I can communicate better with my clients. I can do conference calls with them without any interruptions. I can transfer files and upload documents related to business speedily. I can now work from my office, home and in travel. I mean I can work from anywhere with 4G internet connection. Fund transfer, purchasing shares, online investment in mutual funds, loan repayment and viewing my account balance can be done from anywhere and at any time. I can promote my products online faster through various social media sites. Faster marketing will yields good profits!

2. Bill Payments – I can pay my electricity, telephone and mobile bills faster without any interruptions.  Without any break in net connection I can do net banking, pay my insurance premiums, transfer money to third party and can make contributions to charity. It saves my time.  

3. Learning – I can now learn new things more effectively and efficiently than ever before. I can surf the net faster. I can research faster. I can learn faster. With my eyes affixed on computer screen, even a single blink time seems too long to wait for the data to download or a webpage to open but with the unbelievable speed of Airtel 4G internet connections I can browse and download without wasting my precious time even for a fraction of second.

4. Online buying – I can view variety of products which can be surfed in less time while doing online shopping. I can compare prices of the products before buying with ease. I can buy grocery items, clothes, fashion accessories, jewellery and other products with fast speed.

5. Social - With a high speed internet connection I can very easily stay connected with my parents, relatives and friends.  I can communicate with them online with social networking, chatting or instant messaging. I can communicate faster online with the persons who share the same interest with me. World is becoming smaller with fast speed internet connection.

6. Entertainment - Super entertainment is available with just one click. Now, I can easily watch uninterrupted television shows, movies, music videos and slideshows. I can download songs and book a movie ticket in much less time.

7. Travel – I can explore city maps to reach my destinations and can search the famous places with a lightning speed.

8. Blogging - I can do much faster blogging.

Dear readers, with 4G internet connection you can load my blog faster and of course you will be able to read more posts in less time. :) 

Penne Rigate in balle balle style

I was in a dilemma what to cook in lunch as my cousin, Lavi and her husband was visiting me. My cousin is a fan of North Indian food especially Punjabi food. Chhole bhature, gujiya, mango shake and spicy tomato and garlic chutney are some of her favourites. Her husband loves to eat Italian food. Pasta in white sauce, pasta salad, dip made up of basil leaves are his all time favourites. To make both of them happy, I tried Penne Rigate in balle balle style fusing the two different ingredients, flavours, food and culture together to create something new. This is what I prepared! And of course how I prepared!!

Penne Rigate in balle balle style

Servings – 4- 6 

Preparation Time – 15 minutes and overnight fermentation period and soaking time of chickpeas

Cooking Time – 45 minutes

Cook Penne Rigate

Ingredients

Penne Rigate – 55g

Olive Oil – ½ teaspoon (for cooking)

Olive Oil – 1 teaspoon (for tossing)

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Boil water in a pan. Add salt and olive oil in it. When it starts boiling add pasta and cook it uncovered for ten minutes in an open pan. Keep a timer for exact timing.

2.   During the first few minutes, starch come out of the pasta, making it sticky. Stir it continuously and gently.

3.   Take out a pasta piece and bite it. It should be ‘Al Dente’ meaning it should be firm to bite. It should neither be crunchy nor too soft. It should appeal to the teeth.

4.   Remove the pan from fire. Drain the cooked pasta immediately into a sieve and transfer it into a pan containing cold water. Drain it again, toss it with olive oil and keep it aside.

Yellow sauce

Ingredients

Mango pulp (Neither raw nor fully ripe mango medium size) – 150g

Milk – 250ml

Cream (Malai) – 40g

Corn flour – ¾ table spoon

Refined Wheat Flour (Maida) – ½ table spoon

Raw turmeric – 1 small piece

Grated cheese – 50g

Butter – 7g

Mango Essence – 2 drops

White pepper – ½ tea spoon

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Melt the butter in clay pot on low-to-medium heat. Add refined wheat flour to it. Stir it continuously with a wooden spoon to avoid any lump formation. Add 175ml milk and cream to it. Stirring continuously bring it to the boil. Add grated raw turmeric for colour.

