Burnt smells

I have a burnt smell stuck inside my microwave.
Once I had burnt popcorn, then once I had some dry rice which was charred.

I am sure there are no particles stuck anywhere.

I tried all the stuff possible. Soap Water, Baking Soda, Synthetic Vinegar. And also bought a cleaning solution.

No avail.

When I open the microwave, I am hit with this blast of burnt food smell.

Throwing the machine is not an option. Need some help.

Will try all the options again this weekend and see again. Maybe once is not enough.

The machine is heavy. Its an old one with all features - oven, grill, micro, combination - all the works. So I cant lift it, scrub it. It has to be where it is, and then has to be cleaned.

Need ideas.

Cooking Spinach

When I got home, Dad told me he had boiled the taro (arbi/ kochu) and peeled it. I cut some daikon radishes and a big brinjal.
Then in some mustard oil, fried the radishes, then the brinjal, then added washed spinach and then the boiled arbi.
Not instantly. Five minute gaps between each vegetable.
And the oil had a dry chilly and cumin in it, before the veggies had been added.
After salt and turmeric, the pot was boiling.

I thought, time to relax and watch TV. Got a call from US.

They wanted a document approved. So logged in between cooking to  'approve' and then back to kitchen.

So rice and the veggies.

And for lunch yesterday I had some mutton biriyani. Home cooked. A muslim lady at work had brought Idd special biriyani.

I prefer the Lucknow Biryani. The Avadhi one. Not the Hyderabadi one.

And for the people in Kolkata, When Wajid Ali Shah was in Kolkata, meat was scarce. He was poor and in exile. But still had his staff with him. So from the Lucknow Biriyani, out went a bit of the meat and in came eggs and potatoes. And the Kolkata Biryani was born.

The Lucknow Biryani is lighter. Here I wonder if it is Biryani or a Pulao / Pilaf that I am having. Its all mixed up.

Anyway, to each his own. The next time I am in Delhi, I need to get some biryani from Old Delhi. And some paranthas and chole bhature.

Mouth Watering. 

Digital India Profile Picture

So I added a Digital India Profile picture. Just for Fun. And I am getting messages from people who are telling me its not a good thing to do.
Digital India should be the last thing. We need to become economically sound etc etc

Who cares - After all I do not take Facebook seriously. Its for Fun. Can you take fun seriously?

Parathas and Dal

Yesterday I tried something that worked.

I had made the dough with flour to make chapatis. I had initially planned to have the maid make the dough, but I eventually made it myself, on Saturday. The dough was sticky.

Sunday the maid had taken a day off. So I decided to make the chapatis. The dough was still sticky, so I added some flour to re knead the dough.

Rolling the dough is tough and that is something I am not able to manage. So I thought I will try the Roti Maker.
This gadget was bought years back and is rarely used. I tried it. Put the dough between the plates, pressed the plates, and then a small noise and the dough had broken apart.

So rotis from roti maker was set apart.

Plan B. Use the machine to roll the dough. I switched off the machine. Let it cool a bit and then tried again. No noise and it was rolled out in a circle. So out came the girdle and then instead of rotis and made a nice batch of parathas.

I had some chana that I had boiled with some garam masala and tomatoes. So for brunch it was the beans and parathas. And pickle to go along.

In the evening I made urad dal. I boiled the dal in the cooker (normally I do not use the pressure cooker, but because I had made the chola earlier and the cooker was out, I tried that).

So dal, giner (grated), salt, turmeric, fennel seeds and pui stalks were boiled. When the dal was done, added the pui leaves.

So for dinner , rice, dal and egg curry. Dessert was chocolate.

Power Playing Havoc

Power is creating heavy issues in Whitefield. Because 99% of the people are here are IT folks, it is assumed that no one will be home on weekdays so from 9AM to 5PM there are power cuts.
And last night we have intermittent power cuts.
Off and On.

I may need to buy an inverter soon.

