Looking back at my blog entry for 2010, i only seem to have stuck with one resolution of staying healthy and fit. I am happy to note that i tried to get a fair share of exercise and i didn't fall sick at all. We even ran the marathon this year :) That was a first and I hope to do it every year.
Looking back it has been a good year for me. It started off with a trip to Canada. Even though it was an official trip, i was very excited as it was my first one ever to any place on my own. It was nice to experience solitude and be on my own although at the end of one month i wanted to be back with K. I also got to visit my sis in the US :)
We did a fair bit of travelling and socialising. Not to mention lots of friends got hitched this year.
Workwise it has not been a great year. I did nothing earth shattering. It was mostly the same stuff that i have been doing for a while now.
This year, K and I were together for roughly 8 months! I dont like living apart one bit and the whole long distance relationship sucks! God knows how some people manage to do that for years together. I really appreciate the effort it takes for them to stay apart from their spouses or GFs/BFs.
2010 has been kind to me but i am really looking forward to the new year. Lots of exciting things in store am sure :)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Bakery items!
One of those moments of hunger pangs and i was transported back to childhood days.
A walk to the nearest bakery and there are so many varieties to choose from.
This is not the high-end fancy place where you get pastries, croissants, quiche and other unpronounceable delicacies.
This is good old Mr L J Iyengar's bakery whipping out yummy stuff using his imagination. Such bakeries are common in the city where i live.
Slowly being replaced by high-end pastry shops and cafes. For some reason, most of these bakeries are named after L J Iyengar.(who is this guy anyway?)
The most common one was the vegetable puff with the palya* in it.
And who can forget the Alu bun. Back in school days i stopped eating it for a while when someone told me that they actually put all the potatoes in a sack and stomp on it to mash them! Then there is the "toast", so called because it is made of a slice of bread toasted and covered with the yummiest onion palya.
And then there is the dil khush, dil pasand, our own desi version of pizza with a filling :D The filling is a sickly sweet combination of tutti-fruity, coconut, raisins. Just thinking about is makes my mouth water.
It was a Saturday morning ritual in school for us to go the nearest Nilgiris(the slightly upscale version of an LJ Iyengar bakery!) and ask for apple cake. This black-brown round cake-thing was rumored to have been made from leftover of other cakes. And then there are the honey cake and sponge cake. Oh the sheer joy of biting into one of these :)
I haven't even gotten started on the biscuits** and rusks. Benne biscuit, khara biscuit , koppri biscuit.
My cousins born and raised abroad never miss an opportunity to eat the milk/sweet bread which is not available in their countries!
You won't get to see any of the multi-grain/ brown-bread/low cal/no trans fatty acid stuff here. There is only place for heavenly mouth-watering goodies made of maida/vanspathi. And yes, they are always called bakery "items".
* filling made of vegetables
** cookies
A walk to the nearest bakery and there are so many varieties to choose from.
This is not the high-end fancy place where you get pastries, croissants, quiche and other unpronounceable delicacies.
This is good old Mr L J Iyengar's bakery whipping out yummy stuff using his imagination. Such bakeries are common in the city where i live.
Slowly being replaced by high-end pastry shops and cafes. For some reason, most of these bakeries are named after L J Iyengar.(who is this guy anyway?)
The most common one was the vegetable puff with the palya* in it.
And who can forget the Alu bun. Back in school days i stopped eating it for a while when someone told me that they actually put all the potatoes in a sack and stomp on it to mash them! Then there is the "toast", so called because it is made of a slice of bread toasted and covered with the yummiest onion palya.
And then there is the dil khush, dil pasand, our own desi version of pizza with a filling :D The filling is a sickly sweet combination of tutti-fruity, coconut, raisins. Just thinking about is makes my mouth water.
It was a Saturday morning ritual in school for us to go the nearest Nilgiris(the slightly upscale version of an LJ Iyengar bakery!) and ask for apple cake. This black-brown round cake-thing was rumored to have been made from leftover of other cakes. And then there are the honey cake and sponge cake. Oh the sheer joy of biting into one of these :)
I haven't even gotten started on the biscuits** and rusks. Benne biscuit, khara biscuit , koppri biscuit.
My cousins born and raised abroad never miss an opportunity to eat the milk/sweet bread which is not available in their countries!
You won't get to see any of the multi-grain/ brown-bread/low cal/no trans fatty acid stuff here. There is only place for heavenly mouth-watering goodies made of maida/vanspathi. And yes, they are always called bakery "items".
* filling made of vegetables
** cookies
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The social network
I spend quite a bit of time on social networking sites. It amuses me no end about various updates that people put down to the last detail! This is just a fun list that i am putting together...I may be guilty of some myself. :D
Cutsy pics posed with teddy bear and other soft toys if you are a grown up.
Kids having their own profiles. And adding all and sun dry to their friends list to get the numbers up. Seriously are 10 year olds allowed to have their own profiles created? Don't parents monitor a child's internet activities.
Updating country and city even if you are on a two day trip out of the country to show off your are abroad.
Using the word 'dear' to address someone. This usually happens most often between girls. Example : thanks dear, you too dear, nice dear..... gag!
Status messages like "I miss you honey, i miss you wifey blah blah"...if you are missing your husband/wife, please give them a call and let them know. The whole world doesn't need to know :P
Having chat conversations in the comments section. Please spare us the spam.
Students updating their status about bunking classes, bitching about their lecturers and teachers. Its so not cool.
Uploading all snaps that you ever clicked when you were on vacation. Sure i love looking pictures posted by others, but i don't want to know about every single moment of your vacation.
