Its Spring!

I know it am noticing a bit late that spring is here. But atleast I am glad I noticed. On my walk between home and office, I see beautiful purple flowers in full bloom, leaves turning red on the trees. Everything looks so beautiful! I am making an attempt at being a more positive person and so it is nice when you encounter something beautiful in the daily grind and more importantly, you notice and appreciate it, without being lost in the humdrum of daily routine. I will try to keep my eyes open to notice more of such beauty even if it might be rare in the concrete jungle.

Jodhaa Akbar

Yesterday we watched Jodha Akbar movie. The most heard statement about the movie is that, "It is too long". Yes, it is more than three and a half hours long. But I didn't feel bored at any point of time during the movie. I find it really funny to say that my most favorite part of the movie was the jewelry through out the movie. The costumes were ok but the jewelry was amazing. Also they shot some of the scenes in real palaces I believe.
I completely failed to understand how this film could create controversies because no one is shown in a bad light in the film. I read up the internet and found that some people in Rajasthan find the story inaccurate. Some interesting reads about Akbar during my search : Akbar the great and Akbar the not so great. I think the controversy is only regarding the name of Akbar's wife. It is a quite common understanding that Akbar's favorite wife was a Hindu and that he had married several Rajput princesses.

But at the end of the day (movie), I do not care who Akbar’s wife was. All I care about is that I enjoyed the movie and Ashutosh has made a beautiful movie. The movie keeps its focus on the relationship while showing other important incidents in the life of Akbar. And needless to say, Aishwarya looks extremely beautiful and surprisingly, acts well too. While Hritik is a absolute eye candy for all females. In spite of this, you will forget that you are looking at Hrithik and Ash but you would be looking at Akbar and Jodha. And I also wouldn't like to slot it as a 'romantic' film. In fact, it is difficult to put it into a particular genre.

I hope to watch it again over the weekend. But of course, I wouldn't spend ticket money to watch it twice. I love history. I have always been intrigued by palaces and museums and all that links us to history. Not that I know history too well but I find it immensely fascinating to find out how people lived in those times. And this movie was perfect for a person like me. I know, it might not be completely accurate but I am not interested in accuracy otherwise I would have read history books. :)

Updates - Mysore Trip and bhindi sabji

Last weekend we went sight-seeing to Srirangapatnam and Mysore. This time not on the bike. My in-laws had come and so we hired a car for a day. Tipu's tomb in Srirangapatnam is worth seeing. Then we went to the Mysore zoo. We had no idea that the zoo was so good. Definately worth a trip but the zoo is really huge and would take 3-4 hrs of your time if you want to see it completely. Electric cars are available there, similar to the ones at Lalbagh. It is recommended to use those when you have older people or less time with you. After the zoo, we didnt have time left for Chamundi hills. Then we saw the palace. We were really tired by the time we finished seeing the palace. We had been walking for more than 4 hours now though not at a stretch. But we didnt want to miss Brindavan Gardens. The garden is without doubt beautiful.

Now for the food part, on our way back, we had dinner at Kamat on the highway. Loved the jowar roti and brinjal and everything else that was on the thali (banana leaf) dinner.

Yesterday I made an awesome bhindi ki sabzi. I know I am praising myself but I really liked it. I saw this recipe but didnt follow it completely as usual. Do check it out. It could be the fresh and tender bhindi that I bought that added to the taste. I had made it slightly differently this time. Used a little more oil than usual, around 1 tablespoon and a little more. Added mustard, hing to it. Then finely cut onion, garlic and capsicum. Sauteed on high heat for a min or two till the onion is slightly translucent. Added turmeric and chilli powder. Then I added the bhindi cut into rounds and drizzled with lemon juice. Sauteed on high for a few mins and then turned the heat to low and let it sit for 15 mins with very little stirring. Then added salt, little bit of sugar, sabji masala, coriander powder, amchoor powder. I liked the sweet and hot flavours lent to the bhindi. (sweet from onion and sugar and the heat from chilli pwd and capsicum) I had not expected this to be so good. My mouth is watering as I remember the taste ;)

I am Sleepy

Its a Friday afternoon and I am feeling so sleepy as if I have been drugged. Well actually...I think I am drugged. I am taking a drug (medicine!) for pain which the doc warned makes people drowsy. Or could it be because my house help has suddenly gone on leave and its been nearly a month now....hmm....not really..its been a little over two weeks but I am completely pulling out my hair. And to top it, my in-laws are coming tommorrow!!! So I have been working hard at home and office...maybe I am just tired. I am sleepy..............zzzzzzzzz