Trying a Selfie

Not something I do. Just tried one.

Adding a picture.

The ceiling of the Kolkata Airport.

Current state of my ginger

The ginger plants are getting big.
A few died. A few there.
Fighting. Surviving.

Then there is this one. The old one.

Lazy Day

So lazy that I started watching American Horror Story Season 01, but just did not feel like watching it. So still hopeful of catching up on a few episodes. Maybe tomorrow.

The weather was also that laziness kind of. Rain since last night.  In the drizzle was out in the market.
Then Bangalore Bandh.  So no shops open. I bought some saag from a pavement guy. Spinach. Pui. Corriander.  Mint. And Drumsticks leaves.
The chicken shop was open. And there instead if chicken, got some liver and cooked that.
Lunch was muri and peanuts.  Dinner,  rice and chicken liver. Dessert was ice cream.

Busy Bad Day

And I was thinking Fridays are nice. Bad time for the company. Everywhere in the news. Tough times ahead.

Another Ekadashi

Today is Ekadashi.

Fruity breakfast in the morning, watermelons and bananas and sweetened yogurt.

Probably fruits for lunch and evening, lets see when I get home.

Animals I met on Monday :-)

In my trip on Monday, I came across three different species of animals.

The first one, a group of dogs who suddenly thought I was very friendly. They were up on me, sniffing, licking.

The second was this. Not sure if it is a rabbit or a hare. How do you distinguish. It was a wild animal, in a garden, sniffing around. People around were telling kids to just watch but not touch it.

The third was a mouse. This mouse was running around in an airport, checking each departure gate. It kept me amused. I wish I could have taken a picture.

Tiring Day

I had gone to sleep Tuesday 2:30AM, and was up at 7:30 for work.
Was not having the best day at work.

Reached home around 7:30PM and kitchen duties started.

Some boiled potatoes were mashed. Added to that, some potatoes from an existing curry. Mashed all that with some salt, cumin powder and chilly powder. Stuffed some capsicums with that. Added some cheese.
Microwaved for 10 minutes.

Did not taste that. Kept it in the fridge for Dad to taste today.

Fried some ladyfingers (okra/ bhindi) and had that with some rice and dal.

For dessert, had some chocolate chip ice cream. I get the Amul Chocolate chip ice cream here. Its not too sweet, the dark chocolate adds a bitterish taste, make for a nice dessert.

And back at work this morning. Have a busy day this week. Usually I get off at 4 on Fridays but this Friday I may have to stretch till 8. Lets see.

Tiring Day today

I left home at 4AM Monday and got back at 2AM Tuesday. On the road for nearly 24 hours.

And I am back at work today.

And I am TIRED.

One day Off

I will off the blog for a day. Should be back the day after to write back.

A walk down memory lane - Barbecue Nation

Just wanted to mention this particular one. Maybe after talking about and visiting Burger King, this was something going in my head.


I remember this day. We had to drop off some one at the airport. This was not Delhi or Kolkata. It was an unknown city (No, not Bangalore). We were there for the first time. And we had car to the disposal.

We (me and my parents) dropped this gentleman off and then Mom wanted to go to KFC.
Asked the driver if knew of a KFC. He said he did.

He brought us to a building that had a few restaurants. One of them was KFC.
I spotted the Barbecue Nation.

Told my parents to follow me.

Parents were not too sure what to expect.

The ambiance was good. Not too many people.  We got a corner table.

Food kept coming and we kept eating. After that when my Mom said she was full, I said this is just the beginning - the starters. The main course and dessert start now.

So reluctantly all got off, to get some get food.

We left the place happy and satisfied.

Many times in the city we had visited the place. Durga Puja time was special - unlimited hilsa fish.

Now I think back and with numb eyes think of the days gone by.

Not sure if my mom would have liked Absolute Barbecue in Bangalore. That has Rabbit, Shark and Emu in the starters.