I knew this one guy who posted hourly updates about his journey while he was on vacation. "At the airport... boarding pass in hand...just landed...taking a taxi this city" etc etc...
Creating profiles for your pets and expecting other people to "like" them. OK, i did click "like" because everyone else did and these people are good friends.
Do you have any pet peeves?
Cutsy pics posed with teddy bear and other soft toys if you are a grown up.
Kids having their own profiles. And adding all and sun dry to their friends list to get the numbers up. Seriously are 10 year olds allowed to have their own profiles created? Don't parents monitor a child's internet activities.
Updating country and city even if you are on a two day trip out of the country to show off your are abroad.
Using the word 'dear' to address someone. This usually happens most often between girls. Example : thanks dear, you too dear, nice dear..... gag!
Status messages like "I miss you honey, i miss you wifey blah blah"...if you are missing your husband/wife, please give them a call and let them know. The whole world doesn't need to know :P
Having chat conversations in the comments section. Please spare us the spam.
Students updating their status about bunking classes, bitching about their lecturers and teachers. Its so not cool.
Uploading all snaps that you ever clicked when you were on vacation. Sure i love looking pictures posted by others, but i don't want to know about every single moment of your vacation.
I knew this one guy who posted hourly updates about his journey while he was on vacation. "At the airport... boarding pass in hand...just landed...taking a taxi this city" etc etc...
Creating profiles for your pets and expecting other people to "like" them. OK, i did click "like" because everyone else did and these people are good friends.
Do you have any pet peeves?
Monday, August 30, 2010
golmaal hai bhai ..sab golmaal hai
Just this morning K and i were watching the news. The news channels were full of the latest in match fixing( something to do with Pak cricket players being accused for match fixing). Every morning without fail, what seems to hit the headlines these days is corruption, cheating, money laundering etc. And not to forget the various other tragedies like bombings, murder or natural calamity Its just to depressing to start your day off on such a note.
Corruption is the single biggest thing affecting the progress of our country. Can we as common people do something about it? Can just a handful of people who have no bureaucratic powers eradicate corruption by not giving bribes, paying up taxes and generally adhering to the rules laid down by the government? Admittedly, this is a beaten-to-death topic. But one thing that i always wonder, is there anything you or me as law-abiding citizens do to bring down corruption and accelerate development?
The few weeks that i was in Canada, i repeatedly heard the same from the immigrants there, that corruption is prevalent even there but it never affects the common man.
Given India's situation i am ok if we come to a level where common man is not affected by corruption.
Corruption is the single biggest thing affecting the progress of our country. Can we as common people do something about it? Can just a handful of people who have no bureaucratic powers eradicate corruption by not giving bribes, paying up taxes and generally adhering to the rules laid down by the government? Admittedly, this is a beaten-to-death topic. But one thing that i always wonder, is there anything you or me as law-abiding citizens do to bring down corruption and accelerate development?
The few weeks that i was in Canada, i repeatedly heard the same from the immigrants there, that corruption is prevalent even there but it never affects the common man.
Given India's situation i am ok if we come to a level where common man is not affected by corruption.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Brand value...
I saw an ad in the newspaper for a herbal slimming product. A girl dressed in bridal finery with a big smile plastered on her face, while her parents look on lovingly. The groom looks like he will pounce on the bride any minute. The ad goes on with the father's narration : I was worried about my daughter being rejected by so many grooms because she was overweight. Someone then told me about "Blah" Herbal Slimming Product and I asked my daughter to try it. We could see the results in a few months! Within 4 months my daughter became beautiful and within 6 months of using the product she found a groom! We are very thankful for this product blah blah blah....
Now there are several things about this advert which had me worried.
First things was the whole shallow approach to marriage. Cliched as it may sound, physical appearance is not the only thing that matters!
Secondly how can anyone turn beautiful in a matter of months! You are how you are born and no one can change the way you look.
Next was the promise of weight loss using just some herbal concoction. What about eating right and getting adequate exercise? That matters more for a healthy lifestyle than consuming any amount of slimming products! So many things wrong about this ad!
When will Indian ad makers stop using age old cliches. Tonnes of ads out there depict women doing all the cooking, cleaning etc. The fairest and the most beauitful girl getting a groom after using a beauty product. Scoring highest marks making one the smartest in the class etc etc. I could go on!
I hope average Indian consumer is smarter that that to fall for such tacky shortcuts to fame, wealth or whatever it is that the ads want to convey.
Now there are several things about this advert which had me worried.
First things was the whole shallow approach to marriage. Cliched as it may sound, physical appearance is not the only thing that matters!
Secondly how can anyone turn beautiful in a matter of months! You are how you are born and no one can change the way you look.
Next was the promise of weight loss using just some herbal concoction. What about eating right and getting adequate exercise? That matters more for a healthy lifestyle than consuming any amount of slimming products! So many things wrong about this ad!
When will Indian ad makers stop using age old cliches. Tonnes of ads out there depict women doing all the cooking, cleaning etc. The fairest and the most beauitful girl getting a groom after using a beauty product. Scoring highest marks making one the smartest in the class etc etc. I could go on!
I hope average Indian consumer is smarter that that to fall for such tacky shortcuts to fame, wealth or whatever it is that the ads want to convey.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Quote..
My blog is beginning to resemble a collection of quotes, poems and other stuff that i read about. I am not too enthused to blog about other stuff these days!
Here goes one more from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.
The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly companion; and so let all young persons take their choice.
True indeed!
Here goes one more from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.
The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly companion; and so let all young persons take their choice.
True indeed!
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