Quo Vadis?

PANEER BHURJI RECIPE Ingredients: 200 gms Paneer 1 tbsp Oil 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds 2 Green Chillies 1 Small Onion 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder 1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste 1 medium Tomato 1/2 tsp Salt Preparation: Chop the onions, tomatoes and chillies finely. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan, add the cumin seeds, chopped onions and the ginger garlic paste, fry till brown. Add the chillies and tomatoes and fry till they are soft and pulpy. Add turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and little water so that all the masalas are well combined. Add grated paneer and fry for 5 minutes till the paneer blends into the masala. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot।    Why is this here? Because it was my first culinary adventure and it was good. Try it and comment.

When we were इन school (my bro and I) summer vacation meant a trip to our native place Coimbatore. Usually we take the overnight train, but the most enjoyable trips were those by the Kovai Express. Kovai express for those in the know is a super fast train that covers the distance of 495 kms in 8 hrs. Simple arithmetic would tell you that the average speed is 62 km/hr. Makes you wonder now if super fast is 62 kms in India what would we call the bullet trains when Lalu इनtroduces them. Anyway back to the Kovai express, it brings back memories of fighting for the “window seat” so that we may watch the landscape going by. The constantly changing landscapes, the occasional bridges with their thunderous noises kept us entertained till we eventually dozed off in the heat. An additional attraction of these journeys was the pantry car, which was a novelty in those days. I was a big fan of the cutlets in those days and the novelty of eating on the move made it so much more enjoyable. The chair c...

A good picture speaks a thousand words. Go ahead and take a good look at the picture, it is a gem to be saved for at least one decade when these three characters will be found within one photo unless someone tries Photoshop. Now that you have looked at the picture and have not got the 1000 words as yet, then let me add at least a few. L to R Rajesh aka “Thanni” (SCS 41) after his unending thirst while in Loyola College. Banish all thoughts that his thirst was for knowledge in that exalted environs or even a mundane thirst that can be quenched by H2O or tender coconut, this was the thirst for a higher spirit (s) that can be so uplifting that one will scarcely know what one is doing. Anyway Rajesh’s other claim to fame includes being a good cricket player, a great whistler and above all a reliable friend. You can bank on him in need and he will help you. Completely unassuming with a great sense of humour, he made college fun. Currently Rajesh is in Toronto and is one step away from his C...

“Fete de la musique” or the festival of music if you please organized by The Alliance Francais of Madras hosted a rock show yesterday. This is a brief recount of the same. I like rock music and I like the rockers of old who interspersed great music with some vocals that ranged from the silly, to thought provoking to simply bizarre. However bands of late have found that metal is the best way to fame and they create noise of varying intensities and cause aching eardrums, not to mention a splitting head ache. Now I do try to visit rock shows for two reasons; One, the chance of seeing live acts and two the chance to hear some home grown bands coming out with their own comps, hoping fervently that one day they may be the next big thing. Anyway I was invited for this show by my friend Mario who was the bassist of the band that opened for the visiting band from France. Being a Sunday and also being a non-ticketed show it was worth a look in so I went with a small group of friends. The opening...

Remember the Xth commandment? Ok, don’t be embarrassed; it says “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods” coming after not coveting the neighbour’s wife, one would expect that this commandment would be the easier to follow. I thought so till, I happened to sit into the latest Honda Civic. Let me first clarify that D is often pissed when I say that she is my third love preceded by my bike and my car. Now I don’t know how many women will accept this (though I have the sneaky feeling that they may have similar experiences), I believe that I am not isolated among the men. So I drool over gorgeous women, after all a thing of beauty is joy forever and any creator always will take delight in the appreciation of his works by true connoisseurs. I am one of those connoisseurs and when I see a gorgeous girl I appreciate the work of the Divine creator. Anyway coming back to the topic I drool whenever I see a beautiful car and I do it unabashedly. So it happened that day when I saw the Civic and...