Probably will take Dad there one day.

Burnt Popcorn and Light Dinner

Thought of making popcorn in the microwave. I set it to 10 mins and it popped away. Slight smell was there. I should have stopped then.
I let the bowl be in the oven and moved away from sometime. Everything was charred. And smoky.
So had to throw all out and then do another lot of popcorn. That came out well.

The whoppers for lunch had killed the appetite. So for dinner it was popcorn, tomato sandwiches and watermelon.

Nice dinner.

Tryst with Burger King

Hmm - not really a tryst. In the sense, when I got this morning I had no clue I would be going out, for a burger.
It was around 11 AM, and Dad was talking about Big Bazar and I said I will take you to one.
The maid was there and my phone battery was crying.
So I charged my phone for an hour and then off we went.

I initially wanted to call a OLA / UBER which i why I needed my phone. Dad said lets try an auto. Cool, so I walked out till the main road.

Right outside was an auto. I asked him how much for Phoenix. He said 150. I walked off. Then he called me, said 100. Agreeing, off we went.

This was the first time Dad was going to Phoenix. And for me, I had been there before, but never inside shopping. The last times I was there, was in Chillies, for some office sponsored drink and dinners.
 Downstairs was Big Bazaar , on Level 2 was Burger King.

Dad was not keen on eating in Burger King. So I decided we will roam around the mall, and in the end will go to Burger King, pack up stuff and bring it home.

Big Bazaar was in LG, Lower Ground. Walked in and through the Fashion Bazaar , into Food Bazaar. Found some radishes there. The types that I used to see in Delhi. The Big Fat ones. Bought those and some other stuff and came out.

Then elevator to second floor.

There is something I will never forget about Burger King. That is what had happened there with a friend and me, in Singapore. We had ordered a Cheese Burger each. My friend, a pucca pundit (Sharma) and that too on a Tuesday (that was a tuesday) was not going to touch any non vegetarian food. We thought a cheese burger was a cheese sandwich. A bite into our 'veggie' burgers and I said its some meat, but its good. The guy with me wasn't too sure. He had a bite and then said Chicken. He had a bite more and realizing it was a Tuesday, he left the burger. While I going out I asked the people at the counter. They said it was 100% beef, with extra cheese. So much for religion and Tuesday.
Another thing I wont forget about Burger King. The Onion Rings and the Turkey Sandwich. Soft Turkey and oozing half boiled egg in a burger bug. The lovely Onions Rings. Crispy. That taste still lingering in my mouth. Watering mouth while I type.

I ordered one Double Mutton Whopper , two Chicken Whoppers , Onion Rings and Fries. On the way out I thought of Ola, but decided to try the auto first. They started with 200 and one gguy agreed to 130. So we came home.

And this is what my order contained - 2 Double Mutton Whoppers, one chicken Whopper, 2 Onion Rings, 1 fries and 1 Veg stips. I got more than what I paid more.

Burger King will always be memorable.

Cooking something different

I was trying to be innovative and inventive. And also trying to clean out the veggies in the fridge.

So here is what I did.

1. I boiled some plantains (raw bananas) and potatoes. 

2. The boiled veggies were mashed with some salt, grated ginger and some gram flour (besan).

3. Formed small balls, drizzled some oil and put them in the oven. The reason why I put them in the oven was not from the healthy point of view, but frying them takes time and I wanted to reduce that. So 200C for 20 minutes, and electricity went off. So few more minutes afterwards.

4. When the oven work was going on, got some chopped onions, chopped jhinga (ridged gourd) and grated some ginger.

5. In a pan, added the onion, ginger and then the spices and then the chopped vegetable.

6. When it was nearly cooked, added the baked balls in the gravy.

7. Let that boil for 10 minutes and then switched off the gas.

A new dish ready.

Had this for dinner, along with some chicken and rice.

Dad found some good rasgullas in the neighboring Kanti Sweets. So had that for dessert. 