'Sunday' and Gramin

After removing the frustration in my previous post, I am back to my 'fun and food' self. Friday morning I won tickets for 'Sunday' movie on Fever 104 FM. Yesterday evening we went for the movie with virtually no expectations (not even expecting it to be bad). We thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi and Irrfan Khan's performances stand out in the movie. Arshad Warsi pairs really well with male co-stars in comic roles. Ajay Devgan as a cop is impressive as he goes about solving the mystery of the missing Sunday from Ayesha Takia's life. She does need a new dress designer and a new personal trainer at her gym. I can hear my friends laughing at me giving out suggestions related to weight. But hey, I ain’t no Bollywood actress. And I try sometimes ;) to control my weight! It definitely is a good movie. Very well made and a nicely told story. There are a couple of illogical things like Arshad running a few days after getting shot on the backside and fighting the bad guys in spite of kidney problem. But I ignore such things most of the times and this is no exception. It’s just a movie. Don’t watch it as if you are reading your science text book. As long as the movie entertains, I have no complains.
If only the ticket prices were lower, it would have been a hit. The multiplex guys really need to do something about the ticket prices. Spending 1000 Rs for a family movie outing is affordable only for exceptional cinema.

After the movie, we went for dinner to the reliable 'Gramin' restaurant. As usual, a very pleasant experience. It is an exceptional place for vegetarian food. The food, the service, the experience is really nice. And for the first time, I really liked the masala soda. I have never liked it much at other places. Kudos to the Gramin guys!

What’s the world coming to?

I should have rather said what’s India coming to? Just when we thought India is poised to become a great power, we hear news which is as disturbing as it is disappointing. If anyone watched the news channels yesterday, they would know what I am talking about.
First there are the Mumbai clashes. It was disgusting to see the so-called guardians of Maharashtrians in Mumbai go about beating poor hawkers and taxi-drivers. Just because they have come from some other state to earn their bread in Mumbai? What have these so-called guardians contributed to the growth of Mumbai that they think they own the city? It is an utterly childish and completely illogical behavior on display. They are doing a lot of harm to Mumbai rather than protect it if that’s what they feel they are doing. The image Mumbai had, of an accepting city where everyone can come and blend into the crowd has taken a hard beating. Even Mr. Laluprasad said that why are they spoiling Mumbai and creating a divide across Mumbaikars? If he can understand the completely negative impact of this on Mumbai, I am sure the people who did this have no good intentions on their mind. We need to think of ourselves as Indians before thinking of our states. Remember SRK saying that in Chak De! How can one even think of restricting people’s movement across states? People cannot move around and stay wherever they want in their own country? Then maybe they should start giving out visas for people who want to move to another state! If someone moves to the US and settles there, do these people expect him to become an American and do charity in America and forget about India? If he does that, these very people will go around beating up the NRIs for forgetting India. Then how do they expect people from other states to forget about their native place when they move to Mumbai!!

We should take pride of our 'Unity in diversity' principle instead of bashing it up. That is definitely the way forward and not such regressive acts which will only pull India back.

The other very disturbing news was of a small kid being tied to a pole and abused and beaten up by the public. It is a highly shameful and a cowardly act. Try doing that against someone who is stronger than them. What are they trying to prove?

And to top it all, none of the people involved have an iota of guilt or remorse at what they have done. What have the people of a great nation like India come to? Or is it that all people in general have become completely insensitive and lost their minds or their minds are full of dirt? All around me I see people completely disregarding others. You just need to go out on the road to experience it. Jumping of traffic signals, constant honking even if there is nowhere to go.

Pav Bhaji meets Pasta?!!

Sounds like a weird combination and it’s not what I had in mind when I started making it. All I wanted to do was make it taste completely different from what I have tasted before :) After thinking about how I should make the pasta this time for the whole day, this is what I did. I boiled a combination of bow and spiral pasta in salted water. While it was boiling, I added a small onion, two small tomatoes, a small capsicum, walnuts, olive pickle (made by me), some olives, and garlic into the food processor and made a coarse paste out of it. Then I heated olive oil in a pan and added the paste into it and sautéed it for a while. Then added some milk, cream, oregano seasoning and chilly flakes (the small packets which you get at dominos, I put them to good use) :) Added the pasta and some corn, covered it with cheese slices and covered the pan and let it warm for 10 mins till the cheese melted.
The verdict: Anurag says it is kind of like pav bhaji meets pasta.
I say it was one of the better tasting pasta I have made. The only problem was the paste was more in quantity compared to the pasta.
Try it at your own risk ;)