Mom!!! I can cook...

When I was busy a couple of months ago, with a lot of things happening on a lot of fronts in life, I had so many ideas and topics to write about. Now that I am relatively free (read not many things playing on my mind now), I can't think of anything to write..

These days there is not much work happening in the office, so I get a lot of time to think. After racking my brain and delving deep into my past (well not so distant past), I came up with the following story.

Last year I had an opportunity to travel to Italy. This was my first overseas travel. On one hand I was excited and looking forward to the 3 months I was gonna get to spend in a foreign country, but on the other I was a bit apprehensive and wee bit worried about what lied ahead for me. I had never been away from home before, always had been lucky that way, be it college or job. And here I was all set and raring to go.

Being a vegetarian is the last thing you want when you are travelling abroad. So food stuff occupied most of my luggage space. I carried rice, spices n all kinds of Dal. I am sure the airport security-check guys must've been thinking, "yeh restaurant kholne jaa raha hai kya??".

Before this trip, I couldnt cook even if my life depended on it. But then, I was surprised, and pleasantly at that, at my culinary skills :). In the beginning it was all about being careful while adding even salt but towards the end of the stay I could cook blind-folded. I could now call myself a decent cook if not an expert at cooking. All this self appreciation and boasting lead to, me falling in a trap. Fed up of my going gaga over my trysts with cooking, a colleague (poor guy, working on the same project as me, was my only listening board), one day decided to call me to his home. His invite was as follows,

Italian (speaking english in italian) : Hey Kartik, there is a party in my house this weekend and I'd like you to come.
Me (happy at the fact that i'll get to eat authentic, home cooked italian food): Thanks, that's so nice of you. I would love to come. What's on the menu??
Italian: Well, I am planning to have Indian Food.
Me (uh..oh, i see where this is going): So where are you going to order the food from?
Italian: No no, you got it wrong. You are going to cook!!!!
Me: #é'@\^**$$!!!

But then, it went off really well. That was the first time I had cooked for someone else (there were 10 people that night). I thought my mom would be so proud. :)

If the trip to Italy was about learning to cook, the trip to France that followed was all about experimentation. I learned to make Chappatis, used to make Aloo Ka Parantha on weekends and made a whole lot of other stuff as well. Even had the French colleagues over for dinner and cooked a variety of dishes.

My mom was worried about my eating while I was away from home. But now, my critical analysis of food that she makes at home, annoys her no end. :D

HEROES : Season 3

Heroes is gonna start again!!!!! Yay!!!!

Volume 1 : Genesis

What a beginning it was.. One helluva show.. Got me completely hooked...

Volume 2 : Generations

A season that started on a damp note but by the end of the 11th episode (post which the show ended abruptly - due to the writer's strike), the show had reached the peak. The episode ended on such a high that I could hardly wait for the season 3 to start.

Volume 3 : Villians

Remains to be seen. The rushes hint at an awesome journey ahead.

Why am I going ga ga over this?? Its the only show i follow religiously, plus it was my only solace while living in the remote village in France. I would watch episode after episode till wee hours of the morning and would end up going to office all groggy eyed :P

Morals of the Story....

Coversation between 2 guys:

Guy 1: Dude, i have applied for a credit card.... finally.

Guy 2: Cool.. from now on you will not have to run after me for online transactions.. BTW, Which one??

Guy 1: ICICI

Guy 2: Have u applied for a simple card or a photo card?

Guy 1: What is a photo card??

Guy 2 (Opening his wallet to take his card out) : Hang On!! Lemme show u..

and then...

Guy 2: Holy Shit!!!! I cant find my card. (He calls home to check if he has left it on the desk, but no success there.) Dunno where i have kept it. Bloody hell i dont even remember when and where i used it the last time.

Guy 1: I think u should call-up the bank guys ASAP and ask them to block the card.

Guy 2 does that and asks the bank to send a New Card.

Circa a week earlier @ a movie ticket counter,

Guy 2 (to the pretty girl at the counter) : Can i have 2 tickets for Phir Hera Pheri for the evening show, please?

Girl: Sure.

