Happiiiiieee

Practice has made me almost perfect. 'Vanilla sponge cake with dry fruits and choco-chips', yes perfect at baking a good cake. Lol. Over the last couple of weeks, I've baked more than a dozen cakes, chocolate, coffee, vanilla and also tested my fate with different shapes, tower, square, round. At times it would get a little crunchy and at others it would become a little gooey. No matter what I enjoyed it every time. Every time I learnt something new, be it the right mix and proportion of ingredients, the right way to beat the mixture, the right texture of the batter, or the appropriate time for baking.

I'm haappiiieeeeeeeee :)

In India it is 'C' for Cricket not Cat!

Cricket World Cup, the most awaited event for the cricket playing nations of the world, imagine what it can do to India, where people eat, sleep and drink cricket. India has been and will always be a cricket fanatic nation with people worshiping both the game and the players. But one thing I fail to fathom is the men and cricket connection. To me it looks like one of those umbilical cord relationships. I've seen men swearing by the game. Even the most serious man at work would keep checking the scores on the Internet every moment. The ever so techie urban men also become utterly superstitious. So much so that if lifting of their right arm suddenly and a sixer or a wicket for India coincide at the same mini-second, they can keep that arm in the air for hours in the hope of another six or a wicket.

To capture the enthusiasm of Indians in words is hell of a task. There are days of unofficial holiday when work ceases in offices and factories, the streets witness no motion. Be it the shops around the corners of the street, the latest shopping mall, the plush lounge bar, the spectacle everywhere is the same, a TV screen small, big or huge with numerous eyeballs fixed on it. A sudden feeling of brotherhood creeps into everyone. Even someone like me who doesn't bother to follow even a critical match very closely, can make out every moment of it from a closed room by the sound of yelling, hooting, cheering and sighing that goes on around and the bursting of fire crackers confirm that we have won!

Now that India has made it to the semi-finals of the CWC 2011 after a spectacular match against the Aussies, the entire nation is geared up for even a bigger play with Pakistan. I won't be surprised if the GoI declares a holiday on 30th March! Lol.

To My Friends

'Friendship is a golden knot that ties two hearts together and if you do not break the knot, you're friends forever'. This is just one of those innumerable quotes I used to scribble on the greeting cards for my friends decades ago. Today when I look back, I realise the knot that I used to so casually and confidently boast about as a child, is really a fragile one. I made many friends, in every phase of life, but not many could I hold onto. At times I lost friends for some reason I guess unknown to both of us, and then I lost friends for my own negligence.

In school I had an amazing gang of girls, we used to hang around, party and play together. Three of us actually formed a formal gang and called it TSG girls team. We did all sorts of crazy stuff like enacting poems, making sanctuary passes, and much more. Not that I've lost them but life has put miles between us. Miss you T & S and those crazy days of fun. I also got my bestest friend in school. Surprisingly we also happened to look similar. I did wrong to her, but it's never too late to accept it and make up. I love you D.

In high school, I got S as my closest buddy. We used to go to the gym together, hog together, and have mad fun in whatever way possible. Today I want to rewind and live those days again with S. Another S, a lawyer by profession, a very docile, innocent, and beautiful looking girl. Even today I know I can just pick up the phone, key in her number and go on talking endlessly. That's what makes our friendship stand out, ain't it.

Three years of college was more of anything but college. My close friends happened to be a new S and a new T. This phase of life today seems to be the fastest of all and today I have no communication with my the then best pals of college. How I wish I could have everyone forever with me.

Moving on, post-grad again offered me a bundle of new friends. I always believe in having few but the best. My friends defined life for me. We proudly called ourselves family, a bunch of good 10-12 people. Over the years, the family got restructured, some always remained, while some made quick others made slow exit, and some joined afresh. At the end of 2years, it seems it was the best that could have happened. I have friends who are selflessly mine. I know they are just a call away. We might not talk for days, but when we do, we connect.

Life has changed beyond the campus and it will never be the same again. The one thing I want to remain constant in my life, is my friends. I hope I'll never lose you guys. I might not be right always, I might falter, but that shouldn't weaken the bond between us. I love you all!

Happy Holi...

Holi when I was a kid used to be a much awaited festival. Filling those baloons with coloured water and splashing them at each other was so much fun. My cousin brother without fail would turn up at our place every year with all the goodies. The three of us then, my sister, brother and I would go all mad with colours.