2.  After one minute, reduce the flame and add cheese, salt and white pepper. Mix 25 ml milk and corn flour. Allow it to cook for few more minutes so that it becomes thicker than white sauce.

3.   Remove from fire and stir it for some more time to avoid any thick layer formation on the top. The clay pot retains the heat for more time, preserves the nutrients and aroma. The milk recipe cooked in clay pots tastes delicious.

4.   Blend mango pulp and the remaining milk in the mixer. Add the mixture and mango essence in the sauce on cooling and mix well. The sauce is ready. Keep it aside.

Chickpea Boiling

Ingredients

Chickpea – 25g

Dry Indian Gooseberry (Amla) – 3-4 slices

Cloves – 1

Peppercorns – 2-3

Bay Leaf (Tejpata) – 1 small piece

Cinnamon (Dalchinni) – 1 small piece

Black Cardamom (Kali elaichi) – 1-2

Ginger – 1 small piece

Baking soda – ¼ teaspoon

Turmeric – ¼ teaspoon

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Soak chickpeas over night. Put them in pressure cooker. Add salt and turmeric powder.

2.   Take a cotton cloth of a size of handkerchief. Put all the condiments and spices in it. Fold it making a triangle and roll it and tie a knot.

3.   Put it in the pressure cooker so that it is immersed fully in water. Add the baking soda and stir it. Close the lid. Place it on high heat.

4.   When pressure is reached turn heat to low and allow the steam-release rocker to rock twice. Remove from fire and wait for pressure to decrease. Open the lid.

5.   Squeeze the bundle into the soup to drain out all the flavours from it. This soup with Indian flavours will be used in cooking penne.

Penne in Yellow sauce

Ingredients

Red bell peppers – 2

Red chillies – 2-3

Basil leaves – 25 leaves

Butter – 7g

Olive oil – 1 teaspoon

Garlic – 6 cloves

Onion – 2 medium size

Chickpea soup – 3-4 table spoon

Oregano – 1 ½ tea spoon

Thyme – ½ teaspoon

Rosemary – ½ teaspoon

White pepper – ¼ table spoon

Salt to taste

Garnish

Pitted Black Olives – 6-7

Basil leaves – Remaining leaves

Method

1.   Melt the butter in a pan. Add olive oil. Mix them. Saute finely chopped garlic, onion. Add chopped half of the basil leaves and diagonally chopped red chilies in it. Do not overcook them.

2.   Add chopped red bell peppers. Saute them. Add boiled chickpeas and soup. Mix yellow sauce and obtained the desired consistency of sauce. Add salt and other spices.

3.   Add pasta and stir it very gently. Remove from fire and garnish it with chopped olives and basil leaves.

Penne Salad

Ingredients

Cherry tomatoes – 8-9

Chopped Cucumber – 70g

Chopped Carrot – 60g

Chopped Radish – 30g

Chopped Red bell peppers – 20g

Penne Rigate Boiled – 3-4 pieces

Lime juice – 2 teaspoon

Olive oil – 1 teaspoon spoon

Honey – 1 teaspoon

Radish leaves small sized – 3-4 leaves

Coriander leaves – 20g

Dry Mint – ¼ teaspoon

Black pepper – ¼ teaspoon

Oregano – ½ teaspoon

Parsley – ½ teaspoon

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Mix oil, lime juice and honey in a glass bowl. Add chopped ingredients in it. Add finely chopped radish leaves and coriander to it.

2.   Slice pasta piece into three parts cutting it diagonally symmetrical to its edges. Sprinkle spices and toss them gently.

Triangular stuffed n puffed bread

Ingredients

Barley flour – 10g

Refined Wheat Flour (Maida) – 100g + for rolling bread

Curd – 20g + 20g = 40g

Roasted capsicum – 2

Boiled Pasta – 10g

Butter – 1/4 teaspoon

Canola Oil for frying

Filling

Ingredients

Pitted Black Olives – 30g

Boiled Sweet Corn – 30g

Grated Cheese – 30g

Raisins – 12-15

Garlic – 2-3 cloves

Chilli flakes – ½ teaspoon

Dry Parsley – ½ teaspoon

Dry Thyme – 1 pinch

Dry Rosemary – 1 pinch

Basil leaves – 10 -15 leaves

Olive oil – 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Heat olive oil. Sauté chopped garlic and basil leaves in it.