Guy 2: Please give the seats as far away from the screen as possible.

Girl (with a naughty smile): Sure sir. Last row from the screen, corner 2 seats.

Guy 2: Ahem, actually am gonna watch this movie with my mom :)

At this the Girl laughs and says "that would be 300 bucks sir" and the guy thinks, "man!!! she is so beautiful". The guy uses his credit card to pay. The girl hands over the tickets to him and he leaves. He watches the movie that evening, with his mom, of course.

Almost a week goes by. One morning in the office, Guy 2's colleague tells him that he has applied for a credit card.

Then it dawns upon the Guy 2. The smart chap forgot to take the card back from the Ticket Counter girl when he booked the tickets. He was so engrossed admiring the beauty that he couldn't care less for his card.

So after work hours he rushes to the ticket counter and meets the same girl. He informs about his goof-up and after a lil searching and some friendly chat with the girl, she hands him over his card, but this time the girl has an even bigger smile on her face and looks even more beautiful.

The guy gets his card back, which is now of no use as it has been blocked by the bank, and moreover, as usual, forgets to take the girl's contact number.

Morals of the story: While admiring the beauty make sure all your valuables are securely guarded and whenever you meet a beautiful, friendly girl, make sure you get her contact number. :)

Oh, by the way, wasn't that a good story?? Now you must be thinking how did I come up with such a story. To tell you the truth, I received my New Card from the bank a week later. :D

WHAT LUCK!!!

Had been waiting for this day since, "i cant remember when". After close to 4 months of slogging and the last one month of literal isolation, I was really looking forward to this day as this was my G-Day. For those not in the know, this was the day i was taking GMAT on.

The day arrived, really bright and sunny. After so many rain marred days, i thought, "what a day!!". Couldn't sleep properly last night as I was in the anxiety mode. Thoughts racing in my mind as to what'll I do if X happens or what would my plan be if Y happens. I reached the test centre 1 hour before the scheduled time. Met a couple of guys there, had a chat abt various B-schools, shared some gyaan and finally we were called to enter the centre.

When my turn came for security check (Palm Vein Scan - some hi-funda new gen method - straight out of a spy flick), the lady at the counter had a look at my passport and then made a cross check on her database and simply asked me to wait. This time I was in "hey-bhagwaan-mujhe-shakti-de" mode. I thought since it was only 8:30 n my test was supposed to start at 9:00 maybe she was just passing time. After everyone else's turn was over, mine came. I couldnt believe my ears when I was told that you are being turned away as the names on ur ID proof and the appointment receipt dont match. Can you beat that?? Passport says "Sri Ranga Kartik" and receipt said Kartik S R.

I felt as if someone had punched me with all his might in my stomach (pictured The Great Khali to be that someone). After a lot of discussions, arguments, requests, numerous calls to the customer care n what not, I had to give up on my fight and return home. Apart from Khali's punch there was an accompanying kick as well, this was the fact that I would have to forego the fees that I had paid for the test. And that is friggin $250. I still am not sure what my next course of action would be. Hey bhagwaan mujhe shakti de!!!

I dont know why this happens with me every single time and that too without fail. I was all excited abt my first trip abroad and my German Visa got rejected. Similar was the case with first job, college admission and even such petty things as Exam form submission etc etc. But the good thing is I get everything after a bit of a struggle and it is better than what I think it would be. For instance, I didnt go to Germany for 15 days, went to Italy instead for 3 full months. I hope it'll be the same this time around as well.

As written in the first post on this blog, my name was again responsible for my downfall, so to speak.

Log kehte hai, "mere naam ki laaj rakh lena" aur ek main hoon, mera naam hi meri laaj nahi rakhta!!!

PS: The picture correctly shows my state. Sad on one hand but happy on the other (maybe I shud replace Hand with Foot :P ). Jo bhi hota hai...ache ke liye hota hai!!!!!

Independence Day!!!

Of Shooting Star & Setting Sun

Finally a GOLD!!!

