Savitri Temple, Pushkar

After climbing small and big 720 stairs on a hill in Pushkar, I reached Savitri Temple to do the prayers and to watch the beautiful sunrise.

A group of foreigners were already there. They ordered the tea from the tea-stall situated at the top of hill to pass the time till sunrise and to get the warmth in the cold morning.

One of the foreigners took a sip from the big mug and said,"You, Indians have God for everything."

"Ya." The tea-stall owner said.
"You don't have CHAI GOD (Tea God)!" She asked.

Desire for liberation

"Chandrika, if you do not have any desire for liberation then why do you practice meditation so regularly?" One of my student asked me.
"Just for time pass!" I said with a wink. "I have nothing else to do!"

Kundalini, the latent energy

"Do you want to do this asana, Chandrika?" Mr. 'S' asked me. "Should I help you?"
I was sitting alone on my yoga mat, watching the group who had made pairs to practice the difficult asana. The teacher had asked the class to practice it with a partner and to support the other person while going in chakrasana from standing position as well as while coming back to normal position.
I said, "No, Thanks. My knees are paining."
I thought, "If I take the support of you while doing this practice, I will awaken your Kundalini, the latent energy by mere touch!"

Vote for Mr. Modi!

Twelve years back
"Whom will you give the vote to?" A shop owner asked a client who was a labourer.
"Who ever gives me money, I will vote for him!" The labour replied.

Today
"Did you get the money from ATM?" A shop owner  asked a client who was a labourer.
"I stood in the queue of ATM thrice but couldn't get the money." The labourer replied.
To tease him the shop owner asked, "Will you give the vote to Mr. Modi in the next election?"
"I will give vote to Mr. Modi only. I will surely give vote to Mr. Modi. I am 100 percent sure that I will vote for him only and will not change my opinion."

I felt a very positive change in our society that an illiterate person has formed his opinion about whom to give vote in the next election and now his vote is no more saleable for the sake of money. He can decide who is a better PM for India! :)

Darling

"Ma'am, do you know what my father called my mother?" A three year old girl too innocently asked her class teacher.
"I do not know." The teacher replied.
"He called her 'Darling'." She innocently revealed the secret.
"He didn't called her by her name."
"No. He called her 'Darling' only."

ATM line?

Are they in ATM line after demonetisation? ;)

Nutritive samosa

On my birthday, I tried a new recipe 'Nutritive samosa' which neither contained maida (refined floor) nor potatoes in filling. It was healthy, nutritive and delicious. Everybody liked it very much so I decided to share this recipe with my readers.
Ingredients
For dough
Wheat floor - 100g
Grinded Bengal gram floor/ Besan - 50g
Mustard oil - 2 table spoon
Salt to taste
For filling
Grated cheese - 100g
Grated cauliflower - 100g
Boiled peas - 40g
Boiled chopped beans - 20g
Boiled chopped carrot - 30g
Boiled sweet corn - 50g
Grated ginger - 1 teaspoon
Chopped green chilly - 1 or 2
Mustard oil - 1 table spoon
Cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
For garnishing
Chopped green coriander - 1 tablespoon

Method
1. Sieve wheat floor and besan. Mix them well. Add salt and warm mustard oil to it.
2. Kneed the dough with warm water. Keep the dough on one side and cover it with a wet piece of cloth.
3. For preparing filling, take a pan and put it on fire.
4. Add oil. When it is heated add cumin seeds and grated ginger.
5. Add grated cheese and cauliflower to it.
6. Stir it. Add turmeric powder, black pepper and coriander powder to it.
7. Add boiled vegetables to it.
8. Add salt and stir it gently.
9. Remove from fire and allow it to cool down. Garnish it with coriander.

10. Make small balls out of the dough.
11. Roll them with the help of rolling pin.
12. Make them thin and cut them in half.
13. Apply the water with a help of finger on one side which is cut.
14. Fold it to make a cup and join the wet side of the layer.
15. Fill the cup with vegetable fillings.
16. Apply the water on the edge of cup and closed the lid gently.
17. Make all the samosas.
18. Apply oil on the tray as well as brush the samosas with oil.

19. Grilled them for 10 minutes.
20. Turn them and grilled them on the other side as well.
21. Serve them hot with green chutney or ketchup.

You can even try this recipe in air fryer. :)

A selfie with cow

"The cow is not coming in the screen." A school girl said who was holding a selfie stick to click a selfie with a cow. She came there with her batch-mates on an educational school trip. She moved the stick a bit and said, "Oh no! Now cow can be seen but not me."

A really found the idea to have a selfie with cow ridiculous! :D

Snow leopard

“What are you planning to do after this course is finished?” A batch-mate asked me.
“I am thinking of going on trekking expeditions and visiting nearby national parks.” I said.“You are born and brought up in this area. Do you know in general which animals can be spotted during expeditions?”
“Black bear, brown bear, musk deer, blue sheep and Himalayan tahr. Rarely one sees snow leopard.”
“That sounds interesting!”
“It is a saying that if you ever see snow leopard then run faster than the rest of the group!"

