Essence of Janamashtami

Krishna was born in the darkness of the night, into the locked confines of a jail.
However, at the moment of His birth, all the guards fell asleep, the chains were broken and the barred doors gently opened.

Similarly, as soon as Krishna ( Chetna, Awareness ) takes birth in our hearts, all darkness ( Negativity ) fades.

All chains ( Ego, I, Me, Myself ) are broken.

And all prison doors we keep ourselves in ( Caste, Religion, Profession, Relations etc ) are opened.

And that is the real Message And Essence of Janmashtmi.

Happy Janmashthami.

And today on Janamshtami, salute to one of the biggest teachers.

Teachers Day and Janamashtami

*Pupil: I don't think I deserved zero on this test!
Teacher: I agree, but that's the lowest mark I could give you!

Happy Teachers Day. Birthday of Dr Radhakrishna.

And the birthday of Shri Krishna.

A beautiful song which I love and which Ma used to sing a lot

Just not feeling okay day

There are days when you don't just feel okay. Just feeling sick. Nothing specific. Was down the whole day.
So when I got home, I was actually dreading going into the kitchen.

Anyway, yesterday was simple. 2 cups of red lentils (masoor dal), 1/2 cup urad dal and 2 cups rice.
Put in a microwave with some green chillies and ample water, on 60% micro for 30 minutes.

Simple, no stirring meal.

And on TV, Hanuman was united with his family.

I just applied some Vicks and went off to sleep early. And am back at work today.

Bajrangbali and Radishes

"No Vajra will ever be able to touch you. Your body will become strong like a Vajra and hence forth you will also be know as Bajrangbali". These were Indra's words in the serial when I walked in last night.

The Bandh went off peacefully. Around 6 PM buses had started running on the roads.

And in TV, Hanuman got united with his family. Nice serial, but very dragged.

Saw the Sa re ga ma pa on Zee Bangla which was a homage to Mahanayak Uttam Kumar.

In between it was also had to cook.

Wanted to cook off the radishes. They had been in the fridge for many days. I thought there 2 radishes, there were 3 of them.

I grated them. Then the grated quantity was less, so I got 3 green brinjals from the fridge and chopped them too.

And I got some bori out . I was planning to fry the bori first and then start off, but I forgot. So, I actually heated up oil in the work, added cumin seeds, some slit green chilies and then realized the bori was unfried. So put the bori in the work.

I had fried bori, with fried cumin sticking on it, and most of the oil had been soaked in by the boris.

So more oil, and then went in the radishes. When the radishes were fried a bit, added salt, and the chopped brinjals. Then turmeric and covered the wok. On low heat, it cooked away.

After 10 mins, when the veggies were cooked, added the bori.

Done.

SO last night, some rice, last of the rajma and the radishes. And the remaining misti doi.

And after many days, microwave was not touched at all.

Will have to figure out something. Raw Bananas are in the fridge, with some bhindi and brinjals.

Bandh today

Experiencing a bandh today. My first in Bangalore.

Have seen many before in Kolkata, but never in Bangalore.

When I came in today, buses were not on the road.

At 11 we were called to tell that people who are in the 1PM shift should be asked to work from home.

At 12 we had an announcement not to leave the office premises, and we should also tell the team members.
People going out for lunch were told to use the office canteen.

For people who will be leaving at 5, decisions will be made, and transportation will be arranged.

So enjoying at work, with many empty desks around.

Update : The office announced that people will not leave office before 6PM. So people who leave around 5PM, will sit around till 6.

Yesterday

Was thinking of the Beatles song, Yesterday. I wish I could listen to it at work. Headphones are irritating. I want the slow music to play at my desk, while I work.

Anyway, I made something yesterday, which was a trial. I had heard of bhindi and karela being cooked together, but to experiment I added carrots.

I actually don't like carrots very much. And with too many bitter gourds being bought nowadays, I am loosing interest in that too. I told Dad today, in case he is going out for veggie shopping - it should be a no carrots and no karela. Anything else is fine.

With the bus trike today, the traffic is less on roads. I heard of people quarreling on roads, the protesters of the strike versus the private taxis and autos that are on the road.

Yesterday, my breakfast was out of ordinary. KFC chicken and Oats. A strange combination.

When bro was here last week, I had ordered a nice bunch of KFC fiery grilled chicken. You get the Friday special here, 50% off on delivery. So got that. And bro hardly ate much of that. I thought he would finish that off, but he did not. So, literally a pot full left.

So in the morning, with my Kellogs Oats (Pudina flavour) it was a few pieces of the chicken, lightly microwaved to warm it.

In the evening, it was the veggies cooked up. In the fridge, there were two karelas which I chopped up. One was near rotten, so good that I used up the vegetable in time. I chopped up the two carrots finely.
In a pan, oil was heated up, and in went some cumin seeds. When the seeds were dancing in the oil, I put in the veggies.
While they were cooking on low heat, I chopped up some bhindi and added that , along with salt and turmeric. And I let that fry.

Rice was made for a change on the stove. No microwaved rice. Rajma was heated up. And so were a few chicken pieces.

So it was rice, rajma , the cooked veggies and chicken.

And to end it , Mother Dairy Misti Doi.

Nice meal. 

One pot meal

Got home late. Around quarter to 9. Then got talking to Dad about a few things. Around 9:15 started thinking of cooking.
On TV, Hanuman is yet to born in the serial. Well, Maruti got struck by Indra and is brought back alive with a broken cheek. The name HANUMAN is yet to be given . Hanuman - the one with a broken cheek, 'Hanu'.
Had to think of a one pot meal. Which meant, think of something that can be done quickly , and less tensions and looking over the pot.
So got some clean moong dal. Washed and dried dal. About 2 cups.
Dry roasted the dal over a medium high flame, till the nutty flavor came through.
I chopped a brinjal into small pieces. This brinjal was good. Firm, solid and barely any seeds in it.
In a microwave safe bowl, added rice (gobindo bhog) - about 2 cups, the roasted dal, the cu vegetable, salt, turmeric and enough water.
Then put that in the microwave for 30 minutes on 60% Micro.
After 20 minutes, took the pan out, stirred it, added a little more water (it seemed a bit dry) and then 80% micro, for 15 minutes.
That was it.
Hot one pot meal with some ghee.
Tasted great.