118 years have passed since the modern Olympics began and finally, we have an individual gold medal. So, I guess the "monkey is off the back" now. Man, 118 years is a pretty darn long time to put one's name in the Gold Medal Column. So its time to rejoice and celebrate the elusive gold and not think about India getting home only 18 odd medals in those 100 odd years.

Abhinav Bindra's feat is no routine affair, well one might argue whether it can be routine when Olympics are held once in 4 years ;). Kudos to him. All the news channels must be grinning from ear to ear coz he has given them enough fodder to last till the next event. Almost Every state government has been showering him with moolah. Even MCD, yes you read it right, has announced an award of 5 lacs. (MCD - Municipal Corporation of Delhi).

Winning a Gold in Olympics is no mean feat, given the facilities, state of sports(other than cricket, that is), politics and what not. Abhinav has been lucky to be born in the Bindra household and to have a generous enough dad who got a practice facility constructed in his own backyard. But I cannot fathom the logic behind him taking up Shooting, of all sports. Let me explain, Abhinav is 25 now. Cricket became a religion exactly 25 years back. Every child growing up in those times must've been crazy about cricket. I wonder how one decided to take up Shooting, and i am glad he did. (Dont ask me how i thought of this, its almost 1 AM and am half asleep).

So 4 years back India had a shooting star, but this time around we have another one but WAY brighter.

Now comes the Setting Sun Part. On that very day, as a star was shining in one sport, the Sun was setting on a few people on a slightly different sport. Making no bones about it, India lost the 3 test series to Sri Lanka or should I say the-eternal-good-players-of-spin had been "Mendis-ed". The Fab Four (Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman) were a collective failure. As they are getting older, maybe they should be re-christined as The Flab Four. They should thank Abhinav (probably by announcing a prize money) coz he made the Loss and their failure, a less talked about topic, for a change.

The fate of the Fab Four seems to be pretty clear but whatever happens to Abhinav remains to be seen.

PS: Was chatting with a friend and a fellow blogger about India winning the GOLD. And I said, Dude this calls for a "POST" and here it is!!!

Hinglish or "Eng-di"

Listening to FM (for those into all the inflation related stuff, steer clear as i am not talkin abt our Finance Minister but abt our good ol' FM Radio), which i do everyday or should i say, "I have to do" coz its the only solace I get while driving to office in the Delhi Traffic. Before i go any further let me be forthright in clarifying that this post has nothing to do with my travelling between Noida and Gurgaon :)

The link between the topic of this post and FM Radio is that one gets to hear all the RJs blabber away in Hinglish. Mixing English with Hindi (i dont know if its the other way round, such is the extent) is like corruption of both languages. The whole point of using this lingo is to cater to the 'Generation Now'. Now I dont know if thats a good idea. I say this because I am not proud of the fact that I cannot speak even a single language perfectly.

My mother tongue is Telugu. I dont speak that perfectly because i have been brought up(well.. almost) in Delhi. Ideally i should speak perfect Hindi but thanks to the lingo we people use these days, even that is ruled out. English, well i am not a native english speaker, so this one's gone too. I wonder if anyone from my age group, whom i know, speaks any language perfectly. But one thing I am proud of for sure is that I consider my Hindi to be pretty good.

Even the film songs these days have english all over the place. Unnecessary Rap is added to each and every song to make it sound "cool". Wonder how that'll help improve the Rashtra Bhasha. In my opinion, most popular source of entertainment, read All-things-bollywood-if-not-cricket, should be used to spread social messages and care should be taken at least to save the language.

But we can take heart from the fact that a lot of hindi words are finding their place in everyday english in the west. Words like Mantra, Pucca, Guru, Pundit, Jungle, Loot, etc etc.. These words are used as they are, no changes in spelling or pronounciation. Plus there are a few more which have been adapted/altered a bit. One word belonging to this category surprised me in particular. It is Juggernaut,"a term used to describe a force regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path", which actually comes from the tradition of pulling the "Jagannath Rath" (Chariot) at Puri, Orrisa. This word was definitely worth a "dekko".

One more word, i'd like to mention here is "Doosra". This word is finding its mention in modern cricket these days.

All said and nothing done. So from now on I will make a conscious effort to find ways to improve my language(s). :)