One thing which I find really hard to guess is the age of whites. People either look very young for their age, or vice versa. Almost every other person having blond hair makes it almost impossible to figure out whose gone grey over the head. But one can never mistake the creased skin, a slightly shaky voice and a drooped posture. I was to meet such a person who happens to be my Home Letting Agent.

The old man immediately reminded me of my grandad. Not that he even remotely resembled my grandad, but probably because of his age. I had to fill up some papers, and once I was done with that, he looked into it and asked me "Why do Indian names seem to have almost all the 26 alphabets in their names and why is it so complex to pronounce?". Just as I was about to reply him with a sneer, there was a distraction in the form of my mobile. (Mobiles are not just the best saviours). It was my friend's mom enquiring if her daughter was out with me. My limited knowledge of Hindi and her limited knowledge of English, forced me into Hinglish.

And this seems to have amused our old man. In a mocking tone he asked me "Why do Indians mix English words with ANY language that they speak?". I replied curtly "We don't speak the SAME language with 100 different tongue twisting accents throughout the country.. we have more than 25 languages... and not all of us are familiar with so many languages...". A person blind as a bat would have understood better that the talk was infuriating me. But the old man was absolutely relentless. It looked like he had a dozen more such similar queries... And since I did not have all the time in the world to spare, I just finished the work that I had there and pushed off.

The other day, my friend had to hear the comment " That's so very Indian!" when she casually told someone that she was caught in the rain unawares, as she didn't check the forecast that morning.

Some attitudes seldom change. I'm only glad that not all have this attitude. There are people all over the world, who have the sense to understand and appreciate the good things in other countries, or atleast keep their attitudes to themselves....

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ps : On a totally different note, can someone tell me how to disable m2m?

It looked like just another weekday... Typical January weather, quite cold, yet not so dull and damp as it was in December... Wrapping myself warm, I head towards the nearest tube station, at around 8.30 am. I buy a daily in the stationery mart and wait for the train.... 8.57 am my train arrives... Thanking the prompt services for the nth time (one of the things which I adore here)  I board the train... As it was quite warm inside, I take off my gloves and start reading the paper... And what do I see ?? rather what do I NOT SEE?? no, nothing to do with the paper, but my favourite bracelet is missing from my wrist !!

It was just the SECOND time I wore it afterall! Dismayed, I bend to search below the seats, within my gloves, or maybe I slipped it into my handbag to wear it later?? I frantically look around.... Realiation dawned in me, that I was succeeding in nothing, but attracting quizzical glances from everyone around... Not to mention, I was the only "coloured skin" in the compartment..... Before someone could mistake me for a terrorist (or something of that sort) I decide to shut up and sit quietly...

But who could control the poor mind!! I started racking my brains.... probably I had not worn it at all, and it was lying on my dressing table? or even if is lost somewhere in the train, why do I have to worry about  a thing which seems lost now! It wasn't all that expensive, but it was lovingly bought for me from the newly opened flamboyant shop nearby... a nice little bracelet with black crystals and white pearls alternating each other! I make up my mind that I wouldn't bother about trivial things in life, when there are loads to think and do.... 

At around 6.00 pm I walk back from the station to my house..... I unlock the door, and as usual find some correspondece and flyers from Pizza GoGo. Irritated (as these pizza people drop in such pamphlets twice every week) I pick it up to throw it in the bin, And what do I see there below ?! My bracelet adorning the carpet!! Its indeed funny and inexpressible how such small happenings could bring a smile and make one even write a diary like this !!  But I simply LOVE it when I lose something only to gain it back later!

Story doesn't end here, my friends... I do not even have second thoughts on what would be for dinner that night, as I very excitedly call up Pizza GoGo and place an order... :D.....Not a sense of gratitude or something similar, but just like that....

Please Note : Photo attached is not that of my bracelet.

I am generally very possessive about some selective movie songs, although I've not composed them :p.....

The lyricist may have give SO much thought and effort before penning down a song... It may have not been an easy task for the director/producer to get what they expect from the lyricist... same holds good for the music director.... He is the one who gives life to the lyrics, in the form of his tunes... He may have spent HOURS together to actually get the singer sing in the exact pitch and tune which he has in mind... And a perfectly made song would help one reminisce some instances in their life.....

And what happens now? Some of today's music composers murder the song in the name of remix... I have only one question... and I think its a sane one.. Why wouldn't such people take up a song which was less popular and do their mixing and remixing to make a HIT out of it??? Why do they have to ruin a popular peppy number from the 80s and ruin the whole song ?

One thing I'm not sure of is if permission is required from the original composer for remixing his./her songs... What is more hurting is Yuvan Shakar Raja, spoiling his dad's (Ilayaraja's) works in this way...

What is happening in the name of remix is :
1.The opening tune is unaltered...
2. 4 or 5 lines in English are thrown in here and there, absolutely irrelevant ones at that.
3. The director of the movie makes sure that the situation / scene in which the song would appear is ABSOLUTELY incongruous...
4. The choreography of the original song may have been like some morning warming-up exercise... But the same in the remixed version would be no better... (making sure that not only ther viewer's ears but also his eyes pain sickeningly)

Recent murder which I witnessed was of the song "Madai Thiranthu.." from Nizhalgal...I am sure Ilayaraj's ears would have sored like hell...  And I'm sure its slowly becoming the in-thing in many other languages too...

Very few remixed versions match/supersede the original.

