Blessings on the shelf

Last week thousands of deeply religious people saw the very basis of their faith crumble to pieces, when the revered Makara Jyoti at Sabarimala was suspected to be nothing short of man-made. While this has not yet been proven, it does make one wonder about the basis of our religious faiths.

We create temples in any free space of land, contribute generously to adorn an idol asking for blessings in return, begin any activity only before or after the Rahukala, admonish anyone who doesn't perform poojas and celebrate festivals at the peril of financial woes. We have unknowingly and relentlessly driven ourselves into a life of unnecessary obligations. We even feel obligated to God, or our understanding of it.


We spend an entire life gossiping, smirking at another's loss, wishing to make some more, and then travel to holy places in order to achieve salvation. We keep a Bhagavad Gita on a shelf and learn each verse by-heart without ever understanding it. We speak of virtuous heros in mythological epics only to forget it. I find absolutely no logical connection between what we preach and what we practice.


We have surrounded ourselves with convenient methods to help us believe that we have washed away our sins and alleviated from petty thoughts. We bathe in the dirt ridden Ganga to clean ourselves. We unfailingly visit a neighbourhood temple, after spending the entire week arguing with our spouse and children. Our escape routes are easy. It involves a ringing a bell, 10Rs in the 'Hundi', 3 turns and a full stretch on the floor to feel more devout.

Do we think of our religion as an escape route from the dark chambers of our minds? Have we just made an object of our beliefs, wrapped them in a pretty package and placed them on mantels, only to assume that all's well...?

Happy New Year...!!! Wait..... But, why...?

January 1, the beginning of a year.

Yes, it's the first day of the Gregorian Calendar and we would've seen 365.25 days by the end of the cycle. Does any of that give us a reason to celebrate? Let's take a stroll around the world and see what's called as the first day of the year in all the different places that exist. Well, lets look at a few, if not all. The Earth's an awfully big place.

We can start with the obvious: India. What's common with the words Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Baisakhi, and few others I haven't heard of? They are all days the beginning of the spring season, a New Year is ushered in.

The Chinese New Year? Anytime between mid-January and mid-February. Also called the Spring Festival.

The Jewish celebrate their New Year 163 days after 'Rosh Hashanah', which was between September 8-10 this year.

The Irish celebrated their New Year at the end of the summer and called it Samhian which marked the end of summer.

Some civilizations opted to celebrate their New Year at the beginning of spring as that marked the start of seeding time. And that's quite logical since most of life revolved around agriculture. And then some associated it with other traditions that I will leave out from the blog to stop it from being a full fledged history class.

Of course, most of the population in today's world is so far removed from agriculture, that it's impossible to associate any day as the beginning of a planting and seeding season or a harvesting season.


Traditions ask that we call the first day of spring as New Year. That might make some sense in today's world. It's around the same time most working people get their raises, isn't it? And not everyone celebrates their raises. :)


That doesn't mean I wont wish people on that day. I will. Because the Gregorian calendar was formulated after some pretty serious astronomical observation and mathematical genius and there is, hidden in all of the +,-,*,/ and other mathematical calculations I have forgotten, logic in calling January 1 the first day of the year.

But, honestly, how many of us really know why there are 365.25 days in a year and why the year has to begin on Januaray1. And of what use is a 'New Year' day if it depicts nothing to us? For all my life, nothing spectacular has happened on January 1 of any year. It's just another day. Nothing more, nothing less. Does something change in our lives, no. Do we file our taxes on that day, no. Do we spend the day/night eating, drinking and making merry for no apparent reason, yes.

Tell me, if it is, why is January 1 so special to you?

This year for me, it a long holiday weekend for my husband, which makes our 'New Year weekend' great! Cheers to the 3 day food extravaganza...! And that would apply to a lot of other long weekends this year.

Anyway, putting aside all speculations, here's wishing you a very Happy New Year. Have a great time with your family and friends. My best wishes to your health, work, and life. :)

Let this be a new start to all of our old habits! :))

The cake that takes the cake! Thanks, mum!

Right. One of my posts explained my undying love for the all important Christmas Cake, Plum cake, whatever you wish to call it. I call it the King of Cakes. You see, when you put aromatic spices, a variety of dried fruits and nuts, rum and wine, all together, I don't see how to result can be anything short of spectacular.

