10 Things I Hate about Cricket

I hate everything about Cricket
I hate the way Tendulkar creates new milestones every half a mile
I hate the way The Wall disappoints his critics all the while
I hate Laxman for letting his willow talk so eloquently
I hate Kumble for not letting his age catch up with him silently
I hate Mahi for combining power with strategy elegantly
I hate Gambhir for being irrestitably cute while hitting a sixer
I hate Yusuf Pathan for not letting the other batsman score in the Super Over
I hate the Deccan Chargers for forgetting that they finished last in previous season
I hate Gony for his smile, hell I dont need another reason
but mostly I hate the way I don't hate them all
Not even close, not even a little bit , not even at all


Inspired by '10 Things I hate about You' , one of the movies I like.

I' m lost

Oh my god I'm lost .. completely lost....
Nothing seems to matter anymore...
The birds, the bees,the beauty of flowers,
Everything in the universe seems to be momentarily meaningless.
My life has been reduced to mere existence now.
I've lost my connection to the world,
I can't hear my hubby' s voice
I can't pester my mom for the recipe of Shahi Paneer.
I can't click pictures of my two year old kid while she is at it again,
I never knew losing it would cause so much pain



OK chill guys , I just lost my CellPhone again.

Right to Freedom of Expression

India is one of the largest secular democracies in the world and as citizens we enjoy certain rights. For ages India has been a thriving center for many religions like Hinduism , Christianity , Islam , Buddhism, Jainism and is known for its tolerance for each other. Among these Hinduism is the oldest religion and majority of the population are Hindus. So when India became free in 1947, it only made sense to many to declare India a Soveriegn Socialist Secular Republic. Our Constitution enlists our Fundamental Rights and Duties and as citizens it is imperative to follow them.
One of the most important Right is the right to Freedom of Expression and this happens to be the most misused one. A lot of liberties are taken in the name of this right and protests from religious groups that their sentiments are hurt, have become commonplace. The World has seen what happened in the Danish cartoon issue regarding Prophet Mohammed. Religion and religious sentiments have become touche subjects. Stoking religious sentiments has been the shortcut to becoming an overnight celebrity by many. One of the most high profile of these cases is that of MF Hussain. I have heard of the controversies surrounding the painter but never actually understood what the fuss was about.
Recently I chanced upon a website which is protesting the famous painter MF Hussain's portrayal of Hindu deities in nude and explicit postures, and they have enlisted his paintings there. It was OFFENSIVE to say the least and derogatory and disgusting in many ways. Nude art.. I can understand, but explicit depiction of Hindu Deities.. sorry that is not art in any way...Not that it is a burning issue of national importance but being a Hindu and a tolerant one at that, I was deeply pained to see the offensive works portraying Deities of my religion in a demeaning manner.

Considering the works have been produced long back, and some Hindu groups are protesting now, I guess its a case of better late than never. The artist sure has Right to Artistic Expression but not to hurt religious sentiments of people. Consider this : One painting shows Lord Hanuman in the nude, fighting Ravan who has Seeta Maa in nude sitting on his thigh. This depiction can at best be termed 'GROSS'. Hanuman is a devotee of Lord Rama and Seeta is considered Mother by him, and Ravan according to the Ramayana has never touched Seeta, let alone sitting on his thigh, that too nude( Husain himself said he depicted Hitler nude in one painting to show his hatred). If the guy is interested in art then he has to choose his subjects carefully, and if it concerns a religion other than his, he has to do a research at least. What he has done actually is to deliberately berate Deities and intentionally hurt religious sentiments of Hindus. The hypocrisy of this pervert can be established by his double standards in his paintings. Sample this: he depicts Goddess Saraswati in nude and his stepmother, daughter and Prophet's daughter Fathima fully clothed. I'm not saying he has to paint them nude too, but why Hindu Deities?

