Kaju Katli

1 cup kaju (powdered in mixie)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 to 2 tsp ghee
Few saffron strands
2 pinches of cardamom powder

Make a sugar syrup of one string consistency. Use non stick vessel.

Add saffron strands and cardamom to the syrup as it boils to reach the required consiconsistency.

Add the powdered kaju and keep stirring till it is leaving the sides of the vessel and has a dough  like form. Add a tsp ghee and mix well.

Put the dough onto  a plate that is greased with ghee.

Wait for few minutes for the dough to become warm. Knead the dough well and using a roti roller, roll it and cut it into diamond slices.

Cooking & Philosophy

Well well well... Cooking and I sure do share an interesting rapport. Today I made kabuli chana... was absolutely yummy even though salt was double of what it should have been.

:)

My mother had kept the chana in the cooker and had already put salt at that time... Without bothering to check, while cooking it with masala, I generously added salt.

Life sure is filled with lots of interesting twists and turns. Never had I imagined that I would enjoy cooking. The aroma of onion ginger paste being cooked is a class apart in itself. Hmmm... I guess its my love for aromas that has made me develop a soft spot for trying my hand in the kitchen.

Cooking, travelling, reading... I sure am loving life the way its headed. I feel blessed indeed that I am able to savour each moment of life. There is so much more to learn and so much for me to apply.

God!!! I never imagined that a topic like cooking would ignite the philosophical fire within. But isn't that exactly the important point!!! All of us keep searching for a perfect recipe for our lives... what we often forget is that most of the time, its the journey and experimenting that makes life really worth it. Who cares what happens in the end as long the journey has enriched the soul within :)

That's exactly what happened with the chana today. I so enjoyed making the chana, that despite the extra bit of salt, my family and I relished the dish. And no, its not a one off case... Try it out sometime. Trust me, it works... it ALWAYS works... Its your approach and how much you actually believe in your approach that makes the world of a difference. Its never the perfect recipe that counts, its trying those 101 incorrect recipes and laughing with life that makes life seem perfect in the true sense of the word.

My Journey Has Begun!!!

I wonder what is it that fascinates me about Life so much. Yesterday I had been to the Bannerghatta National Reserve and I was flooded with feelings of the richness of life. I had the same feeling later when I visited Landmark... There are books which literally beckon me to pick them up!!!
Somehow yesterday I felt as if there was a major change in my life. I could feel the vibrations of positive change enveloping me. It was as if a new meaning has been bestowed on my life. I now very much want to travel to new places. When I am talking of places, its not the cities. It is the national parks, the uncommercialized beaches, the temples, the wonders of the world and those that are not publicized by tourism. Its as if I have a new quest in my life and heart - this includes a thirst for travelling and a passion for reading.
Its as if knowledge is telling me to absorb myself in its vastness. I want to read books I have never read - books on science, poetry and what not! I want to build a personal collection of my books. And I look forward to the day when my quest actually begins. I would ideally place it sometime next year... Let my education be completed... Then I will buy books and travel extensively. It need not be travel to exotic places. I realize that I am content with just new places which are teeming with the beauty of life and nature.
10 years down the line, I want to feel that yes, I have gifted myself with the most precious gift ever - that of the richness of life and the purity of knowledge.
My Journey has Begun!!!

The Tide

Its not often that I write an article... My expressions are usually through poems. But today, I feel like writing something and its not poetry that I have in mind!

A month has passed since my summer internship started. For those of you who are not aware, I have two years of experience in an IT firm, am currently pursuing my MBA from a good B-School in India and am now doing my internship in an IT firm again. Do I want to land up in IT again? No, definitely not. But isn't this the same thing I told myself when I quit my organization to join my B-School??!!

I have begun to realize that life is a game with complexity levels increasing in G.P. with age. Yes, I am sure that had I been a kid, I would have done exactly what I wanted. Nothing in the world would have swayed me away from my dreams. But today, that's not the case. And am I sailing this sea alone? No, the most amusing part is that I see an entire generation(or atleast most of it) in the same boat, let alone the sea. And no, I am not being cynical. What I am saying is something that I am seeing around me... There are very few people who are pursuing their dreams... The rest of us seem to be following the tide...

Yes, there are certain people who have set out to conquer their dreams...And I salute them with all respect.

Life n Me

'O' Life,

Where are you taking me
Where do I go?
Inspite of capabilities and convictions,
Why do I feel so low?

I am becoming cynical
There's a rebel within me
Oh! I am so confused whether
This is how I want my life to be.

Why am I losing interest
When its knowledge that I seek
If I love u so much Life
Why do I think my future is bleak?

In a whirlpool of emotions
I think I am beginning to drown
For people who don't matter
I am pulling myself down

O help me rise once again
Drive some sense into me
Teach me to make the best of life
Because that's what will set me free...

My Heart N Me

Sometimes I just wish I knew what is it that my mind wanted to write… so many thoughts flow from all directions, and I seek that light which will clear my confusion.

As my heart speaks to me
There is a hope in my eyes
Perhaps I might finally realize
Where my true paradise lies

My thoughts are wandering
As lonely clouds in the sky
I wish I could tell them
Where they actually ought to lie

My heart speaks of dreams
Spun in threads of light
I hope that the day isn’t far
When I get to see that sight

My heart confides to me
It has concerns galore
If dreams offer hope
It tells me life offers more

Tell me my friend
Oh what do I do?
Do I believe whatever my heart is saying
About my dreams coming true?

A Costly Mistake?!

I had given up my pride
To make someone smile
I never dreamt that that someone
Doubted my motives all the while

There were times my family questioned
The investment of my time
I put their fears at rest and told them
That they worrying without reason or rhyme

I shed my inhibitions
To enjoy friendship as that person saw it
I never dreamt that that person thought
I was losing my individuality and wit

I happily gave up some dreams
To share a view with that person
To me that person was perhaps
The most special one under the sun.

The most lovely feeling comes
When you feel you are important in someone's heart
Without actually letting my friend know everything
With him/her , I have nearly perfected this art.

But today when the time has come
To make decisions new
I suddenly realize that
My friends are very few...

I know that my friend
Has a feeling in his/her mind
That to my family and to my friends
Today I am being selfishly blind!!!

I know my friend since years
I can read his/her every thought
My friend's unspoken attitude
Is hurting me a lot

No one has a right to judge
The support to my family that I lend
No one has a right to question
A single penny that I spend...

I was free with my friend
But perhaps I crossed the line
My life might be with my friends
But my family's decisions are only mine.

Friendship is a journey too beautiful
For such feelings to mar the way
Friendships are most intact
When such feelings are kept at bay...

So I hope that i understand
That this is just a passing phase
A day will come when my friend will realize
That he/she was wrong abt my ways...