Anyone interested can watch the original song "Engeyum Eppothum" in which Kamal & Rajini have acted : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=9RjgxnK50oA
and the horrendous remix in which Rajni's son-in law Dhanush has acted : http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=qWQwsO5BdpQ&NR=1 

NOTE : This post is with reference to songs which spoil the original.

It was the month of May and mercury levels were soaring as usual... I had just completed my 8th std., and as was my custom, marking "v.good!" and "keep it up!" in all my brother's and my own notebooks.... 

During the summer hols, I somehow developed the weird habit of having Halls mentho lyptus (the plain one) v.frequently...  I used to have atleast 15 (minimum) everyday, stealthily.... With both parents working and elder brother busy playing cricket with his friends, it wasn't all that hard to hide this habit... 

BUT.... Being the typical Big Brother that my bro was, he found out my obssession... He first advised, then warned, then threatened me to stop gulping  down the damn thing in huge quantities...  Being the ruthless teenager that I was, I didn't relent... I knew he wouldn't dare complain to elders as I had a list of his mischiefs ready to report :D.

So what did he do? He bought the full box of Halls from the nearby shop, and forcefully made me have two at a time, till I almost choked and yelled out that I couldn't stand the smell of Halls... 

End of story. Haven't tasted it since then. 

Can we call this "carrot and stick" approach?

   

This is to be read in continuation with my LG m/w review (lol)
Utensils : The best brands that would be suitable for using in a m/w are Borosil and Cutting Edge. I usually prefer to use yellow coloured vessels (though they don't look tht pretty) as we Indians use turmeric in most of our cooking, and i/o staining the vessel yelow its better to use the yellow coloured plate/bowl in the first place!! And its always advisable to use gloves when handling the m/w.
Testing : You may have been gifted by someone with m/w compatible vessels. If ur doubtful, u can always check how safe the vessel is buy filling it with water and running it in the m/w for say few seconds. The water shd get heated but the vessel shdn't. This is very important.
Now time for quick tips :-
(Temperatures  shd be adjusted acc.to the brand used)
Let me start with sweets first.
1. Kheer:I have prepared semia and carrot kheer in m/w. For semia just coat the container with ghee spread semia and allow it to get fried in m/w for a minute. Then add milk and allow semia to get cooked in the milk. (sugar to be added AFTER taking it out of the m/w). Same procedure for carrot kheer, except that initially u hv to cook the carrot in li'l water and then grind it in the mixer, add milk and allow the same to cook in m/w, then add sugar after removing from m/w. Cashew, eliachi powder and raisins can be used for garnishing and cahsews, raisins can be placed in a greased plate and roasted in the m/w.
2. Carrot Halwa (Gajar ka Halwa in Hindi??): This was the first thing I prepared I guess in the m/w. Grate carrots, mix powdered sugar and elaichi add milk little by little while it gets cooked in the m/w. Foer best results, the mixture shd be tken out from the m/w once in few minutes and nicely mixed with a ladle/spoon. This would ensure uniform cooking thru'out.
Now for some snacks:
Well, acc. to me for crispy snacks m/w is not the solution. I wouldn't venture out cooking pakoras in a m/w.
1. French Fries:Cut potatoes in the shape of FF. Coat them with salt, mirchi powder, asafoetida, haldi. Apply  oil (slightly-I applied in excess and the thing started burning) and keep it in the m/w. In 5 minutes, u get not so crispy, but v.nice stomach friendly FF.
2. Stuffed bitter gourd/capsicum/Brinjal : Slit the veggies, fill it up with powdered cumin and corriander, salt, crushed pepper, turmeric and asafoetida. (u may wannt to add little jaggery for bitter gourd to ward off the bitter taste). Drizzle little oil and m/w the same till they become tender. The colour of the veggies will be retained and the taste would be much better than hob cooking. 
addnl
For preparing sambhar/rasam, the best way to extract tamarind water is to m./w the same for a minute.
To be continued later........

Just wanted to watch this movie, as I don't intend to re-read the book in the immediate future.. The strong emotions and charm of the book is not captured well in the movie... Movie is a bland version of the novel.. Ofcourse, the limited time of approx 2 hrs isn't enough to capture the essence of the book in its totality...

The kids have acted well, but my fave in the movie was the dad character... In the latter half, (in US where he falls sick) his acting is just as how one would expect it to be while reading the book. Even the lady who plays Soraya was apt for the role...

The narration and hard hitting lines in the book, are way too impactful, but all charm is lost as only some parts of the movie is in English... (dialogues straight from the book)

The struggles to get a visa for Hassan's kid, Soraya-Amir's ordeal to get a child are totally omitted in the movie, and these were pretty significant ones,.
 
Lastly, Afghanistan looks beautiful!! And this is the one thing I inferred from the movie and not from the book...

I have stopped thinking WHY ms has changed... And stopped getting over excited too..Now its the next level... Maine optimum utilisation of existing resource karne ki decision le li.... 

Isliye Bhaiyo aur Behno...meri rashtra bhasha ko improve karne ke liye, har kisi ki diary main, aajse Hindi  main hi likhoongi.Kisiko problem hai to, adjust karo..... Ho saktha hai tho mishtakes ko correct bhi karo reply main.

Dhanyavad.


  

At exactly 7.30 pm GMT, I plan to pen my thoughts in the OPEN diary:) My typing speed has increased remarkably!! how?? My dear friend, it is 3 deg c outside, and heaters aren't working at home, and my fingers are trembling :(

Thank you MS for giving me a chance to ramble in diaries (also).

enuffff for now.