The guy has surely taken it too far and I fully support the groups that are protesting( as long as it is by peaceful and lawful means like petitions in courts). It is unfortunate that a set of so called pseudo- secular, pseudo-liberal art connoiseurs are supporting him in his misdeeds. Never mind. Justice will catch up with this 91 year old painter wherever in the world he is. He has a plethora of cases against him and he is not answering or responding to court summons which also amounts to contempt against Judiciary.

This post only vaguely expresses my deep anguish and once again I assert, it is not of utmost importance to the country right now, but nevertheless important in the sense that one has to use discretion and caution in exercising their rights. Let truth and righteousness prevail.

Art attack

this is one of those construction equipment

and this is supposedly a car

I was working on my laptop and my kids came in saying I have to let them go outside and play. I couldnt let them play outside as it was really hot, so taught him how to use Paint and draw pictures using the mouse pointer. These are his first scribblings.

Elections

The election season is in full swing and the first phase of elections in AP has ended on a peaceful note. The TV channels started off with their analyses and predictions galore but must say this election is going to surprise everyone with a stunning result. The main reason for this would be that the educated Upper Middle class has exercised its right to vote in large numbers this time and I see that many of these have voted for Loksatta( I did my own small poll survey) in anticipation of that ever eluding change in the helm of affairs. Some are saying Loksatta might have eaten into the other parties' vote shares but may not win as many seats as to make a mark.
Need to watch this space to know what happens in AP politics by May 16th. Till then,keep hoping for real change....

Do Actors make good politicians?

It is a common sight all over the world, that people with considerable reputation in acting or related glamourous fields, venture into political arena. But the probability that they do a good job in it is highly questionable. We are in an election year and the recent months have seen more and more actors make their foray into politics, but how many of these are coming in with a service motive or to make a positive difference is anybody's guess. Practically none of them have their homework done, all they want to do is cash in on their glamour and come into power, only to fill their pockets.

Our political system is already in shambles, what with politics being coloured by caste, religion, communal and regional differences. These actors are doing a great disservice to the nation by showing up with zero knowledge about issues that matter and nil insight regarding governance. Even our state has a popular movie star jumping into politics but one can make out in the outset itself as to how ignorant he is regarding the real issues that plague our state. Moreover the candidates are asked to pay for getting a ticket from that party, which he would view as an investment. The same person, if elected , would only try and extract it from taxpayers money tomorrow. When would this vicious circle end? Already a bad precedent has been set in terms of caste based candidature and money ridden politics. Now it would be really unfortunate if this party indeed wins majority of seats and forms government in our state.
There are already many things which need immediate attention in our state, and handing the government to wrong hands would only worsen the situation. I am hoping that majority of people would be sensible enough not to hand him power.

Cakes

Mmm .. I love Cakes and Pastries. My kids love them too. So I had to learn baking cakes and cookies and the likes and in this regard it was my Mom who has been of immense help. She taught me the finer nuances of baking which one can only get through experience and not by just reading a recipe. I first started with a simple sponge cake and then gradually learnt to make the icing or frosting whatever you call it.
Here is the recipe for a simple Chocolate Cake complete with choco icing.
Ingredients:
eggs - 4
Maida - 200 gms
Sugar - 150 gms ( powdered)
Butter- 200 gms
cocoa powder- 2 to 3 tbspns
vanilla essence- 1 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
for icing:
butter -50 gms
powdered sugar 50 gms
milk - 3 tbsps
cornflour- 2 tsps
cocoa powder - 4 tbsps
First cream the butter in a vessel with an electric beater, add the sugar and beat again. Add the eggs one by one beating after adding each. Seive the baking powder, maida and cocoa powder together. Now add this to the above mixture slowly, beating at lower speed ensuring that there are no lumps. Add the vanilla essence and pour into a greased and dusted cake container and bake in a preheated oven at 185 C for 26 mins. Prick a knife in the middle and see if it comes out clean, if not bake for another 2 mins. Remove and keep on the wire rack to cool.
For the icing, take a saucepan and melt the butter on a slow flame, add the sugar and stir. Add the cocoa powder and ensure there are no lumps. Now add the cornflour to the milk and add it to the above mixture, stir evenly. Let it simmer for nearly but less than a minute and pour on the cooled cake. Spread it evenly and you can decorate it with dry fruits if you wish.