So, in preparation for the annual tradition of plum cake baking, I made a trial loaf of the cake today. The verdict, YUM! And I will take only 10% of the credit for it. Simply because I moved my limbs to mix the ingredients. The true star, the person who deserves almost all the credit for this cake is my mum. Firstly, for engraving the memory of this cake indelibly into my mind. Secondly, for coming up with a recipe as great as this.

This one I will put on a pedestal and stare at, while eating it, until there's none of it left. :) A picture, that unfortunately falls short in conveying how delicious this cake is. To truly appreciate it, you must savor it.

Thank you mom for this.... Really....!

Thank God for Eggs....!

I'm madly in love with eggs. They are, according to me, the most complete and versatile food that nature can provide. Complete because of their nutrient factor and versatile because... Well, begin to make a list of what can be made with eggs in it and the list would be long. Really long.

There's something beautiful about the runny jelly white and the golden silkiness of the yolk that beckons you to them. I can't think of a kitchen without eggs. From runny yolks that drool out of a white curtain of albumen when poached to stiff snowy peaks that make a cake batter as light as clouds. I could go on and on... But  the reason I speak so highly of eggs is due to an entire pan of chiffon cake that is filling my entire home with the aroma of vanilla while rising to a dreamy fluffy texture that, when eaten, lasts for a mere second in your mouth. Folding in all that frothy egg white was the most therapeutic work I've ever done. The custard-y mix of batter was transformed into the most smooth and silky batter. Dotted with tiny dots of vanilla bean, it looked so pristine.

An entire pan of it sits cooling off in my kitchen begging me to douse them in pineapple syrup and load them with light whipped cream, to help me culminate a long hoarded dream. That of a decadent, melt-in-the-mouth pineapple pastry. Wish me luck!

It's all about food now...

I find that the best way to spend time is by cooking. Having all this time is a huge advantage when you wanna try something new. And I honestly do not have anything else to write about presently other than what I have managed to make in the kitchen of late. So, it's just what i'm blogging about.

The star of all the latest kitchen successes is a simple and easy thing. But, had a pretty devastating, good-devastating, effect when we ate them. Presenting  a mound of pillowy-fluffy-dreamy marshmallows.

Apart from having home-made super delicious marshmallows, it's being able to add flavors and colors that's so appealing. Nothing like what's home made. And oh so simple! If you wanna try these, you can get the recipe here. Alton Brown's a godsend just for this.

Another advantage of having all this time is to come up with spur of the moment ideas like making Sondesh and Ras Malai. Which is precisely what happened on a boring Tuesday. I'm so proud of these. Who knew it was so damn simple to make!

Amongst the recipes that a good cook should always having with her/him is one for a drool-guaranteed chocolate cake recipe. I went through 3 total disasters before i found one which was titled 'Best chocolate cake ever'. And aptly so. It's a mean cake... Dense, moist and melts in the mouth. This one's for keeps. And here's what it looks like. Before the ganache and after the ganache. Heaven!

 
For the record, my mom's the most exceptional cook i've ever seen. I think I get this food obsession from her. She has made innumerable dishes over the years. Some of which I wish she has a patent for. One of them is her recipe for a Christmas Plum cake, something we have turned into a tradition. It's made each year, either during christmas or new year's. It brings together things I love. Baking, cake, spices, liquor, and an intoxicating aroma that baking fills the home with. I could put this cake on a pedestal and look at it for hours. It's the ultimate gastronomic experience. Nothing comes close to this cake. Absolutely nothing. And I think I am ready to take on the challenge of perfecting this one. Soon... :)

Cooking's great fun. Even better when you have someone to share it with. It has almost reached a point of obsession for me. I HAVE to make something new, ever so often. And according to me, the best time of the year to cook is during winter. I have no idea how cold it's gonna get here, but as long as it's cold, I always crave a lot of food. It's good food times ahead! :)

Credit Card Webs

For all the time I was working in Bangalore, I always wondered why people who earned a decent sum of money would want to live a life on credit? And who ever came up with the concept of awarding a point for every 100Rs spent is an absolute genius. Because it's so damn easy to lure people into taking loans when they can afford not to by simply telling them that they'd be rewarded for it. No matter how small and stupid the reward is. I actually thank myself for not buying a credit card. It's that one decision that helped me save a lot. And use that money on things that actually gave me value. 