I miss those days of fun. I miss the sudden splash of colours on my head, the forceful hands of my brothers and sister smearing colour on my face, throwing baloons at strangers, the joyful banter echoing through the corridors, the post holi photo sessions and much more. I wish I could reverse time and get back to those days of childhood. I wish...

Here's wishing everyone a very happy and colourful holi. Play, eat, drink and have fun!! O_o

Ultimate Cake Off

Lately I find myself hooked on to TLC (the TV channel), I kind of like all the shows, be it 'Travel India with Harsha Bhogle', 'Man vs. Wild', 'Family Food Fight', 'Sarah Pahlin's Alaska' or 'Hell's Kitchen'. The one that has caught my fancy is 'Ultimate Cake Off' show. In this show, cake artists take on the challenge to make one ultimate cake each. These cakes are over 5ft in height and weighs a few hundreds of pounds. Every week they have different themes to fit a marquee event where the cake that wins is showcased. Today I happened to watch two episodes, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. In the first one, the theme was the 'Ringley Bros. & Barnum Bailey's Zing Zang Zoom Circus' and in the later it was a fairytale themed american wedding.

I was thrilled and amazed to the core to watch the different teams make and bake cakes of unimaginable shapes and sizes. It is more about building cakes than making one. I also loved the concept of cake artists and they indeed displayed some artistic skills. Giants forms with carousel, edible flowers, ribbons, photos, moving wheels, and many more, it is sure a treat for the eyes. Though these cakes look magnificent and larger than life, they also happen to please the taste buds.

And now that I've seen something like that, I wonder why I cannot take up a profession that is rare yet exciting. A profession that wouldn't require you to dress up formally, speak like you are the most intelligent girl around, read up pages of reports and understand junk of data and analytics. Wonder how would it be like doing post-grads in cake artistry, or beer brewing, or florist consulting. I'm sure the experience would be one of a kind, but not everyone can dare.

A Look at Life through My Eyes...

Life is about small sacrifices that each one of us make every moment, every day. Sacrifices that initially make us a little unnerved and anxious, but eventually make life just a little bit more worth living. Sacrifice that we otherwise in a more regular way call compromise.

There's one school of thought that preaches, life is just another name for compromise. One has to compromise on different things in different circumstances, and that is the law of nature. While on the other hand, the modern society, the so-called more upbeat and westernised gen-Y loves to believe compromise is a thing of the past and takes pride in living life on their own terms. I'm little torn between the two thoughts for I certainly cannot compromise on everything but when it comes to my dear-ones, I can certainly compromise on anything.

I am sure many of us have faced situations in life which left them puzzled and torn. Umm...say you've a lunch date with your soo beautiful girlfriend, then suddenly you remember it's your granny's birthday. Would you not leave that plan behind and rather spend a lovely afternoon with your granny! Say you've a very prestigious and lucrative job and suddenly your husband gets a better employment in another country, would you not leave your job and be a part of his happiness!! Say, you are enjoying a wonderful life with your wife and kid in another city but your parents who are aging wants you to come back to them, would you not go back even if it means less fun and less money!!

Yes, compromise it is! It comes with a lot of arguments and counter arguments but one thing it surely does is, it leaves a smile on everyone's face. Small little things of ours that we give up for the sake of others, makes life brighter and beautiful.

Let's move away from emotions and look at life from another prism. Where do we stand today in terms of restoring the ecological balance and world peace! World GDP is rising, inflationary trends are more controlled, employment opportunities are on the rise, nations are opening up their economies to the world, enough of macro-economic indicators reflect that world over the last few decades, has become a better place to live in. But the numbers to capture the other side of the story. The story that links up man's quest for power, wealth and refusal to compromise.

The kind of terrorism that lulls over us today was unknown in the primitive world where man was naive and selfless. It also makes me think that the catastrophe of natural calamities the world is facing today is also an outcome of our refusal to compromise.

Life is a blessing, a gift of God. Let's treasure it and make it beautiful for us and for all. Let's not regret, not curse any. Let's love life for what it is. Let's do what it takes to make it worth living, compromise be it!

For You, D...

Not exactly my best buddy but that doesn’t make me admire this one girl any less. She defines energy, intelligence, hard-work, sincerity, dedication, perfection, undaunted courage, a high spirit, a strong will and the right determination to go where she wants to. Over the two years of schooling, I interacted with her in different circumstances, and never did she cease to make me smile or make me a wee bit more confident about myself. I got acquainted with her in SEM2, watched her participating in every class with the same enthusiasm. In projects she again demonstrated her best self. Always being on time and going the extra mile to gather the knowledge and put it in the best place to showcase it as well. To me she stood for professionalism. She knew how much she had to do, and did precisely that much with perfection.

