Cooking craze

Its been a crazy cooking desire that I've been smitten with. All the more weird since am one of the last species who wants to do anything other than eat in the kitchen.
Right from Janmashtami (Krishna's B'day) till Diwali has been an experimentation...reminiscing about my mom's culinary delights and trying out the various delicacies she used to make during these festivals.
Festivals for us has always been more about eating than the religious aspects...fortunately my in-laws also not being tradition bound makes life easier...
So I started of with the birth of Lord Krishna making cheedai(small, fried, rice flour balls) - both sweet and salted. These were yummm. Also made some neiappams...came out a little chewy...not the way it is supposed to be but edible. Made vella aval(rice flakes+jaggery) and aval payasam(rice flakes kheer) also which was "Insha'allah" quite good.
Then came Ganesh Chaturthi and made kozhakottai (steamed rice dumplings+stuffing). I made 3 varieties - coconut+jaggery; sesame seeds and urad dal.
October is a double delight as Shankar and me share our birthday. This year it was on a saturday and my parents were here on sunday. So we had a nice famly get together with both sets of parents and my aunt and uncle who had come from Vashi.
I made Pav Bhaji and Shankar made Veg.Pulao with spourts raita. I also made a type pf Daddojanam - curd rice+fried curd chillies+pomogranate seeds. Couldn't have a better way of celebrating our B'day.
Then ofcourse was Diwali - my mom used to make a lot of items but I liked Somasi the best (called Karjikai in Telugu or Karinji in Marathi or Gujjias in North India). Shankar likes Omapodi (sev like savoury) and so made both these items. Mom's presence made it easier as she was helping out in the entire preparation. Shankar made the first batch of omapodi.
I have to admit I keep surprising myself with the different stuff that I can do...not being very modest.
I also must admit that am done with cooking for sometime now...exhausted is the word....so until another bug bites me...life goes back to square one...

At Sangli

Met Ramesh Dev in the flight...he was the guy who played the doctor in Anand in whose house Amitabh stayed .The lady who played his wife in the movie is his real wife. He is 83...interesting man. Still active in Marathi films and ad production. He was very excited about visiting Kolhapur - his birth place.
Drive from Kolhapur to Sangli was very picturesque...fields of sugarcane, corn, tomatoes and other vegetables being grown on either side of the road.
Also marigold, chrysanthemum fields were very beautiful. Lots of greenery....very exhilarating

Ferozabad - the bangles' city

Took me almost 2 hrs to reach Ferozabad from Mathura...another revelation....never knew it was famous for glass work esp bangles!
Everywhere I looked....coloured glass bangles...fascinating....almost every shop was selling glass ware.....there were also other glass works on display like vases, chandeliers....a little regret that I could not spend time buying some stuff.
My cab driver told me that he picked up 7 dozen bangles for 70 rupees and another 2 dozen for 10 rupees.
I guess that must be cheap since he was all excited about having spent Rs.300. Anyways, for me it was like "Kala Akshar Bhains Barabar"....could not comment since I had no idea about this stuff....Flying to Kolhapur and from there on to Sangli...
I will seriously have to write about the smaller cities of India.....will do it one day....travel does enrich one's experiences and broadens one's horizons

Mathura - Vrindavan

Early start to the day...left home at 04:15 hrs and reached Delhi at 07:45 hrs.
Slept in the cab almost till Mathura...reached 12:30 hrs
At work post lunch - lots of issues, complaints, discussions.
Took a break and went to Vrindavan...hadn't been there......today was Radha Ashtami (Radha's Birthday)...hmmmm...that was a first.
Place was crowded, surrounded by Pandas (temple preists) and filth all across.
Like any typical pilgrimage centre!
The idol was pretty to look at...though all my thoughts were about getting out of the crowd...
Will leave for Firozabad tomorrow morning....a new day...a new place....same work:(

At Chandigarh

Interesting trip to Khanna....beautiful contryside from the airport towards Khanna....passed thru' lots of places of which names i had heard of....mandi gobindgarh, sirhind, fatehgarh sahib, bassi pathana....caught up on some good punjabi food...back to Chandigarh late night....
Hectic day at Chandigarh....could not visit Panchkula as scheduled....at the airport going to Delhi and then a connecting flight to Mumbai....fotunately am off tomorrow and then its sunday.
More travel in the coming week.
After thought - Lush green fields of paddy(revelation!) Always thought Punjab was the land of only wheat and corn and mustard...kitni choti sooch hai apni...ofcourse, sugarcane, corn....harvesting season of rice is in October and then they sow wheat...got all this info thanks to Barinder (my cab driver)

Travel experiences

Travelling to Chandigarh...
Bad start to the day....the cab I hired left without informing me because the waiting time of 15 mins was over....had to take a rickshaw....vented out all my anger at the meru cabs service agent...
Reached airport well in time...quite early in fact....flight delayed....so here I am...blogging...I tried checking my lotus notes....server not responding....
Have to travel to Khanna from Chandigarh and my meeting was scheduled at 14:00 hrs.....have to postpone it now...which means extend late into the evening....which means come back to Chandigarh late night.....
Wonder what more surprises the day has in store.....atleast I have my Ipod and Ruskin Bond and the internet to keep me company....thank god for technology!

Whiling away time at work

We have these amazing characters at work...people who have all the time in the world to have meetings, discuss stuff but without any result.
I always end up caught in such meetings where all the time there is only a lot of talk about doing this, that, doing this way, that way etc and the end result is zilch!
You ask me why does it bother you so much??? Simply because these meetings are relevant to the work that i do and at the end of the day if my time and resources are being used up with no results being achieved...hell...I can atleast voice it out? I still have to deliver what I am supposed to deliver...irrespective of whether the department on whom my deliverables depend do it or not! I have to create my backup plan just in case of contingencies!
How can people take the liberty of wasting not just their time but also other people's?

If all questions had answers, I'd be damned and doomed!

Sycophancy

Toadying, kowtowing, flattery, becoming...call it by whatever name - this is one of the disgusting practices in the corporate culture.For people who try to work hard, work right, work ethically, the entire concept of kowtowing is alien - its something which cannot be understood...how can an individual stoop so low that he/she compromises on their dignity??To what level would a person go to satisfy the boss?The practice is so rampant at every level that it becomes unbearable beyond a point.
I find it difficult to work in circumstances such as these. The earlier years in Sales at the regional level was simple, easier to handle. Your performance was measured completely on the targets set and the numbers achieved.At the corporate level factors like does your boss like you, do you do things to please him/her....what the heck!!!! Performance completely takes a back seat.It doesn't even matter the amount of work you do, even when the results are evident for all to see. All that matters is do you suck up to your boss? If no, then too bad...you lose out in the rat race....you don't even qualify to participate forget about taking the laurels.
I wonder at times, if i have to learn the art? or science?? of Sychophancy and then better sense prevails....atleast I know am doing the right thing each time I look at myself, talk to myself and weigh things in perspective.I know I can stand up and fight against all odds - even if it means losing your job.