2.   Saute coarsely crushed sweet corns and olives in it. Add cheese. Add spices and salt. The filling is ready.

3.   Mix half quantity of curd and barley flour. Leave it overnight to ferment.

4.   Remove the skin of roasted capsicum it will easily peel off if the oil is applied on the outer surface of capsicum before roasting. Grind it along with the remaining amount of curd.

5.   Take the refined wheat flour in a bowl. Add butter and salt to it. Rub it nicely in the flour. Knead the dough using fermented barley flour and capsicum blend.

6.   Make small balls of dough. With the help of rolling pin, roll it more lengthwise then width wise. Place the rolled out dough on the triangular mould.

7.   Place the filling in the lower part or base portion.  Move the wet finger very lightly on the three sides of the mould so that it seals well and the filling doesn’t come out. Do not fill it too much that it touches the sides of the mould. It should be sealed properly else it will mess while frying.

8.   Flip the top end over the bottom one. Press it gently. Trim off the extra dough from the edges and mix it in the rest of the dough. Open the mould and very gently take out the stuffed triangular piece.

9.   Deep fry them in oil till golden brown. Take them out on the paper so that paper absorbs extra oil.

Basil and peanut chutney

Ingredients

Basil leaves -15g

Peanut – 15g

Roasted and unshelled Whole Bengal gram (Bhuna hoya channa) – 10g

Pistachio – 2-3

Curd – 40 - 50g

Green chillies – 2

Garlic – 2 cloves

Ginger – 1 small piece

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Roast peanut in a pan. Rub it gently between the palms and skin will peel off. Blow off the skin.

2.   Grind Peanut, Bengal gram, pistachios into a fine powder.

3.   Grind basil leaves, garlic, green chillies and ginger using a small quantity of curd.

4.   Add salt. Mix them together.

Tomato and Garlic chutney

Ingredients

Country Tomato – 150g

Garlic – 6-7 cloves

Carrot – 30g

Red chillies – 3

Ginger – 1 small piece

Onion – 1 small size

Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon

Butter -7g

Oregano – ½ teaspoon

Thyme – 1 pinch

Dried parsley – 1 pinch

Cloves -1

Roasted cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon

Fennel seed powder – ½ teaspoon

Sugar – 3 teaspoon

Black salt – ½ teaspoon

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Grind tomato, garlic, onion, carrot, red chillies and ginger to make a fine paste. Add red chilli powder to it.

2.   Heat butter in a pan. Pour the mixture in it. Stir it till the water gets evaporated.

3.   Add grinded clove and roasted cumin seeds to it. Add oregano, fennel powder, dried parsley, thyme, black salt to it. Add salt. Do not add salt in the beginning as the quantity of mixture will decrease.

White balls

Ingredients

Paneer (chhena) made from cow’s milk– 15g

Refined Wheat Flour (Maida) – a pinch

Salt to taste

Method

1.   Rub the paneer with the heel of the palm so that it is mashed well.

2.   Add refined wheat flour and repeat the process till the palm become greasy.

3.   Make the small ball by rolling the small portion between the palms.

4.   Boil water in the pressure cooker. Add salt in it.

5.   Slide the balls slowly into the salty water. Close the lid. Place it on high heat. When pressure is reached turn heat to low and allow the steam-release rocker to rock twice.

6.   Remove from fire and wait for pressure to decrease. Open the lid. The balls will swell and become soft.

Plating

Spread the penne. And garnish it with fresh basil leaves. Put the salad and puffed and stuffed triangular bread. Make the line of green chutney and end it with a dot of red dip. Put the white balls on the red colour.

There were big smileys on the faces of my cousin and her husband on seeing the smiley on a plate. They both liked the idea of combining Indian and Italian recipes very much. On tasting, they both said, "Perfect". 

"Please believe me, I prepared the pasta for the first time." I shyly said.