Nice meal.

And for lunch, I had this big bowl of moong sprouts which I just boiled up and had that. Dad is not too keen on that, but he was fine.

He had a nap, and I watched a few episodes of SCREAM.  

Empty Office

I had expected this. When a Thursday is a day off, and you come back on Friday, you should not expect anything else. People working from home.

I had some work so came over. Will be here the whole day.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi

Thinking of these two songs a lot.
 

Then again there is there Rafi number from years back

And finally the aarti song

Thanks Kousik for bringing this up.

Yes - I did miss out a lovely song

Just relax Day

Today is one of those days. A day in the middle of the week, which is an off day.
But then last night I went to sleep at 1AM (because today was off) and got up at 6:30 because that is how my body clock is tuned now.

Quiet day. I thought there would be some noise, but nothing. No Ganesh celebrations around.
Outside in the temples, yes, but no community worship here.

Saw an episode of SCREAM (MTV) and a Zee Bangla original Bonolota.

Bonolota was not impressive. Seen many movies of that kind. A horror film need to scare you, so to put scares - atmosphere and good actors are needed.Story was fine but the rest - naah.

I will stick to SCREAM for now.

Holiday Eve

I should be happy today. Not sure if I am really though. Tomorrow is a holiday. Friday will be a minimal attendance at work. Next week is very busy week.
Today is a 9AM - 8PM work day.
If I just look at how my day is, today, the light in the shining armor is a Chinese lunch in the afternoon, planned by my team.
A busy day till 8PM.
And then tomorrow, Ganesh Chaturthi, is a holiday.

Less traffic on the road today. And that is definitely something to talk about about.

Cooking a pile of greens

Last night I had a challenge. I had 4 big bundles of greens (Amaranthus) that needed to be cooked.
Greens may not be right term. There was mixture of red and green. What we call Lal shaak and Notay shaak in bengali, or Cholai in Hindi.
The 4 bundles were two big panfuls when I started off. I added a chopped brinjal in that.
Simple. Heated oil. Added the chopped brinjal, Then slowly put some greens, and pushed it down. Waited for a few minutes, then another lot. Kept doing that , till the big lot was taken in. All this when the flame was at the lowest.
After about 10 minutes, I removed the cover and tried to mix around the greens. It was still not soft. So added some salt and let it stay for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes it had let off some water, so I got a big ladle and tried to mix around the greens.
Success.
Then covered again.
This process kept going till the volume had subsided a lot.
After that it was simple.
Finally I was left with bowl full of cooked greens.

Had that with moong dal and rice.

Bummer :-(

I have a meeting that starts at 8AM tomorrow. So early work day tomorrow.
And I have a meeting that ends at 8PM today. I have to finish this, and then get going - go home, cook and then be back early tomorrow.

I think I have seen better days.

Revisiting the Zoo

I have no clue where the Bangalore Zoo is, not sure if also exists (it should actually, all big cities have one).
This is a different zoo - a human zoo.

Years back, I had seen Satyajit Ray's Chiriyakhana. I remember Uttam Kumar as Byomkesh in the movie.
This weekend I saw another version of Chiriyakhana. This had Gaurab Chakraborty as Byomkesh. The youngest actor to have have played the detective, till date.

Ray's version had great acting and a good script but Ray deviated from the main story. This stuck to the plot of the book, but the acting / direction was not that great.

If Sunayana is said to be the master of make up, they should have tried their makeup / hair styling skills to give a different look to the actress. Adding Buck teeth did not really help Sampurna Lahiri (the actress playing Sunayana in the series) become a different character.

This was a nice afternoon watch.

Evening was another thriller watch. Jay Baba Rudranath. This also had a Ray connection.

This was a movie made by Anjan Dutta, paying a tribute to Satyajit Ray's Feluda.

It was nice, but not great. If one has seen/ read Jay Baba Felunath, then one can guess what is going to happen.

