Crafty spirit is in the air..

While I stretched my fingers after working laboriously for an hour, cutting and pasting the delicate and way-too-many groves and tiny parts for Goddess Kali paper toy, I noticed there was constant smile on my face as I enjoyed every bit of it. Compare to it with the less laborious work I do in office with lesser concentration, still not a muscle move in an attempt to smile. And a sense of satisfaction as I complete the former and excitement for getting reviews when I put the final output under the eyes of everybody around and poke again and again asking "How’s it? See from this angle..Isn't it nice?" just can not be compared with anything :D because with latter, it is like.. "Good it is over now..I can take a little break.." or "ok,Now this is over, what is next in queue?"

My association with this as I call it tiny-miny creative fun things, date back to kid days, when I used to make greeting cards for all occasions(birthday,new year,diwali..and once for raksha bandhan too :-O ) for my close friends,sister,mom-dad..basically for everybody around and little woolen dolls too :D

As the time passed, quantity reduced (now, only birthday was an important occasion to make one) but quality got better with birthday cards resembling more like a diary or a assortment of cut-outs that tell a story in itself, than a plain one. Believe me, you feel so good when u spend the entire 1-2 days working solely on something like this making the creation priceless.. not because of the things pasted on it but because of your affection sewed in between...your precious time spent and most importantly, the feelings behind it..

Though this somewhat-creative streak has lost its shine in most of the college years, when I found the varied excuses for not indulging in them like "I don’t feel like making them", "I don’t have time now”, “I am too tired”, “I don’t have any new ideas" etc etc.But in last year I found an excuse to revive the spirit with something which I haven’t made before and few paper bags emerged as the parting gifts to my college friends(It was strong enough reason to make them) :)

Apart from being full of bright colors, on each was spend good 1-2 good days to draw some detailed traditional motifs all over. I hope they liked them :-/ .And last paper bag which I crafted, I deviated from my Indian traditional designs to try out some Chinese ones and this time golden painted (not sketched) those as that was for my creative-r sister. B-)

I have realized that the difficult part of moving ahead in a particular direction is that path for improvement narrows down and one has to put much of an effort to outdo oneself(I think that’s the common problem  with many things).

I hope I would be able to think of something better, more interesting, more challenging and most importantly do justice to some tiny-miny creation to keep my bubbly spirit busy and happy. :)

Bowl of light..

As I meticulously tried to make rangoli of flowers and observing it again and again from top view to see whether it is going in right direction or not..(I was making without drawing the initial correct-dimensioned sketch of rangoli,I had to rely on my approximations) ,some bee like thoughts whizzed past me (may be because I was working with colorful flower petals, dear to bees :P ) buzzing about the whole concept of celebrations.

We-already-know-religious-reasons-you-please-don’t-repeat-them face expression can please be avoided, as I have full faith in you and am sure you all can tell me one thing or other about diwali of which I am unaware of. :)

Apart from the obvious-religious reasons, why we celebrate, why there is such hype about diwali , why after forgetting half of the other rituals we still stick to it..because we are still humans in this super-fast maddening world(though when we rush to office every day, we can be mistaken as some robots),we need some reason to be with family, with our near and dear ones, we need some fun, frolic ,some color in our oh-so-mundane life before we switch back to normal scheduled life.

I am not denying the fact that even this festival of festivals has witnessed some changes as the years have passed, now there are Chinese lights flickering in our balcony, Italian idols of ganesha and laxmi being prayed, wishes in the forms of forwarded sms(I think even this era of thousands of diwali sms is going to end ,thanx to service providers which charge exuberantly on these days) , face book gtalk "happy diwali :)" status, exchanging gifts to show off money, new glittering clothes to turn others green etc etc.But it is still a day which nobody in India can ignore, everybody flocks down to be with their family, clean their home, decorate them(making rangoli like me is one of The things),eat sumptuous foodie delights, gorge on sweets, be stuck in jams for a week ahead of diwali and being alone and not doing all these things is looked down upon as something pitiful.

This is one time we bond with people, one just can not escape from it,no "I am busy" status works today. You have to be part of it, and most importantly you want to be part of it. :)

You want to belive there is still some goodness left as you smile prettily to every passing person and automatically utter "happy diwali" followed by another flash of teeth. You want to believe that today gorging on sweets is considered fine, even though you were following strict diet for month,afterall its diwali. :)

You want to believe all is well.. as you stare wide eyed all the glamorous lights which are just everywhere around you.