In SEM4 by luck we got the same class for brand management, but this time I found her to be a little mellowed down. Don’t know if it was the placement or something else. She spoke less in class and reflected less aggression, but when she did, she was the same confident girl. A close to 9 pointer, an engineer with 3 years of work-ex prior to graduation, she exactly knew what she wants in terms of a job and her career. It’s not just about package; it’s about the work, the profile. She would tell me she doesn’t want to get into something which she’ll not enjoy and within a few days get desperate to leave it. No banks or no selling job for this lady. I can vouch for her analytical and verbal skills and I’m sure, today or tomorrow you’ll make it big in the Consulting industry. I wish and pray that you go higher and higher in life and get everything you can ever ask for. I remember the night we prepared for Universal Consulting together, it was fun!

P.S. Now keep reading my posts and visiting my blogs more often!Lol

Optimism is the Key to Happy Living, is it Not!!

'All's Well That Ends Well', what if something doesn't end well!! The most certain of all reactions or outcome would be the feeling of rejection or failure.

Yes, at this point in time, I am feeling bad for a certain thing which didn't really end on a good note. In my mind's eye I'm stabbing the man who's kind of responsible for it. But does that mean the entire journey wasn't worth it! Does it make me any bit less of what I wanted to be!

Every journey has its own story to narrate, strewn with memories, teachings and emotions. Whether or not the journey has been a smooth one or a turbulent one, the end is just the end in itself.

Change is the Only Constant!

No I'm not trying to delve into what Heraclitus had said thousands of years ago. It's long that everyone has accepted it as a fact for their own good!! Umm...the truth is I couldn't think of a better title for this post.

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When I used to be a small kid, in my free time I used to make scrap books, and little things of crafts like puzzle pieces, photo frames, mats and many more. I also used to take lessons of Classical music and whenever free I would stretch my vocals cords. That is not all, as a kid, I used to go for French classes, Yoga, Karate, Painting, Table Tennis, and Bharatnatyam. Sounds like quite a versatile kid, eh! However, one thing I always enjoyed doing was using my imagination to make things out of scrap or waste.

My interests became a little diverse with age, and I started taking keen interest in chatting up, gossiping, and partying with friends. One day it would be cooking party, and on the other it would be an end-of-exam party. We never had any dearth of ideas to have fun!! Reciting poems and enacting them or be it making sanctuary passes for our girl's team, we always had so much to do!

In high school my interest further shifted to material comforts, sms'ing' friends,decking up, going to the gym and yess eating. It was during this time I fell in love with the idea of 'live to eat'. I would hog with my friends every now and then. I started enjoying non-sense talk and would also indulge in them like a pro.

Now I was a grown up lady, new into college and like any of my counterparts, I fell in love with the idea of shopping. Shopping emerged to be the new found religion for me. Occasion-no occasion, money-no money, class-no class, morning or night, somebody had to just utter the word and I would happily tag along. It was during this time that I developed an intense curiosity for cooking as well. I would bring out whatever is there in the refrigerator and cut, chop, beat, fry, or bake them to make something edible.

Suddenly I started doing more serious stuff, I started working! Surprisingly my interests didn't change much in this phase. Shopping fever just grew more intense, now that I had more money. Apart from this, I would spend the later part of my days either reading or blogging. I started reading more of non-fiction and biographies. Soon I realised I had to do something bigger.

I landed up in one of the better b-schools of India. Life changed, but for good. Moved out of home, far far away from family. It was difficult, but not just for me. It was difficult for everyone, for I had classmates who were 3 years elder as well as 3 years younger to me. In a b-school, hobbies got redefined. The only two things kind of remained constant were 'eating' and 'shopping'.

The newest thing that happened to me was, I was bitten by the movie bug and became faithful to the most perfect of all lazy hobbies, watching movies (courtesy two very special people). One would arrange the best movies, for he has seen all of it, and the other would make me sit through an entire movie and make me watch every scene, for she is also extremely fond of movies (read: good movies).

Two years back I could not imagine myself sitting in front of the laptop glued to the screen watching a movie. Things are mighty changed now. Movies have opened up a new world to me. I marvel at the kind of things that are to be seen, the level of imagination of the West, the actors for how they get into the soul of the character they play!! I am inspired and thrilled to the hilt.

I am enjoying this change of hobby, be it a lazy one!! :)