nostalgia ... and a whole lot of drunkenness

4 months since we finished MBA, 4 months since the noise of the hostel, the constant chatter of people around, the bad food we ran away from to take solace in Hot n Cool maggi and satkar parathas ... So what happens when some friends come back to the city for a weekend; the weekend turns out superb..

P came from 'the pind' and V from chennai.. Wanted K to be there, missed her tons... For V n i the weekend was like any other in college; waiting for a plan to be made and then the rain... "the never failing to arrive when we don't want it" Bangalore rain, the many, many change of plans and the on going discussion about where to go while S drove towards one place... And then we land up where Pig told us to go... Saturday night with awesome music and the even better liquid diet :D ... Ms K : very upset you weren't there

How quickly the saturday went past and i woke up the next day with a bad back and a fairly dirty living room... Bottles and kurkure packets under the sofa and kurkure dust everywhere...

I didn't remember how the night ended really; but the snaps spoke for themselves :D

Waiting for the next one !!!

when a candle blows out...

On my weekend grocery shopping trip, I happened to pass by the home decor section of the mall and there stood some of the most exquisite candles i have seen... it got me thinking...

Have you wondered about the relation between candles and people ?? Here's my thought - For me every person in my life is like a candle.. Like a candle, they give out light and brighten my life; the same way a candle brightens a room. They could be acquaintances, like the regular white candles which we usually ignore but dig out when the power goes out... Allow me to reiterate; while they may look ordinary, but they help dispel the darkness we hate. Doesn't that remind of those numerous people we have in our lives, we may not call them friends, relatives, close ones or any such label but they have the solution when you are in the dark !!!

While I more than appreciate those, I want to stress on the other category; the 'scented candles' - Yes, those that not only bring light but also a beautiful fragrance into our lives. They adorn every aspect of our life, beautifying it with their artistic shapes, vibrant colors and pleasing aroma -  I call them my family, friends and close ones. I would hate losing any one of them, but they do blow out sometime..

I felt the pinch of losing one very recently, the candle being one of my reasons for existence. The candle stood out in my life, its shape being the model for me to shape my life, its light soothing me, shadowing me quietly while I was unaware but showing me the light whenever I needed...

How does it matter that the candle was separated from me in geography through my life and now eternally, its presence is and always will be felt very strongly in my life. My eyes are filled with my last sight of this candle, flickering as if sad to see me go but still burning brightly as if to say "I am proud of you and I am always here to show you the light".

Thank you my dear candle , how I shall miss you !

...and then i lit the fire !!!

While this experience may have come in much earlier into the lives of most ppl, i am unfortunately a late starter... It was fascinating to watch it being done and the exotic results it produced; not to mention unbelievably delicious..

In the past 10 days my boredom with eating out and my dabbawalla's khana started to increase; Not to mention the amount i spent on eating out was burning a nice hole in my pocket.. My craving for Mc Donalds, Subway and all the rest started to decline, how much i wanted a nice dal, veggies and rice.. So at the start of the week, after quick consultation n very little deliberation my kitchen has a stove, gas cylinder, spices, basic vessels and vegetables... Woo hoo !!! Now the million dollar question ... what to cook, rather how to cook ???

Luckily i got help, awesome help that helped me turned simple ingredients [ and a bird ;) ] to a meal i will be very proud of for a long time...

But the basic process is what should be mastered. The cutting of the onions, those damn onions, who says they should be there in every dish ?? Two onions cut and the tears wouldn't stop... there i was trying to cut the onions properly, trying to protect and fingers from being cut and battling my oh so many tears.. then the chicken resting soundly under the marinate of curd and spices... we start to make the gravy... the flurry of onions & tomatoes, several masalas ( chilli, turmeric, garam and dhaniya - yes i know the names and even how they look ), salt and meat masala... Mix,mix,mix & stir, stir, stir vigorously of course else it will start to burn...

But the battle is not with the dish on one burner; the second sitting silently, like the calm before the storm is the rice; the rice that i know if not dealt with correctly will burn.. So one begins cleaning it and then bringing the water to a boil before letting the rice in... i cover the rice leaving just a tiny outlet and let it simmer...

The chicken is mixed into the gravy and again we are again to stir stir stir... eyes on the rice too.. its like watching a tennis match; eyes keep dashing from one side of the stove to another... Keep checking on the rice and finally the wildly vibrating cover of the rice dish screaming out that the dish is done.. my chicken also releasing a wonderful aroma... i turn off the gas and breathe normally again....

I just cooked my first meal !!!!! Bon Appetit !!!