Movie Review : Ahalya by Sujoy Ghosh

The short film ‘Ahalya’ by Sujoy Ghosh is going viral on Youtube. It is a thriller in which the viewers’ eyes are glued to the screen for the fourteen minutes. Not a scene can be missed from this movie. And moreover one keeps thinking about the film story line and its interpretation after watching it. It is based on a mythological story of Ahalya and her husband, Sage Gautam. Indra who is attracted to beautiful and young Ahalya disguised himself as Sage Gautam, visited their hut to woo her. The sage caught them together. He cursed her to turn into a stone and came back to life only after the touch of Lord Ram’s feet. He as well as cursed Indra with impotency.

In Ahalya movie, Radhika Apte acted as ‘Ahalya’, Soumitra Chatterjee as ‘Gautam Sadhu’, Ahalya’s husband and famous artist. Tota Roy Chowdhury was a stoned face policeman named ‘Indra Sen’. The story began with a policeman who rang the bell of a house and a beautiful lady opened the door. The policeman, Indra Sen visited the house of the famous artist Gautam Sadhu to enquire about the missing young person Arjun. The beautiful wife of artist greeted him. The policeman saw Arjun’s humanoid sculptures along with others on mantelpiece in their drawing room. The artist told him that Arjun had modelled for him a month ago and also about the magical stone that turns one into whatever one wished to which Arjun might have used before missing. The policeman doubted the story. The artist asked him to check the magical powers. He touched the stone and went upstairs to hand over the phone to Ahalya. She treated him as her husband. He was also surprised to see himself as Gautam Sadhu in the reflection. When he was coming back, in the mid way he changed his mind and went back to her bedroom. He found himself next to the other humanoid sculptures on the mantelpiece.

In mythology, Sage Gautam cursed both of Indra and Ahalya for what they did where as in this movie only Indra Sen was punished where as Ahalya enjoyed her life as before repeating the same mistake again and again. In the beginning Ahalya was wearing white colour dress and in the end she was wearing black after the secret was revealed to the audiences.  

The movie has the shades of ‘Professor Shonku O Ashchorjo Putul’ (Professor Shonku and the strange dolls) by Satyajit Ray and the animated movie ‘Alma’. Professor Shonku went to Sweden and met a person named Gregor Lindquist who was a doll maker and visited him to see his creations and falls in danger. Humanoid sculpture idea was well used in this film.

This movie is really gripping!

Space available for shops and offices at Rewari

In the heart of Rewari city, Ashish Shopping Center in T. P. Scheme No. 9 is an outstanding market place which is unique as well as marvelous. In Shopping center, shops of different sizes are available for lease or rent for shops and offices that too at very cheap rates. Grab the opportunity now!

The following facilities are available

1.       Vastu friendly assuring success and prosperity

2.       All the shops are East facing and are of various sizes – micro, small and large

3.       Space available for shops and offices

4.       Parking space is available

5.       24 hour  water supply

6.       Public toilets

7.       First shopping center in Rewari with solar light facility

8.       Long corridors for free movement and excellent access

9.       Proper ventilation and sunlight

10.   All modern facilities available

11.   Close connectivity with Circular road and Jajjar road

12.   A library for children and adults is one of the attractions

13.   Easily accessible with public transport

If you are interested in starting a business in Rewari, Ashish Shopping Center is the best place to begin at lowest lease / rent amount.

Grab the golden opportunity now!

For further details, contact M- 9255420030, 9896894595

Double colour Leguminous flower

"Where did you click this pic from?" On seeing this beautiful double color leguminous flower, one of my friend commented.

"In our society." I replied.

"Where in our society?" She asked with a bit of surprise in her voice.

"Just below your kitchen balcony." I smiled.

"I never notice this flower."

"Of course it can't be noticed from sixth floor as its size is small." I said with a little wink. "These days it is blooming you can watch it whenever you pass by that area." I smiled.

Healthy cooking

Dear readers, can you guess what I am cooking?
(Hint Healthy recipe)

Filling a cheque

“So, should we start the business meeting?” I asked two gentlemen sitting in front of me.

“We can do the meeting in the bank!” One of them suggested.