When you chuckle and say wooooooooooow(your wooooow sound follow the path of shooter..) as the shooter goes whiz past you and breaks into an umbrella of lights streaks filing the sky with gamut of colors and jump as the chakri whirls merrily on the floor, you forget all the worries for a while.

And when we go to sleep, tired of all the preparations and celebrations, there is bowl of light which is still burning in your heart warming your soul which is actually the whole point of this. :)

Hangout in kitchen-Chilli Soya Nuggets!

Since this blog is so closely related to me that even if some thought crosses my mind and its worth sharing,it become the next topic of the blog.So,though a little out of context this post may seem,but this is new dimension to smiling mystic cloud,u can say :)

Today was my rare,no actually very rare stint in kitchen(generally I am super lazy and hardly step into kitchen to make something,mom is not happy with this though :-| )So,I like to share recipe of chilli soya nuggets and my experience of making it. :)

I had this dish first time in college canteen,that was our favorite hangout place in winters esp. for hot tea with momos or chilli soya or nuterla as we used to refer it.One of my friend once tried to peek in the kitchen to get the secret recipe but his effort got in vain when he tried that supposed-to-be magical recipe at home and it didn't turn out well.Recently I tried this at office cafeteria(why I always found this in canteen..is not a issue to ponder upon :P ),which made me remember the first one again and compelled me to try it :)

Enough with blabber,here is the recipe to help you make some for yourself as there is no chance that anything is still left with me because it got finished within minutes :D

1.Chop 2 medium onions and 1 medium/large capsicum in cubes and separate those quarter onion pieces into layers and keep them aside.

2.Heat water in a beaker,put a bowl full of soya nuggets in it along with a pinch of salt and let it boil for 5 minutes till little froth starts clogging the surface.

3.Make a even batter with little water and 1 tablespoon maida or cornflour,such that it is not too thick and dip your boiled (now cooled and water squeezed out from them..ofcourse) nuggets.

4.Deep Fry these now-batter-coated nuggets in oil(of your choice) till they become golden brown and crisp from outside(if you are new to cooking like me,you will be feared of those naughty nuggets jumping in oil and spattering tiny hot oil drops on your hands :( )  Here,fry the nuggets in medium gas flame such that they are not undercooked from inside as there are chances of them turning prematurely golden brown in high flame.Result should be crisp from outside but spongy when pressed.

5.Now,remove the excess oil from pan such that there is enough oil to saute chopped onion and capsicum,now saute them till they become soft and little golden in color.

6.Take vegetables out from pan and now add tomato puree(1 table spoon) to the remaining oil and add spices(garlic,red chilli powder,salt,black pepper) and mix them for a minute.

7.Prepare a mixture of half table spoon vinegar,1 table spoon maida/corn flour,water,soya sauce(3 table spoon) and mix well and pour this mixture to the above pan.

8.Add tomato ketchup(1 table spoon) and fried vegetables to the gravy and mix the contents and let it cook for 5 minutes.You can add desired quantity of water to make the gravy thickness as desired.

9.Add those fried nuggets in now nice-smelling mixture and also,1 table spoon vinegar to it.Mix well till all nuggets are well coated with gravy,cover the pan and cook for 5 more difficult-to-wait minutes.

Serve hot(you have to because you cant wait to let it cool) and garnish accordingly. :)

P.S. - Keep the gas flame on lower side while dealing with gravy part as there are high chances of getting it stick to the pan otherwise.
Time limit mentioned in the recipe was 45 minutes but I,a newbee in cooking,took a whole hour.

I hope your results of the above experiment are positive :)

Flickering Flame!

As the electricity went out and candle was lighted and placed,I who has always been intrigued by its burning flame(this I do from childhood :D ),started playing with it ..irritating it,placing stick in its way,making shadow figures like I was kid again. :-) Fun it was! :)

After a while,as I sat in complete darkness and stared at this feeble flickering flame,my mind started flickering from past to present,present to future and so on...all sorts of thoughts clouded..passing hurriedly through my mind one by one.In these flashbacks of past,reality of present and hopes for future,a mix bag of emotions got opened and I was lost in it..

As I was chuckling merrily remembering the good old moments with family and friends,tide turned to bitterness that failures in past have brought mixed with frustration of present forcing the expression to go grim..

Whenever I remember past,all the failures seem to sound okay,in a way encouraging me that I had come out all fine from those and I can sail through present tough conditions too.On the other hand,all the good things though they bring back joy feeling but ending it with a weak smile,all that great time is lost now and I didn't give its due importance at that moment and how I am going to miss those moments,those people.Big irony,isn't it!!