Need to watch out for good thrillers to watch over the weekend. 

Thanks Sansar

Actually its not Sansar that gets the final thanks. There are two different people / entities who deserve the thanks.
First - Sourabh. He told me he would find out where I could get the Puja Barshikis.
I had told many and like others I had thought he too had forgotten about this.

Friday night Sourabh pointed me to a Facebook group - Bengali Magazines in Bangalore. I had seen that group before. This time, I visited it again, and Friday night I posted a message in the group.

I got a message back - check in Sansar in AECS layout. I told them I had checked last weekend. They said new stocks had come and I should go and check again. I agreed.

Saturday morning when I went out with Dad I first checked in Sansar. Nothing in the racks. Then I went shopping. A few departmental stores later (MORE and MK Retail) I thought of going back to Sansar to buy Pitambari. Pitambari works very well on Brass and Copper, polishing them well. I was planning to clean up the brass Ganesha idols, so bought those.
Then, on the cash counter I found the magazines. AnandaMela, AnandaLok and Anandabajar Patrika.

YIPEE - My weekend was done.

Now Dad is reading them. Once hes done , I will start. HATYAPURI is there in Comic Form . Need to see that and the other writings, in AnandaMela.

Now wondering when SHUKTARA , NOBOKOLLOL, SANDESH and KISHORE BHARATI will be out. And DESH.

The last sum / Sesh Anka

In English that is what would be its closest translation. In Bengali it is Sesh Anka.
When I heard the name Sesh Anka , I was reminded of the 1950s English thriller Chase a Crooked Shadow, on which the 1960s Bengali movie Sesh Anka was based.

I remember the  Uttam Sharmila Sabitra starrer movie vividly. The 1960s movie had been produced by Kanan Devi and produced by her husband Haridas Bhattacharya. Uttam Kumar keeps telling the world that his wife is dead and Sabitri keeps insisting she is the wife.

Chase a Crooked Shadow has been remade many times.

When I came across the 2015 movie I thought another remake. Anyway Deepankar De, June Maliya, Sankar Chakraborty starrer and a good review in Times of India made me watch this.

When I started watching this, the first few minutes of a backless woman, and I was uncomfortable watching it with my dad.
Finally I though of watching it today.

As usual I was up early. So around 6AM I started watching Sesh Anka.

1. Its not a remake of the earlier namesake
2. Its a nice thriller
3. Not nail biting suspense but you keep guessing who the murderer is
4. Thank God there are no songs or dances. Actually there is a Usha Uthup song somewhere on the background.
5. Good actors.
6. Parno Mitra as usual had to smoke in this movie also.
7. Good to see Deepankar De in a substantial role
8. The reason why Payel takes drugs is stupid (Payel is a character, not the 'neka' Bengali actress)

Overall a nice movie to watch.

Need to think of ideas

I have capsicum, green plantains, brinjals, bhindi, bottle gourd and taro in the fridge along with some grated coconut. Need to think of something to cook.

And I forgot to add cauliflower and eggs to the list.

Lets see.

Meetings - Late Meetings

Had a meeting at work that was scheduled to end at 7:30 PM. That wrapped up at 8. Then had another at 9.
Went home so I could log in to the meeting at home.
Put rice and dal in the microwave and got in the call. Got a message saying meeting cancelled.

And back at 8 for Friday Morning meetings.

Its cloudy outside with a slight drizzle. Lovely. Wish I was outside getting wet and not inside in my cubicle.

Miss Reading

I am actually missing my reading. The feel of a paper book in my hand.
Life has changed and there are priorities.
But I miss the books.

And now specifically missing going out to pick up a Puja Barshiki. In Delhi , in my neighborhood, I can find these magazines, but nowhere in Whitefield.

Actually I do not even see any onsite portals for ordering these. I told my dad to talk to the newspaper guy, if he sees him. That is doubtful though.