When main gate was locked....

I was travelling from Gangorti to Netala in a shared taxi. I was about to reach Netala in 15 minutes. They closed the door of ashram at 5:30 p.m. My watch was showing 5:09 p.m. I was relaxed, as I would reach there on time, as the taxi was moving with a decent speed on hills.

The taxi slowed down, I could see buffalo herd in front of it. The herd was quite big. The taxi driver blew horn but the buffaloes kept moving with their pace without giving way to the taxi. The taxi owner blew horn continuously, moved his head out of the taxi window and shouted on his high pitch to buffalo owner to goad the buffaloes to one side of road and to make way for the vehicle. Very slowly, the owner goaded them that consumed about 7- 10 minutes of my precious time. The vehicle moved ahead and took its speed. I was calculating the time that I might not be able to reach early but would manage sharply at 5:30 p.m.

The taxi slowed down again and this time an ocean of sheep was ahead of us. The herd owner goaded the animals but they were jumping here and there, making almost impossible for the vehicle to move. Taking all the precautions, the taxt driver moved the vehicle very slowly without hurting innocent little creatures. This also consumed another 10 golden minutes of my life.

The taxi halted on the spot where I had to get down. The taxi owner climbed the roof of taxi to untie the rope and handed the heavy and bulky baggage to me. I was carrying a jacket in my hand and a polythene bag containing apples in another. All of a sudden, it started raining heavily. I took out the umbrella from my bag and opened it. I gave the money to taxi owner and ran downhill towards the ashram, carrying all the things in my hand and bag on my back. The polythene bag was not of good quality, could not hold the weight of apples, tore apart in the mid of road, apples scattered all over the way and a few rolled down far away. A villager saw this, came forward to help me. He gathered all the apples, gave them to me and I stuffed them in my bag which was already full. I walked rather almost ran towards the main gate of ashram. Alas! The gate was locked. What should I do now? I could easily jump that small gate but with the bulky luggage I found it difficult. I could not see anyone nearby whom I could request to open it. If I didn’t get in the ashram where I would spend the night, was the biggest question that was haunting my mind. There were many cheap hotels in Netala but which one was good and safe; I didn’t have an iota of knowledge about that. It was raining and I was sweating!

My presence of mind guided me that there was one more gate to enter the ashram, might be that was open or I could request someone there. I ran hurriedly towards that door, my jacket fell from my hand. I quickly picked it up and ran again. I reached in the front of that back gate. I felt relieved there was no lock on it. I moved the latch of the gate silently, taking every caution not to make noise. A student was sitting on the stairs saw me, he shouted and asked me to come from the main gate. Without wasting a second I was in the ashram premises, I ignored him, walked a couple of steps, threw my baggage, jacket and shoes near the dustbin in the veranda of ashram and ran towards the Director’s office to get myself registered for the course.

Eco-friendly pots in Uttarkashi

One thing that attracted me the most in Uttarkashi was that almost every home had eco-friendly pots in which they have planted tulsi, aloe vera, mint or seasonal flowers.

Some had painted them and some haven't. Clay pots were very rarely seen there.

Mostly people grow plants in empty tins and canes of ghee, mustard oil or other food stuffs.

Restaurants with the same name

My friends and I were travelling together to a hill station. I mailed the programme details like starting time; pick up locations, lunch on the midway in a small town and taxi charges of shared taxi to my friends who were accompanying me in this trip. I chose to have lunch at ‘Lucky Restaurant’. By the time we reached the decided town, we were extremely hungry. The lanes of the town were narrow so we asked the driver to park the taxi in parking area. We got down from the taxi and started walking on the lane in search of the decided restaurant. Hardly 15 meters we had walked then I saw the signboard showing ‘Lucky Restaurant’. We all went in and ordered the food. We chatted until the meal came, had good feast, gave a decent tip and came out of the restaurant.

After a heavy and nice meal, we all decided to walk for some time before starting again for the destination. We moved near about fifty meters then the road took a curved turn. Now I saw another restaurant on which ‘Lucky Restaurant’ was written. According to Google maps, we have to walk for about 60 – 65 meters to reach that restaurant from the parking area. On seeing the earlier board of ‘Lucky Restaurant’ in which we dine, I thought might be Google maps did not show the right distance. Moreover, the strong hunger forbidden me to search further. I thought it might got unnoticed by the group as we were walking with a fast pace. However, I was wrong. One of the person who has strong observation power noticed it and said, “Oh, one more Lucky Restaurant!”

I admitted, “Actually we entered a wrong restaurant!"