Thinking of present,brings dissatisfaction with myself,the trying to prove to the world,to myself,striving hard for it.Sometimes,there is contentment in some aspects of life but there is always something missing which keeps on crawling in mind keeping us going ahead.

Future is something which is so full of uncertainty,what I would be doing 5 years from now..and there are always some told-untold dreams which sweep across which I could actually imagine happening right here ,right now.

And suddenly,sharp burning tinge brought me back in reality from the thoughts of who I was,who I am,and who I am going to be..which threw me in trance state!!There I was playing with the flickering flame lost in my tiny world of memories,thoughts and dreams..

Comfy couch!!!

                     I want to do this because I am good at it.

This line we all have heard and uttered many a times.

Is it really just being good at something that determines your soul attention or is it just your comfort zone that you have build in the passing years which does not let you take even a whiff of other things.

As the years have passed, we all have developed a close knit zone in which we are good at and nurtured it with the belief that why do anything else when there is no point in putting the extra efforts.

It is good.. actually very good that we have found something which is our strong point, of which we are the master. But on the other hand, we are denying ourselves the privilege of doing or knowing some other things. We may be not that proficient in other things and there is a very little probability that we succeed or do well at the first attempt. But isn’t that called experience?

Doing same thing again and again (Although perfectly and perfection comes with a lot of efforts.. there is no denying to that fact) makes the life mundane and monotonous and in some sense stagnant.

The main huddle that comes in way is our fear of failure, our uneasiness, and awkwardness in trying new things. Remember, in childhood, we never wanted to switch schools, as that was our comfort zone and we had to start all over again at new place, making new friends(who may be evil and make fun),adjusting to the new environment .Similarly, now we stick to our jobs..projects just for the sake of being comfortable in them.

Such is the grip of comfy couch, that we crib, get irritated, know deep down under that it is not good for us in long run, but still coming out of it remains difficult task.But when there comes crossroads and the decision of remaining there or moving ahead becomes inevitable and we eventually go by our little brain's wish, though new change is awkward at first, but it becomes familiar in sometime.

People who generally keep breaking shackles of comfy couch and be a nomadic, people call them volatile personality, not ready to get settled in life but we secretly admire this zeal or envy them for actually doing what we thought of doing but only thought but never executed..Never!!!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!!!

Before you wonder what is it all about...let me throw some torchlight on it, it’s a modernized age fairytale which writer claims that its unlike others because it doesn’t try to preach any morals and its written solely for the purpose to please children.

So,if there is no purposeful sounding purpose then why I am writing it even.. :-/

Its just that I saw something in it that compelled me to pen down about it...

It talks about how a stuffed scarecrow, tin woodman, coward lion along with little girl Dorothy is in search of 'Wonderful wizard of Oz' to get what they lack 'brains’(obviously!!), ‘heart' (he was hollow tinman ),'courage' ( now,that a news..a coward lion) respectively and little girl wish to go back to her home place. Though it seem hilarious..about the absurd demands, but its happens in fairy tales :)

They used to believe that they lack those things and can go any length to get those. But in reality those supposed-to-be missing qualities reside in them only, its just that they had to believe in themselves.

When that fake 'wonderful wizard' put in them some absurd things like pins,plastic heart to make them feel that they have it now, they started thinking,feeling,being courageous etc.

It was just a matter of believing in oneself!!!! (Wow.. we finally saw some sense in this topic :-P )

The point of this whole story is all about believing in oneself.

If a person believe in oneself then he/she can actually do beyond his/her capability sometimes..

It happens sometimes that we underestimate ourselves so much that we dont even barge into the unknown territory and always remain in the fear of failure in it, and who knows we may be good at it..and we just lost the chance of knowing that.

For that ,sometimes it’s the self realization that do the magic or someone's else believe in us and our capabilities..(I am not talking about sycophants who just raves about anything with no truth underneath.. that blabber results in just bubbled over confidence that dies down when you have an accident with the reality. :P)

And when that someone believes and make us believe that we are truly that capable, we start noticing its signs in it and after sometime, become normal with the thought that Yes!! we are just that and with that confidence, results are marvelous..I tell you :-)

So,try to be that person who be the one to make your dearest ones believe that they are special(without listening to their cribs about how worthless they are like a worn-out penny) and they have in it them to do wonders in something special that you can notice because you know them :).

Or be the one with daring heart who can come out of that negative cob web that doesn’t let you move ahead just because you have some preconceived notion about your worthlessness!!

