Of Dreams...

America Calling... And here I go!

If you are reading this, say Aye!

Coffee Anecdote

Scene: (Charlie baking – Two and a half men)

Charlie: Not bad aye Jake. This tastes pretty good.

Jake: Yes, Uncle Charlie. You bake so well.

Charlie: I know. And those chefs on TV show off as though they are curing leprosy.

Me: hahaha so true!

I am not a cook. The kind of cooking I do, I don’t even need a kitchen. It’s really that bad. Not an exaggeration. Plain truth.

But baking. Let’s talk more about that. I am a sloth of the first order. I love coffee and hope that a cup of it magically comes to my hands every morning.

And one day, magic happened.  I felt like baking. A little finger running on the internet and I found a recipe. Coffee, I love. Cakes make me happy. So, coffee cake it is!

Did I forget to mention that I do not have an oven? Well, I don’t. I have been baking often these days and have fallen truly madly deeply in love with my Pressure Cooker.

To me, baking a cake is easier than preparing Maggi noodles and the fulfillment it gives is what I think people feel after childbirth. Okay, exaggeration there.

So buck up fellow sloths. Let’s bake a cake and make our hearts happy.

Tips: If you were me, a baby baker, I’d advise you to follow the recipe to a tee.

Beat in only one direction, ALWAYS. This is mandatory.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour/maida

1 tsp baking pwd

3/4 cup brown sugar or granulated white sugar

1/2 cup soft white butter (or a little lesser, say 1.4^th)

2 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup low fat milk

2 tbsps instant coffee powder (I prefer Nescafe Sunrise)

1 tbsp boiling water

1 tsp vanilla essence

Steps:

You could also refer to the following picture.

1.     Sieve 1 cup maida and 1 tsp baking powder, thrice. Finely.

2.     Add coffee powder to boiling water. Keep aside to cool.

3.     In a bowl, cream butter and sugar till smooth and creamy. You might feel that the butter is not enough. Trust me, it is. Cream as much as you can, add one egg at a time and beat till well combined. Add vanilla essence and coffee, mix well.

4.     Cover cooker with a plate and heat at full blast. Keep it on.

5.     Add the flour in three additions alternating with milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. Do not over beat, just mix till well combined. It might comes across as too thick, no problem. Keep beating and it will smooth out.

6.     Use butter to grease your baking pan. Be sure to spread out the butter thoroughly. Use sieve to sprinkle maida over the butter. Hold pan upside down and tap to ensure extra maida falls off.

7.     Pour batter into the greased and floured pan. Place inside the heated cooker and bake for 20 minutes on medium heat. It’s a good idea to open lid after 20 minutes and check if the cake is rising well.

8.     Close lid. Bake for 10 more minutes and check with tooth pick. If it comes out clean, feel good about yourself. If it doesn’t, bake for 5 more minutes and do so until the toothpick comes out clean.

9.     Remove from the cooker and cool for 15 minutes.

Cut apiece out and admire. As much as you want. Infact, you totally should. You just made an amazingly tasty coffee cake. Ta da!

Love, a little more everyday!

‘You have a “Bra” in your Sunsign’ – I said, trying to sound all funny.

‘Well, You have a “Sag” in yours’ – He said, straight-faced.

The Libran him had a face of achievement. The Sagittarian me could not stop laughing. We had finally found out the reason why we were meant to be together. I’d sag without his support. I really will. He’d have no purpose without me, he says. Perrrrfect! But, how did we get here?

2009. A random friend request on Facebook. I sent it to him. I don’t remember why. Maybe it was the smile. An appealing Scotland picture of a fully covered 25-something Indian boy. No, don’t look at me like that. I had no purpose in mind. It just happened.

2012. We are poles apart. Cliché, yes. At 25, I behave like 40. With 30 just a few days away he is still the hyperactive super enthusiastic child.

2009. When our eyes met, when I looked at him, when he smiled – nothing happened. Nothing at all. I could not bother any less. He was too drunk to care. We knew there was no point even flirting with each other. We were not meant to be. I friend-zoned him. He did that to me faster. Convenient!

And then he got married. An arranged marriage. I wished him all the best of luck.

2011. We fell in love.

Can love happen overnight? YES.

Does a broken marriage always have to be the man’s mistake? Should I refuse falling for him just because he has an unpleasant past? Should I deny him the attention he deserves? Should I give up on something I want so much?

NO. I picked NO to all the above and YES to him. And so continues the ongoing tale of my relationship with a once-upon-a-time married man.