Power Cuts and Traffic woes

Power Cuts are something that one has to get used to. Yesterday for 3 hours there was no power at home.
When I got home around 7:30 there was no power. Power came at 8.
I checked and saw my broadband down.
Called Airtel. They said because of power they were having an outage. They gave a 4 hours time within which broadband would be back.
Internet connection came at 10.

After power came, did a big load of laundry. Tried the Air Turbo method. Don't see any major difference with that.

Traffic in the mornings is bad. Today I came walking. Its better walking the 3 kilometers. At times when I take the AC Volvo, I see myself stationary in the bus, and people walking on the footpaths. If you can call that footpath. Dug up. Stony. And after 2 days of rain, muddy. But the walk is better. Today I beat the bus I thought I was planning to take. We both reached the Graphite Signal at the same time.

Last night did not cook anything. Leftovers in the fridge. So managed to finish something. Some stuff still left. 

Watching TV and cribbing

I was watching MY KITCHEN RULES on the new channel COLORS INFINITY this morning.
I do watch at times, flipping between Aaj Tak and this show around 7 AM, when I am getting ready for work.
There are two Asian ladies there in the show - Ashlee and Sophia. The way they talk - you would feel as if they were the best cooks on the planet.
And some of their comments are very racist. They talk about people as migrants in trucks. I wonder how they ended up in Australia.

And Hanuman. I want it to move fast. Let it come fast to the adult Hanuman scenario. Want to watch that. The 'cute' antics of Bal Hanuman is getting boring now.

This weekend I started watching a Bengali Movie SHESH ANKA. Supposed to be a good thriller. The movie started with a girl snorting coke. Then a bed scene.
My Dad looked at me.
I looked at him.
I switched back to something else.

This scene may have been the only scene there with backless women, but still not something very comfortable to watch with family. Let me see if I will watch it on TV, or later plugin it and watch it on computer. 

Uncooked cooking

Yesterday was Ekadashi. Which meant fasting.
By fasting, I am not talking about not eating anything at all.
And also not the kind of fasts some of the my friends have during the Navaratris, or Navratra as they call them.

The Navratra fasting is different. It is eating, and eating a lot. Probably a lot more than what you would have eaten on a normal day.

They start with Sabu dana vada and Sabu Dana khicdi. The soaked sago is mixed with mashed potatoes and roasted groundnuts, some chilly powder and some rock salt. This is then shallow fried.

The khichdi is similar, except the ingredients are fried individually in a pan or a work in hot oil.

Lunch is deep friend potatoes.

Evening is buck wheat parathas (they call it kuttu ka atta) and a potato curry.

This with fruits is fasting meal.

Mine was different.

Breakfast was fruits and yogurt.

Lunch was fruits and a milk shake. Actually I had asked for apple juice. Here juice means fruit and milk, mixed in a food processor. So an apple milk shake.

Even I had a green papaya salad. At home.
I chopped some green papaya - the raw papaya, little capsicum and a tomato. Added some lemon juice and salt.
It tasted nice.

Later dinner was 'sabu makha'. Sago soaked in water, mixed with mashed bananas, sugar, yogurt and some fresh shredded coconut.

Done with Ekadashi fasting.

Maid / Jhi....

In India all over, the maid woes continue. Its the same in Delhi, Kolkata and now here in Bangalore too.
The new maid is Bengali. Proper Bengali. Why the term Proper? That is because here in my complex there are these 'Bengali' maid who are actually Odia and pass themselves off as Bengalis. Not sure why they do that, I mean they could call themselves Odias too.

The colloquial term at home would be kajer lok, kaajer maashi or jhi , for the maid. I can understand the first. Not sure about the second. Because the maids come and call the mother of the house, Didi - maybe they became termed maashi , and the term kaajer was added to differentiate them the bllod relation - maashi, or the neighborhood maashi.