“Why in a bank?”

 “Actually I have to present the cheque of Rs. 37 lacs.” He replied. “You come along with us and we can do the meeting in the bank.”

“You can present the cheque after this meeting; it is only 9:45 a.m. yet.”

“Ya, but it is very urgent. If it is not presented early, it will not be cleared.”

“Fine. Then present your cheque first, I am waiting for you here. When you come back then we will talk about business.”

Both of them went away, I took out my novel and started reading.

Two hours later, they came back.

“Just because of YOU, my work was not completed.” The person who had to present the cheque complained.

“What did I do? I was sitting here reading my novel. I said. “How can I disturb you?”

He realized that he picked up wrong words and said politely, “As you were waiting here, in hurry to return back while filling the cheque I wrote 37 thousands instead of 37 lacs. My cheque got wasted.”

“If you were so concerned about me and thinking about me while filling a cheque then why you filled only 37 thousands, you should have filled 37 crores.” I thought. ;)

Book Review : If Truth be Told – A Monk’s Memoir

I have read the memoirs written by so many saints and sages but Om Swami’s memoirs ‘If Truth be Told – A Monk’s Memoir’ is one of the best. The flow is simple, lucid and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

I went to HarperCollins office to attend a meeting organised by Indibloggers. At the end of the meeting, one of the staff members asked all the bloggers to pick any book which they liked the most from the HarperCollins office. As I passed through the passage with cabins on both the sides, I saw an ochre colour book on the shelf above the sitting area. I went closed to it and found it was written by ‘Om Swami’. Wow! I am a regular reader of Om Swami’s blog and have watched some of his videos. His talk about ‘What is God?’ inspires me the most. Earlier, I desperately wanted to visit the function of the release of ‘If Truth Be Told – A Monk’s Memoir’ at Delhi. But I couldn’t as I was busy or ill or both, I couldn’t remember correctly now. I picked up that book and announce that I wanted this book. I was the first blogger to choose.

This book tells about the life of Om Swami before and after taking ‘sanyasa’. He was voracious reader from his childhood days. He learnt astrology and tantric practices at young age. His name was Amit Sharma and lived in Patiala along with his parents, sister and brother. At the age of eighteen he went to Australia for higher studies. He worked hard to earn and to learn simultaneously. He made a good amount of money and started his own business which he later on extended to U.S. and Europe. He took sanyasa from a naga sadhu but left him as sadhu had not yet mastered his emotions like anger. He went to Himalayas to do intense meditation in silence and solitude. He succeeded and realised himself. He felt a sense of dispassion and detachment arising from within without any effort. Just like when we churn milk it turn into butter and that butter can never be converted back into milk, his mind experienced an irreversible peace and immense joy.

Some of the wisdom gems from this book are listed below:-

1.  When you write, I want the writing to be so taut that if anyone is to remove even a comma from your sentence, the entire paragraph will have to be rewritten. When you speak, I want you to struggle, not because you cannot think of words with which to express yourself but because so many rush to your mind that you have to really choose to pick the word that is most apt, that is perfect.
2. Never lose stocks. Never forget that you buy them to make a profit. Once you have reached a profitable position, exit. If they betray you and you are making a loss, exit. Your goal is to make more profits than losses.
3. Why do we earn, and why do we learn?
4. It is wrongly assumed that tantra is about tantric sex, tantric massage, tantric yoga and so on. This is not where tantra starts or ends. Tantra is an inner journey the practitioner undertakes to break the conditioning of the mind and move beyond the conditioned and egoistic self, so that he may see himself as he truly is.
5. Meditation, worship, praying it’s all useless if we are unable to go beyond what holds us back.
6. Self-realization is removing yourself from the support structure. You no longer require the pillars; in fact, you become a pillar of divine love and light.
7. The eternal truth is that you have the right to live your life to the fullest. Every moment.
8. Find what makes you happy and pursue it.
9. You are a master of infinite possibilities.

In the end OM Swami said, “I’ve given you my truth. Go, discover yours.”

Dear readers, I think this is my longest post, may be because I am a great admirer of Om Swami. :)