Enjoy..........

Pic : Chocolate Cake with Icing

Cooking

One of my passions in life right after music is cooking. I started cooking with considerable interest only after marriage. My hubby is a total foodie and enjoys all kinds of food, which I have to admit, is the main catalyst to my cooking. I learnt North Indian, Chinese dishes just for him. And soon I started loving it considering cooking is an art in its own right.
Some of the dishes he loves are Paneer tikka, Veg Kolhapuri, Biryani and Dum Aloo. Needless to say these dishes feature in my menu frequently and some other dishes I like are Gobi Manchurian, Schezuan Rice and Tandoori Gobi. ..mmm.. My mouth is watering now.

The dishes in the pic are Biryani, Dum Aloo and Raitha

Divine Music

One of my favourite genres in music is Carnatic Classical Music. There are many stalwarts who have enriched this genre with their soulful renditions but my idol remains MS. Subbulaksmi. No word can singularly express the quality of her pristine voice. Her rendition brings peace to my soul, often tears to my eyes. Such is the greatness of MS Amma that it is not an exaggeration when one says ' na bhooto na bhavishyati ' which means in Sanskrit, there is no one like her in the past and there wouldnt be one in future. She is a legend and though she is not amidst us now her divine songs will remain beyond eternity.

It has been my dream to learn vocal Carnatic Classical music, but for some odd reason it has been eluding me till now. I'm hoping I would do that in near future.

Love

Love is a strange feeling. It manifests itself in many forms. Many definitions float around which try to describe love but in my opinion words fail to completely capture the depth and the myriad emotions that entail love.
What then is love? In the limited world view that I have , I have seen people from completely different backgrounds, religions, physical attributes, castes come together and get entwined by the power of love. Love strikes at the most unexpected moment and all you know is getting swept off your feet. The feeling is flattering to be offered roses, chocolates and the likes. I am fortunate to have experienced love in its most romantic form and still remember feeling completely oblivious to hunger, thirst, day and night just thinking about him.
But after five years of marriage do I still love him the way I did back then?
The answer is no. Five years into marriage anybody will have a list of flaws in the other person... Nah.. just kidding. I still love him but the attributes of this love are different. In the sense that I care for him in a much different way. I respect his long term goals and ambitions in life, I know that we have different interests and still appreciate it, I choose to downplay the petty arguments that we have, I ignore the random fit that he throws. I love him unconditionally and accept him with all his vices. I now know fully well when I need to leave him alone and when I should shower him with my attention. The romance is there but in the silent glance that he gives me even when we are in a crowd. I support him in every endeavour of his, knowing fully well that whatever he does is for our collective wellbeing.
Love is a choice that we conciously make even when we could do otherwise.
And blessed I am to get back whatever love that I give, only multiplied and I sincerely hope the Gods above bless him with boundless energy to chase all his dreams.

Sunday is a Holiday

Its common knowledge that Sunday is a holiday...whether you are a student or an employee or whatever.. but what about homemakers ? They dont get a single day off in their lives unless they are on a vacation..
but I'm lucky that my hubby is sensitive to my needs and ..(touchwood ). Seeing that I was feeling a little dull today he offered to cook for me and boy.. need I say I was delighted.
So he set off with his new role and I relaxed for a while. Which made me realise all the more that everyone needs that little time in life to rejuvenate oneself. Sometimes we lose ourselves in the daily routine and the numerous mundane things that we lose focus. I decided to make the most of the break that I got and set off doing things I was postponing since long.
And then it was lunch time and I should admit I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he has done a pretty decent job. Though he doesnt hijack the kitchen too often, he managed to cook the daily must haves Rice, Dal and Curry pretty well. I gorged myself to satisfaction knowing fully well and appreciating the fact that everyday is not a sunday..especially this Sunday.