The third term - I have no clue. Bengali literature has mentioned daughters being referred to as Jhi. In similar texts, the son was referred to as Po. Terms like Thakurjhi is used nowadays - husband's sister. Not sure when the maid got termed as the daughter - Jhi.

Rains in Bangalore

It finally rained here. Started Sunday evening, rained through the night. Stopped in the day and started again at 4PM Monday.
I was quite drenched when I got home last evening.

Last evening was early dinner. Cooked some capsicum, with some bhindi and a brinjal. Along with that bhaja moong dal and rice. And chocolate for dessert.

Back to work today.

Another Ekadashi.

This itself is becoming doubtful. When in Ekadashi. As per the Hindi calendar and the calendar here, it says today - Tuesday 8th. The Bengali Calendar says 9th. Anyway, I had decided for Tuesday so I will do it today. And also for a big selfish reason, my team is planning a lunch tomorrow. So I can do my fasting today and have a nice lunch tomorrow.

Movie Watching and Blanket washing

The first thing. I did not end up watching anything over the weekend. I would have, if the maid had come and cleaned up , by 1 or 2 PM on Sunday. But then, she turned up at 5 PM. So I was just browsing the net, trying to see if there were any interesting movies, that could be added in my 'to watch' list.

Weekend I washed two blankets. I was a bit skeptical about washing them. But It turned out well. On Saturday a single blanket and on Sunday, a double blanket. The blankets being synthetic dry up fast. And washing them by hand in a big NO. They soak up so much water , that lifting them to wash, and the wringing them is a not a one person show.

So the machine what I cooudl not have done. Washing Machine Baba ki Jai.

Sunday - 6th Sap

Saturday night was Janamashtami. Saw the celebrations on TV, telecast live from the Mathura temple.
ISKCON was having a celebration close by in the night, but as Dad did not want to go, and I did not want to leave him alone in the night, I skipped that.
Sunday had the left over tacos for breakfast.
Big Basket came with their grocery. Then we went out. Hair cut for Dad and then medicine shop to buy some stuff. Got a call from the maid saying she would be late.
So we had lunch and got sorting out the house.
Maid came at 5PM.
Around 6:30, after a nice shower, got cooking for the day.
And around then it started raining. At times heavy.

Dad wanted to watch Indian Idol Finale. I told him Ananya had won, It was out on the net.

So after Indian Idol and dinner, went off to bed, dozing off to the sound of the rain outside.

Busy weekend?

Had a full weekend. I had a conf call at 6PM on Friday that I decided to take from home, so came home early. I just got into the meeting and electricity went off. Luckily I was on the phone and not sharing / seeing any presentation.

Then I decided to use the washing machine. This was the first time I was going to be using it. Till date, the old maid had been doing the washing. The current maid has said she will not wash clothes. So I had to work on the washing. Ok - the machine had to do it, and I had to monitor the machine.

The settings were a bit overwhelming. Too many knobs to play with. I started my R&D , playing with the settings till I very much knew what to do. So, in went the soiled clothes, and the detergent case got the soap powder.

In about 90 minutes I had nice wrung, clean, damp clothes which had to dried out. So the clothes were put out in the balcony. Friday night itself.

Saturday morning was a going out day. Around 10 AM, we and dad went out. First to ICICI bank where dad had to check something. Then Canara Bank and from there a bus to Kemp Fort.

Kemp Fort means Total Mall. And Total Mall means Gobindo Bhog rice. So got the rice, some groceries and came out. How to go back. After struggling with the OLA app for 20 minutes I managed to book a taxi. Why struggling? That was because inside the mall, I do not get mobile signal. So had to come out with the groceries.

Finally reached home around 3:30. Around 4 I decided to go and get some food. Wanted to let Dad try some tacos. So got some tacos, chalupas and some cheesy potatoes. This was our brunch. Maid came late and after she left around 6, electricity went off.

