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.