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Written for: http://www.indiblogger.in/getpublished/

The Omnipresent & Omnipotent M word

As children, most of us grew up believing that our parents were born together and that’s why they are together. We never realized that something called ‘Marriage’ happened and they were tied together in a knot, and promised each other to live the way we know they do — together.
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As adolescents we realize what marriage is and wonder why it had to happen to our parents. When we see they are happy together, we know marriage is good. And when we see them fight, we are sure that marriage is the bitch there.

As adults, we are bound to hear a lot of that word. I am an adult now or so I was told and all I hear day and night is the M word. My mother who once thought that my plumpness was cuteness now suddenly thinks I should dance more or swim more or wash more clothes or do everything that takes to lose that extra 15 kgs. Why? Well, who will marry me otherwise? Marriage!

I always found enough food on the table and never bothered about that rocket science which went behind using raw materials and turning them to edible food. But now, I have to learn to cook. Why? Well, What will my mother-in-law think otherwise? What will my husband eat? Well, fair enough. Marriage, again!

I have to wear sarees more often (and not those awfully torn, superbly comfortable jeans), wear jewels (No, belly button ring doesn’t count), be less anti-social, more cordial to elders, smile more, talk less, and so on. Ah, marriage!

When you make a simple instant coffee for a friend’s mom, she grins and tells you, ‘Wah! you are ready for marriage!’ Your mother is already blushing with joy!

When all your batch mates start getting married one by one, please be assured that you will find a hyperventilating mom in your own house. 21 is ripe, 22 is looking out time, 23 is marriage time, but 24 is ancient/primitive/old. I am 24 and I already feel 80.

The situation in most of the houses where a poor 24 year old resides is pretty much the same. Mom’s are always checking out eligible bachelors, dad’s are running behind jogging hunks (yes, like the jeevansathi ad), uncles are ‘responsible’, aunt’s are networking… Phew!

The (could be) Perfect Job!

Haven’t you felt that a ‘perfect’ job is what you get when you die and go to heaven or some place that is not on earth? Well, join the club. My job seems the most exciting when I get my pay check and that feeling diminishes gradually just like the money in the check.

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A job is top priority for it pays for your bills and all your drinks. But workplace is important as well. To me, it’s almost as important as home. I spend a good 40 hours at work every week. Am sure all of us have wondered why we are sitting at our desks and doing what we do everyday, day in and day out. 

That inevitable feeling has been gnawing me for a while now. As a favor to myself I tried understanding about what is going wrong.

Thanks to the dead mute and the forever cold air-conditioners at work, a weird silence encompasses my brain (or something that’s there in the head) by the time 2 meager hours at work have passed. The real problem here is not the work, it’s the routine. I have this nokia music phone and a good 150 tracks on it. I keep listening to the same old songs everyday and now what happens is, I sing along with them and without a cue I continue singing the following song as well. I know the order of the songs by heart. This is what I mean when I say ‘routine’. Here’s what I put together for people who suffer like I do, a list of things that ll save you from a trauma that’s hiding round the corner of your workplace.

Spice up your life outside work: I often catch myself mindlessly doing my job while my actual mind is occupied thinking about something that had happened in the morning or something that will happen in the evening.

To have a good work life it is very important that you have a less taxing personal life. Then the ‘focus’ word magically happens to you and work becomes a lot more exciting! Am sure most of us have issues which cannot be sorted in a day or two. In that case, treat your workplace as the break you deserve everyday. Shed your issues while you enter the glass clad building and pick them up while you leave for home. This treatment really works wonders!

Avoid patterns, as much as you can: Patterns look nice only on papers and screens not in daily life. I wake up dot at 8.30, struggle on the bed till 8.45 and then there’s this Olympic race until I board the office vehicle which reaches the stop at dot 10 AM. After two years of this routine, I realized that I am turning into a wall clock.

What you can do to avoid this is, try waking up early on a few days. Say, 7.30. Go for a walk or leisurely prepare your lunch or breakfast, read or watch TV, etc. Go for a bath early and take your time to dress up. On another day, sleep until you feel like it. It’s ok to miss the office vehicle. Take the bus instead. Stay back longer at work. If you follow something today, ‘unfollow’ it tomorrow. Prevent any form of pattern. It’s horrible!

Do more, be more: Try and spread your wings wider at work. If you have been assigned with some work, do that and alongside do something more. Like, you could help a colleague who works on something different. You could learn a new tool. No, I am not aiming at career-building tips. I am more concerned with building one-self. You get to learn more, yes. At the same time it’s a fresh change from your mundane work.

Read, read and read: I have made this habit of reading a few of my favorite blogs. I have this list of 5 feel good blogs I look into everyday. It is not against work ethics! It makes you feel light and that definitely helps avoid a heavy head.