Electricity is causing issues nowadays. With hardly any rain, the city is falling short of power. This is causing load shedding. For our area, it is 6-7 AM, 10-11AM and 6-7 PM. Saturday I had been awakened at 6 by no power.

Anyway, Saturday evening, began cooking. Dal and Bindi and Brinjals. Actually Friday I had made the dal. I gave it some tempering (tadka) . The Bhindi was also there on Friday. Fried some green brinjals, mixed that with the bindi, and in addition cooked some brinjals  (alu beguner jhol). This and rice. For dessert, dark chocolate.

Lazy day

I have no plans for today. A lazy day. Big Basket grocery will come anytime.
Just finished watching DIL DHADAKNE DO . Mushy romantic movie.

Will watch something else in the afternoon. Lets see what.

Day of Love ??

Today, 6th September, at 2PM Venus comes in direct line with Earth.

Venus goes Direct on 6th September 2015

Love.

This is something I have wondered about. What is love all about?

Mutual understanding? Compromise? Sacrifices? Wanting to be with somebody? Fringing on people's personal spaces? Prying? Suspecting?

I wonder how many hearts I have broken till date. I remember three till date. That excludes family. I can remember two. One I am still in touch with. The other two, I hope they are happy wherever they are.

I have been very bad, whenever it came to love. I am not sure what I have wanted out of relationships. When I was studying, I suppose I was not ready. So two of them accounted for.

Getting married to wrong people has been my forte. Actually I should not use the term wrong. No one is wrong. The person was not right for me. The person has different expectation out of the relationship, and I have something else. We just assume that the other person meant something, Something that may not be correct.

Anyway, let Venus be there, helping people sort out their relationships stronger, let them be ever lasting. For me, if I can get on a time machine, I may be able to make some changes.

Jai Kanhaiyalal lki

Saw the live telecast from the Mathura Krishnajanmasthan.
A wonderful experience.
You wait for the curtain to be pulled on, and at the hour of the midnight, with the conch shell being blown, the coming of Krishna is being announced.

Jai Kanhaiyalal ki.

Jai Yashodalal ki.

Bolloywood Krishna Songs

Krishna known to have 16 kala (16 characteristics).

There are many such sets of characteristics.

Here are the two :

Set 1

1) srih ----------------------------- Opulence 
2) bhuḥ ------------------- Land, Proporty 
3) kīrtih -------------------------------- Fame 
4) ila ------------------------ Communicator 
5) lila ------------------- Pleasure, pastime 
6) kantih ---------------- Radiance, Beauty 
7) vidya ----------------------- Kknowledge 
8) Vimala ---------------------Void of flaws 
9) Utkarsini --------------------- Motivator 
10) Jnana ---------------------------Wisdom 
11) Kriya -----------------------------Action 
12) Yoga ----------------------- Conjucator 
13) Prahvi --------------------------Humility 
14) Satya -------------------------------Truth 
15) Isana --------------------------------Lord 
16) Anugraha -----------Bestower of boon 

Set 2

The 16 kala’s are: (Note the maya here should be pronouced like mai, to get closer to the sanskrit pronunciation and meaning)

1) Anna Maya (with cereals)
2) Pranamaya (with breath)
3) Mano Maya (with mind)
4) Vigyanamaya (with knowledge)
5) Anandamaya (with joy)
6) Atishayini (With Peace) 
7) Viparinabhini (With Love)
Sankramini (With Creator)
9) Prabhavi (able to do seemingly impossible tasks)
10) Kunthini
11) Vikasini (विकासिन्j. great )
12) Maryadini (highly respected or with etiquette)
13) Sanhaladini (संह्लादिन् . cheering, a source of happiness) 
14) Ahladini (आह्लादिन् . causing joy or delight) 
15) Paripurna (complete knowledge of all forms of awakening)
16) Swarupavasthitha (swarup + awasthith = established in his real true self)

The link from Speaking Tree has a detailed description

16 Kala (Krishna)

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.