Or just find a 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz' who can make you realize just that!!! :)

Typing ":-)" doesn’t mean that you are happy!!!

coz if that's the case..then it would have been so easy!!

But its not!!!!

Being a emoek(emoticon geek.. who uses emoticons too generously sprinkling them all over the chats and everywhere.. and type in jiff all the yahoo ones(still..) ,gmail... and now sametime.. bt only aptly B-) .. n yes,dts a new invented word by me ;-) ) myself , I can surely( but sadly) say that whenever I type in a second  :-) as promptly as I can...there is very little probability that even a little muscle moved in an attempt to smile.. Naa.. Naa.. don't think like I am some stonehearted person who never smiled :-( .. I think I smile a lot.. :D

What I am trying to do is throw some light on what we all do and don’t actually mean it!!!

Few days ago, I saw some facebook status which read "LOL" is the new way of saying "I really have nothing to say !!"

Yes,it depicts the truth.. even the big version of smile -> "LOL" cannot tingle the required emotion..

When someone customarily ask "How are you?" ,the safe bet answer remains the same as we are taught in school "fine..(followed by :-)/smile),because this is the only reply which doesn’t  generate fresh enquiries and you wanted just that. Only when you want to discuss how are you actually, then you reply in anything other than "fine".Irony, you see!

So,:),LOL,ROFL have lost their meaning and are just phrases which are common in use but hardly generate what they claim to be..see those emoticon faces when they are typed.. soo happy.. soo full of life..though sometime after seeing other's sent emoticon :-) , I smile..

Another argument is that can happiness be inferred from actual real life smile!!! If your answer is big YES!! then you are wrong dear..

Smile is one deception which people keep throwing at each other..because it project you as friendly in nature(I am not talking about smirking here :P ) and you have nothing else to respond when someone known passes by and also, when you don't know what is being asked (It is a best tool in viva.. :P smile helplessly)

I can manage a smile in tears also just for the sake of it..(many others may fit in this category also..)

And now such moments are so rare, when we are actually complaining of tummy and cheek ache because of one good laugh which seems neverending...

And believe me, when one is actually happy, we just don’t need to ask .. it shows in gleaming eyes..jump in step and frequent giggles.. and then even :-) seems genuine..

Pack your Bags and GOOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!!

Whooppp!! Caught you as you trembled down with my GOOOOOOoooo push!! Easy Easy...Dont Think in the sense that I am asking you to go away in a fit of rage.. No..No..No.... I am not that cruel!! Am I? :-/

I am just saying that it’s time to go for a trip!!!!

:O :O ooohh... Dont give me that look which tells me that I am mad in suggesting that!!! “It’s not even summer vacations or winter christmas ones”.. soo...??

Arrey.. we are not school kids or even college ones anymore.. who wait for their scheduled vacations to embark on a trip..waise bhi in extreme weather we prefer to be in office safe from all the adverse conditions outside, but in the perfect mausam ,we long to go out.. and plus, we hardly get vacations (not even those to which we are entitled).Besides that ,do you remember ,that all our school trips/picnics or even college tours used to happen in October only!!

Because of the simple reason that in this period of time, its neither too hot nor too cold.. nor too rainy..(I hope you have noticed that monsoons are out officially too.. n if u havent then u desperately need a break, my dear..you are overworked!!!)  and a  little plesant cool breeze is all around us(specially in morning/evening.. to notice that you have to roll down your car's window panes..okk!!!)

So, let you hair down.. From being a boring geeky utterly career oriented professional to a normal human being...who deserves a time-out from one's superbly hectic life... and enjoy with family or friends..

or even nomadic people..who are out on trips all the time of the year(of whom we are all jealous and awestruck.. that how on earth they find time to go out..(here,I am not refering to the hippies..but to your fellow workers who post awesome trip pics every month on facebook..and leave you all green :P)),I am sure you already have a plan chalked out and tickets done..but if you haven’t, you can arrange one in a jiff!!

So, frustrated overworked poor souls out there, you can practice all the calmness mantras later on..first plan a good trip to some place where you want to be(personally,I prefer a beautiful green place where I don’t find horde of my species..being in Delhi all life long..makes you want some peace, but as the people vary.. their opinions of perfect holiday destination too vary!!)  and it need not to be long moment-to-moment meticulously planned trip(when you will stop being all prim and proper!!),it can be of any duration, given you enjoy it and not crib about the work that is mounting in your absence...

Believe me, the cool peaceful breezy thing works wonders and when you will come back... You will feel more human than a money making machine!! :) 

So, google around, make plans, call your buddies and gooooooooooooo!!!! :D