Consuming is good. But it's sad that it has reached such voyeuristic proportions that people can almost not live without it. I know of a person who spent 4000Rs on a pair of trousers which he said he had not worn more than once. What's this insane temporary joy we thrive on? How genius is it that someone devised a method to make people spend and be happy about it because the expense isn't immediately reflected in their bank account. If i'd use a debit card or cash to buy something worth 1000bucks, i'd see a dip in my savings the moment I spend it. And that's pretty darn effective in making me not buy things I could very well do without. However, if one were to buy the same object and still not see a dip in the savings, and be ok with it, I know that the person's seeing a mirage.

Consider stuff like Shopper's Stop membership cards, where they are so eager to award 1 point to me every time I spend 100Rs. And after I accumulate 100 points, I can buy something valued at 100Rs. Now, there's nothing that costs 100Rs at shopper's stop that I fancy, right. So, I wait until i've accumulated 500Rs and then buy something 'worth' 500Rs and show it off with glee. All this without fully realising that i'd have spent 500x100Rs. Now, i'm happy that I wasn't ME. It was some poor soul caught in an unforgiving web of consumerism.

And it's now that i see that my aversion to credit cards holds good. The United States lives on credit cards. And how i hate that! Swipe and buy; pay later. Why would that make me happy? I cannot, for the life of me, understand that. What would make me happy is knowing that i am capable of spending from what i have saved. It gives me a sense of accomplishment in knowing that i can afford buying something. But no, that's not how it works. Buy first, borrowing when there's no necessity, slowly build a huge bill, and then realize you are in debt. Even if the debt is $1000, I'd still hate it because i know i can afford to pay that much without the damn loan.

And the irony is that we can't do away with these damn credit cards because that's how we're gonna buy anything that has any value later on. Want a house? Show me your credit score. Want a car? Show me your credit score... You see, we're driven it to a point where we must take loans to be given some loan sometime in the future. So I have to, HAVE TO, use a credit card.

We are required to prove that we have a history of clearing loans to be able to take a bigger loan. While that might make sense from some twisted angle, it's still funny. In the simple world, trusting someone who has taken a lot of loans is a no-no.

The world would be a better place without credit cards. Do it the old fashioned way. Save and spend. Making things easier to buy has led us to downfall. Can someone please learn from it already?

The revised ballot....

We're are a couple of centimeters away from becoming the laughing stock of the world. With the way the Commonwealth Games are being (dis)organized, it makes me wonder if it can get any worse. But i'm sure they'll outdo themselves, which is sad.

How in the world can one toilet paper roll cost Rs 3700? What kind of a treadmill's offered on hire for one and a half month at the price of 10lakh? As you begin to read the list of prices for these things it makes you laugh and frown at the same time. Buildings on the verge of a collapse, grounds with stagnant water, ceilings of asbestos, these are the conditions that the CWG committee has decided to provide world-class athletes. 87 trips across the world, even to countries that aren't commonwealth countries, make you see that the games were used as a means to spoil themselves with uninhibited luxury. At the cost of the nation's pride, they have far surpassed all possible notions we had about corruption. Such open misuse of the tax payer's money, such hoarding of cash has never been seen before.

Think of the number of athletes who have trained day-in and day-out for the last few years, hopeful of their next Commonwealth victory. It's unfortunate for them that Kalmadi and Co. were given responsibility to build adequate infrastructre for the games. If only they knew how incapable these people are. Now the country has to somehow, come hell of high water, build this entire thing. In 2 months!

So here's an interesting option to the ballot. Apart from the list of people we add, we must also add another option which says 'none of the above'. Quite obviously no one does anything about preventing these people trying to become leaders, we can at least do something about rejecting them all, can we not?

But to do that, imagine the 'chakravyuha' of corruption we need to get through. Daunting, so we give up. :) Unless we wanna take up the challenge and put our life, our family's life in danger. The only downside is that after these buffoons spend crores on campaigning, it'll allow some more buffoons to campagin with some more crores; thereby making space for expenditure of more corrupt money. And then these rejected candidates would reveal their true 'thug-spirit' and wreak havoc on all those who vote for 'none of the above'.

Can never escape it, can we? We now resign ourselves into folding our arms across our chest, sighing, shaking our heads in despair and sit down to discuss it over dinner.

Ending this blog with citing the most obnoxious statement made by the senile 80 year old Union Minister for Sports and YOUTH (lol) affairs, Mr. M. S. Gill, who said in the Parliament while discussing about the CWG fiasco, "Rab sab kuch sambhaal lega".

ROTFL.....! Even God wouldn't wanna get into this insane mess, Mr. Gill.....!