Write, write and write: Have a scribble pad with you or like me, a blog. I take 10 min break whenever I m overwhelmed with work and scribble something down there. Anything I feel like at that moment of time and guess what I have 22 people following me now. What started off as a personal rough page is now being read by people, little by little! It’s a great feeling and makes you a thinker from within.

Walk, walk and walk: Take a break and walk down the stairs and say a quick hello to the outside would. Vitamin D is good. Get as much of it as you can!

The right job: If none of this works and you can’t stop from being stressed and hating your job, maybe it’s a loud sign. Quit and further your career in a direction that interests you. Maybe you are a software engineer who is a better photographer; maybe you are a finance guy who is a kickass writer. There is nothing like getting paid for pursuing a passion. The market is big. Identify and go grab your passion. It will pay off in good time – moneywise and life wise.

Do you like him?

Yes.

Does he make you laugh?

Yes.

Does he care?

Yes.

More than you do?

Yes.

Does he make your life look good, in retrospective?

Yes.

Do you want to wake up to him every morning?

Yes.

Good for you.

Fattophobia - How to deal with it!

Doctor’s say, when you are depressed you tend to put on weight. But I say you are depressed because you are putting on weight!

Those who agree… say ‘AYE!’ Those who don’t are surely the ones who were born thin. Please stop reading this. It’s irrelevant to you. Ok, am just jealous.

Women/girls/even kids these days have one cold enemy they want to bash up at any point in their life. No, am not talking about men. It’s that annoying circular/square/elliptical/awful thing that shows our weight in numbers. Yes, the weighing machine.

First of all, let’s all get together and pray for the moron who invented that thing. May his soul get fried in hell.

My everyday routine is… well, hmmm… unnecessary here. However, I get into my office cab in the afternoon and this colleague starts her saga about how little she ate, how early she woke up, two hours of intense workout and how important it is to become slim. The salads to eat, the biryanis to avoid and many such things which make me feel terrible. Terrible about eating, terrible about not working out and super terrible about the additional 10 kg I carry on me. I get off the cab all depressed, too sad to concentrate on my surroundings. I look up and see the same colleague sneaking into the office with a cup of sinful Devil’s Own (chocolate + coffee + ice-cream + whipped cream + lots of other sins) hijacked from the neighboring coffee day and the depression vanishes. I mentally invite her to join my i-want-to-reduce-but-i-can’t-let-the-chocolate-go club.

When an annoying aunt tells me that I have OH MY GOD put on weight, when the shopkeeper reminds me that I am a plus size, when the tight pants, short shirt loafer on the road tells me that am fat – I understand the rage which caused humans to create something as devastating as the atom bomb. I would, if I had the brains.

Everyday I see people making fun of other’s being fat. Is it that big a sin?

Being fit is important; I have no doubts about that. But you don’t have to become an anorexic by denying yourself the pleasure of food. Gluttony is a sin, eating is not. The days when I have to enter the gym, I feel like the most depressed person on earth and curse the almighty and all his counterparts for making me a fat child.

My tip to all you women who are going through this struggle is one: Just do things that make you happy; do nothing else. Being happy is almost equal to feeling fit.

Don’t go to the gym if it depresses you. Here’s what I ve replaced my gym-time with:

Swim. It’s an out of the world feeling which brings so much peace to the mind and in the process makes you lose weight. I love it!

Skate. No, age is not an issue here. I have just started my skating classes. At 24, I don’t feel old for this. It gives you an immense sense of control over your body, makes you fearless, happy and lose weight. Look around at the kids skating besides you, energy and happiness will come to you naturally.

Dance. Its pure elation. If you are a sexy person, try salsa… If you are a freedom lover, try hip-hop. There are a so many dance forms. Take up weekend classes and see what magic it adds to your life and body.

When there are so many happy options, why go to the gym? However, if you are into exercising, working out in a gym or aerobics is good. I personally prefer the other fun options.

The trick is to eat right (chocolate included), sleep right and be happy. Avoid things that are taxing to your mind. Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax… I am still working on this!

And always remember, its ok be fat as long as your are healthy. It only means that there will be more of you to be loved!

Her mankind. His womankind

I am a woman. I like jokes. I love laughing at my own faults. I will lie on the floor and sob for the guy I love. I’ll kick a guy’s you-know-what when the need comes. Just saying.

I like men. I can’t live without them and most of the times I feel like I can’t live with them. I feel happy when a guy compliments me. I like his eyes on me. I adore my dad. Just saying.

The honest reason behind the above mentioned ‘just saying’ is to imply to the general public that I am not a dyke, nor am I a feminist. I am a normal girl trying hard to prove a point.