Hi!!!!!! Actually another Blogger ( http://www.bonappetite.blogspot.com/ ) whose blog I read regularly inspired this post. She had written about her first date experiences and it just took me into Nostalgia Avenue. So I commented on her blog and then decided that I can expand my comment and save it for posterity, so here goes…. My first date, it was my first actual date, you know the type when a guy and a girl decide to meet, eat and then see what will happen next (no wicked ideas please) kind of meeting happened in my first year of under graduation. Those were the days when dating happened in Archie comics and not in the average middle class teenager’s social life. Anyway it so happened that one very pretty girl actually wanted to meet me and invited me for an “ice cream or something”. After the euphoria of getting a date with a girl whom my friend and I were drooling over for some time ended, realization sunk in. Where do you go for your first date? Where do you get the legal tender ...

Hi! Today is June 15th 2007; the day “The Boss” is rocking the town. Finally Shivaji is being released worldwide and this is supposedly the biggest release ever with the maximum number of prints hitting the screens. This movie has all the ingredients to make it big. A big banner, a huge budget, the biggest star in the country, a world global music director, a blockbuster director with no flop history, a sure hit formula and the expectation of millions are the ingredients for a sure fire success story. Now if you have watched the English news channels of late all of them have devoted huge airtimes to the Superstar. I was initially puzzled at this hype created by the northern media houses while our local media have downplayed it comparatively. Then I realized that they were trying to come to terms with this phenomenon that is The Superstar and his Movies. They were just unable to digest that their big daddy of Bollywood, Mr. Amitabh Bacchan has had his thunder stolen and made to look as...

This Sunday there was an overdose of good sporting action on the sports channels, notably the ESPN Star Sports duo. After several hours of mind numbing re-runs of the precious few India victories on the cricket field it was a real pleasure to watch three good matches of three different sporting disciplines. 1) The Afro Asian Cup match three : For a tournament that was held with the grandiose promise of “Cricket for Unity” to raise funds for the development of Africa cricket, I wonder how much money was actually raised judging by the sparse crowd that turned up for all the matches and near absence of advertisements that indicated acute apathy to a “showpiece event”. The fact that many of the “superstars” were absent did not rob the final match (in fact the entire tournament) of some thrilling moments. After Shaun Pollock came so agonizingly close to winning one match single handed, the third match was played purely for African pride having already lost the series. The African skipp...

D sent me this mail, after hearing my constant ranting and raving of my workplace. After a read I realized that I was not alone!!!! This makes for an intersting read..... WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS ? - Azim Premji, CEO- Wipro Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay or profile. Early this year, Mark, a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer. He had heard a lot about the CEO. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office and the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food. Twice Mark was sent abroad for training. 'My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been,' he said soon after he joined. Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Mark walked out of the job. Why did this talented ...

Hey its that time when I have to send my farewell letter to my present employer,in this case ABN AMRO Bank NV and move on. Now I have been flattered before when my joining letter and my farewell letters have been saved by many of my erstwhile colleagues for their future use. Apparently my style was well received, so I thought why not save my letter for my own nostalgia trips later and so here goes.... Hi, Do you know the origin of the term "Good bye"? Let me explain, in medieval England travellers used to go by stage coaches (horse drawn carriages) from one town to another. These stage coaches used to travel during the day time generally for fear of being attacked by wild animals or worse the feared highway men. So whenever people set out on long journeys especially in the evenings their friends and relatives used to wish them saying "God By Ye" (God be with you). In course of time this blessing became convulted to Goodbye. So every time we say good bye, we infact g...

Hi! Today is the 1st of June 2007 and if you are living in Tamilnadu you must wear a helmet if you ride a bike or even ride pillion on a bike. And surprise, surprise on my way to office I saw the ban take effect almost 100%. The 1% are those fool hardy idiots who still choose to ignore the ban. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people wearing sparkling brand new helmets prominently displaying the "ISI" mark on them. What gladdened my heart even more was that I saw a few riders have an extra helmet with them on the bike presumably for their other halves when they ride with them. Way to go people!!! Now let us think about this 1%, well suicide is not permitted by law but I supose if someone is so foolhardy to play with his / her life, no amount of legislation will help. Is the helmet rule or for that matter the seat belt rule so draconian? It simply is not. Wake up. Helmet may not keep you from getting killed but it can minimise the injuries by a great deal. The Hindu ...