He chuckled. He burst into a laugh. While laughing, he gently touched his left hand on my right shoulder then suddenly withdrew his hand, thinking, "She is ‘Touch-Me-Not’ type person!"

Waterfalls in Uttarkashi

"How beautiful waterfall looks!" When I noticed the first waterfall while travelling in car from Rishikesh to Uttarkashi. I have never seen a waterfall before as I was from a semi-arid zone and hadn't travel much. In Uttarakhand during the end of July, it was rainy season. It was raining heavily and rivers were flowing with their full flow. There were waterfalls of all sizes, small n big, fast n slow and twisted in the hills n falling straight from the hills on the ground. Every waterfall was a unique of its own. Sometimes even while travelling waterfall water suddenly splattered on the roof of the car making a thud sound.


Among so many natural waterfalls these man-made waterfalls along the road side attracted me the most! They were not beautiful but hilarious.

A walk with a friend!

During my stay in Netala, I didn't talk much with my batchmates. I tried my best to follow the rules of ashram like speak less and read more, chat less and practice more. I wasn't much curious to know about others and wasn't there to make contacts. I wished to devote my time to my prayers, meditation, spiritual reading and introspection. I wanted to devote each and every second of my time for progress on the spiritual path.

There, I hardly talk with others and preferred to maintain silence. Mostly out of formality, I opened my mouth to utter monosyllables or sometimes sentences. Contrary to that back at home, I was talkative; generally enjoyed talking with persons of all age groups, all genres, all cultures and all socio-economic status. I loved to talk about various topics but I hesitated to talk about my emotions with others. A walk with that friend in the hills around ashram made me so comfortable with her that I shared my inner most emotions with her, may be because we are of same age or shared the same interest or in childhood days lived in a small city and then moved to a metropolitan for professional growth.

We went to a nearby village situated on a hill and from there on the narrow lane into the forest to Bharoon ka mandir (Temple of Lord Bharoon) which was though closed at that time.

We watched the villagers working, cows wandering in hills with bells in their necks, small houses here and there with their tempting kitchen gardens full of organic vegetables like pumpkin, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, beans, brinjal, lady finger, tomato.

The most interesting thing I liked was these toothbrush holders. :) During the walk, my mobile battery said 'Goodbye' so I asked her to click these photos for me. A short but memorable trip! :)

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A bowl of kadhi of a differrence!

"It tastes delicious!" As I sipped the steaming hot kadhi of Ankoot prasadam, I thought.
It did not contain any pakoodis as usual even than it was the tastiest kadhi I have ever eaten. Mango pickle masala was added to it to give it a sour taste as the buttermilk was not that sour. It also contained dried gaur ki phalli. Musturd seeds and cumin seeds tadka made it yummy. Like usual Ankoot kadhi it was not too hot. But the chillies were balancing the taste of pickle very well.

Seeing the bowl of kadhi today in my plate reminded me of that mango pickle taste of kadhi that I ate about a month ago.

Being vegetarian - A fashion statement

"I am vegetarian." A European guy told the group which were dinning together in a restaurant.
"You are vegetarian." I said with a surprise.
"I am also vegetarian." A European woman said.
"But.......how do you manage it?" I asked. "These days it is even difficult in India to be vegetarian."
"These days people are opting to even vegan diet in Europe." The woman explained.
"There are lots of vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Europe." The guy explained.
She told the group, "Its a fashion statement in Europe to be vegetarian."
I said, "Its a fashion statement in India to be non-vegetarian."
She said, "More and more people are opting for vegetarian diet in Europe so more number of eat-out options. I love cooking and mostly cook food at home."
The guy said, "I love to eat-out in resturants, sometimes I cook at home and near my work place there is Hare Krishna Temple, quite often I go there and have prasadam - totally satvik food."

Hilarious business meeting

"So, what do you think about this business case?" My boss, Mr. 'L' said to Mr. 'R'. They both were senior citizens.
"As you say." Mr. 'R' replied as if he has lost all interest in business, "After my wife's death, I shifted to Mumbai and was living with a woman who already had a son from her previous marriage. Some years back, I was very depressed. I felt lonely. There was no company. My sons and daughter-in-laws didn't take care of me. They even did not talk to me."
Mr. 'L' wanted to talk about business, "I think we should file a fresh application."
Mr. 'R' wanted to talk about his love story, "I receive her call for the first time when I was in office. She needed my help. To sort out the things we talk on phone for a couple of times. And we like each other and started loving together in a newly bought flat in Mumbai."
Mr. 'L' wished to focus on work, "We should do something about this business deal."
Mr. 'R' wished to focus on his new love story, "I meet her for the first time she was looking..................she was wearing......................she was feeling.................."

Before this meeting, my boss asked me, "Jot down all the important points of this business meeting." I was writing an unusual love story rather than the boring business related points! ;)