The real story:
God made mankind. And then the womankind. The womankind seduced the mankind into eating some apple or something. And meanwhile what actually happened was that the villain serpent slyly gobbled down the almighty’s dictionary named ‘what the womankind really means – special edition for the safety and understanding of the mankind’. And the serpent’s assistant hid the other one ‘what the mankind is capable of doing — special edition for the safety and understanding of the womankind’. So that’s where this whole: “What? But you said No. How am I supposed to know that it means ‘Yes’?”… “You told me you d kiss me goodnight every night of our lives, while were dating. I forgot when u looked at me last!” things started. So now we know whom to blame. Have you ever tried learning French grammar without the help of a dictionary? It turns you insane, that’s the exact same reason why the world is going mad trying to understand each other’s language.

I wonder if it’s that difficult to understand the other species. Ok, so cricket is a religion. There are million other religions, one more added to that list. So what’s the big deal? Fine, the wet towel should not rot on the mattress. Ok, let it rot somewhere else instead. So difficult? Insists on 50 phone calls each day? Negotiate with love and bring it down to 5 calls and of course, call. Prevents you from socializing? Negotiate a deal. Take them along with you. Show them the fun, and please get back home when the fun is done. Want sex today? Ask sweetly. Don’t want sex today? Deny with love. I am not stereotyping anything here. I know of two of my best girlfriends who worship cricket, a guy friend who follows cricketism. I know a friend’s boyfriend who never lets her go off the phone and a girlfriend who never let’s her guy cut the call. I know a girl who is a party animal and a guy who is a night beast. So nothing is relating to one sex in particular. Times have changed; stereotypes are boring and almost non-existent.

Rule No. 1 is of-course to find the right person. I don’t mean that you should walk around with a questionnaire and get it filled. What I mean is to find someone who can strike a cord. It’s inhuman to force yourself into a wrong relationship and expect the other person to completely change to suit your requirements. Find your match instead. Soul-mates, some people say. Go for that!

Fight heartily but don’t forget to hug and sleep, no matter what
Bite each other’s head off but have at least one meal together, no matter what
Hang out with your boys/girls often, and discuss the fun you had over the meal
Commit your heart and let your body follow your heart
Fall out of love, but fall back in quickly
Be friends.
Listen to music together. One of your favorite songs. One of theirs
Read books. Discuss them.
Learn his sense of direction. Absorb her sense of care
Be the father. Become the mother
Smile. Laugh. Cry.

A Casanova friend of mine who was once strictly against commitment now tells me that he should have gotten married much earlier. It took him ‘marriage’ to realize how much fun it is to have a woman with him. A ‘men?? Yuck!’ woman friend of mine genuinely confessed to me that marriage was by far the best thing that’s happened to her.

The key to all happiness is not hidden in a Harry Potter maze. It’s out there in the open, for all of us to see. Whether you are a man or a woman, open your heart and accept the other person’s shortcomings the way you would accept your own. Let the good times take over the bad ones. Smile if it could mean a lot to the other person. Say I love you. Confess I miss you. Fart when you want to. Burp if you have to. It’s really that simple! Try it.

"You have a bra in your sunsign"
"You have a Sag in yours"
"Yes, we are meant to be with each other"

>see the connect? :D

You are a race horse. Its ridiculous if someone expects you to plough a field.

Inability, here, is not the horse's mistake. If you still feel stupid, you probably are.

>Thank you for saying that
>I think I understand why I fell for you

Reality is never as big enough as my dreams. But its close :)

Burj Khalifa, Palm Jumeirah, Burj-Al-Arab, DUBAI!
>vacation
>check!

Chasing luck, for the first time ever.
>Dubai
>Addictive Luxury

This time I leave here knowing when I will return. But someday if I have to go away, without a fixed return date, please know in your heart that I will return. To you. To us. I go, only to come back to you and stay forever. For ever.

As routine takes a knife and starts cutting into me, little by little, every passing hour, I decide to save myself. I need to stop feeling useless. There's so much I can do. So very much. The fact that I know this makes it even worse. I want to wake up every morning and feel proud of myself, the way I used to. Today, I wake up unwillingly, drag myself to a job I don't love anymore. Being with anything or anyone you no longer love, is a shame. To yourself. So that's what is leading me away from here. Anywhere, is my destination preference. Anywhere where I will know I am working hard and not just lazing around.

For the first time in my life, I went to the temple to pray for someone else. Someone very dear.

God, be merciful. Not for my sake. For his. For I believe he deserves it.

Thank you.

>>I believe
>>I wish