Big Fak-Ap

I read on the front page of the The Indian Express, that Obama admin called the Pakistan- Afghanistan situation the Af-Pak policy. Experts called it the Pak-Af strategy. Now, with Pak hurtling towards anarchy, critics are dubbing it a potential Fak-Ap...
I loved the fact, that this made the front page of many newspapers around the world!

The Election Commission has a sense of humour

I voted today, and had them mark my middle finger with indelible ink.
Not just me, it was for everyone ...

The Election Commission has officially allowed me to show my finger to the ones who deserve it.


PS: I read that the reason for this unique practice is that some places in Maharashtra had nagar panchayat and gram panchayat elections recently and voters there had their left forefingers marked...

Tauba yeh recession, tauba be-rozgaar...Tera political attyachaar

Jaspal Bhatti ji- the creator of memorable satirical shows on the plight of the common man like - ulta pulta and flip flop show- that were aired on Door Darshan during the early 1990s, has done it again…

He launched his ‘Recession party’ in Mumbai recently. Just to describe the financial situation of their recession hit party, they held their meet in a small dance rehearsal hall in Andheri offering only chai and vada- pav to the media present there.

Party manifesto

1. We will not divide people on the lines of cast, creed and religion. Of course we will divide the society but between wise and fools.
2. We will reserve 50% seats for fools in the parliament if voted to power.
3. We will provide a stable Government by negotiating our alliance with any party irrespective of their ideology because we ourselves have no ideology of our own except for money making.
4. We will create more slums in and around Mumbai to strengthen our vote bank and win more Oscars.
5. We will arrange more development funds for Mumbai so that boats could be provided in the rainy season. Every year Mumbai reels under water as a result of faulty sewerage system.
6. We don’t promise to maintain greenery in the ever increasing concrete jungle. We may not be able to save mangroves and other green trees but we definitely will provide every citizen green optical glasses free of cost so that everything looks green to them.
7. For increasing sense of security among public more funds would be provided on the personal security of MPs and ministers.
8. The improvement of personal financial health of our ministers will be given priority over everything.

Their party symbol is Chameleon (known for changing colours.)

Taking his Prime ministerial ambitions more seriously, Jaspal Bhatti in his letter to the Chief Electoral officer has already sought clarification whether the election commission would allow satire in their campaigning and don’t book them for violating the election code of conduct.

And making clear this very intention amidst the strong competition, he says: ‘I’ll be the PM and all of you can be Dipti PMs’.

And I say to Mr. Bhatti... Congratulations on yet another achievement... hum aapke saath hai...!!

Have you ever seen...

A white elephant?
A a bat standing upright on a branch?
A student awake in a history class?
A zebra crossing?
Steffie Graph playing tennis in high heels?
An Eskimo in shorts?
John Abraham riding a cycle?
The pink headed Duck?



...seen Baichung Bhutia dancing on a TV reality show?!?!
That... I did today...

refreshed playlist

Change is inevitable. Sure..!
I can feel the change ... And its all because of the Lumala.
My playlist has changed. My mp3 player is wearing itself off in my old jeans pocket playing more of punk, grunge, retro, popular rock. Fast, energetic songs. Afterall, 16 km of rides daily demand some music power too.
Some of my bike favourites:
Courtney Love - Sunset strip
Selected Nirvana- Tourrettes, Serve the servants
Jet- 3 fun favs - Are you gonna be my girl, Cold hard Bitch and Rollover DJ. Best bike songs!
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye- Title song - what awesome wacky lyrics! and the beat!!
Pearl Jam- MFC and Do the evolution
Smash Mouth - All star! ;) this one's a total bike song!
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979 album version (strictly while cruising around), and the acoustic version
TAAQ- Hot Day! (oh yea! summer is here... and TAAQ = brilliant!)
Khadki Junction blues- Chaturshrungi wavelength (total downhill cruise mode music!)
The Kinks - A well respected man (full on retro rock n roll!)
The Offspring- Original Prankster! Its a total wicked biking song! Punk!! builds up the tempo
Wild miss Zippy - 'Cage of gold' and 'Hard year's end' absolute funky songs!
WOLFMOTHER- Dimension, Joker and the thief... (ride fast and scream types!)

And so on... I might load some fast fatboy slim songs on it to...

I can't really forget the blues... so here are some selected blues-

Soulmate- I am, Blues is my soulmate
Warren Mendonsa - The cat and the fiddle! total charge up!
Chris Duarte- Letter to my girlfriend
Howlin' wolf - Built for comfort! (just like my bike seat! Soooooo comfy!), Howlin' for my darlin'(!)
Joe Bonamassa- your funeral and my trial! (Love this guy!), Bad Girls (sooo love this song!), Dixie peach (very much like one song from KK's Pal... or is it the other way around?!?)
The Eric Jerardi Band- Always something... one hell of a song, this one...

Now I'm gonna add some more to the list soon. Funky tracks... fast paced... songs full of attitude for biking (cycling) ... two years back when i got my funky sony 'vial' mp3 player... i thought 1 gig was enough memory... how wrong i was! :(

So... I'm doing 16 kms everyday. To work and back... Karve nagar to Bavdhan... with the chandni chowk climb... I can feel my stamina improve considerably... So i say thank you for the MUSIC... for giving it to me!!

wooohoooohooooo! my long ride on the Lumala!

wooohoooohooooo!
Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

So I got the bike... I rode it from the shop in Kasba Peth to my house in Karve nagar across the river... that was 5 kms... and so much fun...
Then the next day morning, Ankur, Sourabh, Gangu, Sameer and I went on a ride towards Pirangut. These guys had planned to go towards Temghar, but it was the first time in many years for me... and I'm still getting used to a geared cycle. So I thought I'll go till Chandni Chowk (Pune's chandni Chowk) and return...
We started half an hour late, thanks to me... and off we were. I didn't have a problem till this climb, which was about a kilometer and half off chandani chowk on Paud road. I couldn't ride up CC because it was too steep for me... so i walked. Then the road was a cakewalk till a small patch of climb. Where i dragged along... Ankur was very kind and kept encouraging me to go further. The others went ahead.
So we finally reached Manas lake. It was almost 8 AM. and near about 10 kilometers from home... so I decided to ride back alone from there... reached CCD CC at 8.30, Had a coffee, chilled out and rode downhill to Bavdhan to my office (yes... its a working weekend... )
Now... another terrible climb pn the cycle till CC, then a smooth glide home. I loved my first ever longish ride on a cycle!
Approx 20 Km in a day... not bad for a first of many more longer rides to come... Wooohooohooohoo!

what do you mean 'bike'???

The road to Temghar Dam
Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

Once upon a time, in a magical land full of smog and pollution, there was a little city surrounded by hills on all three sides, the highest point within the city being the Vetaal tekdi. On this vetal tekdi a group of youngsters met and started a little organisation to save the hills and environment of Pune from the rapacious mongrels in our society who thrive on mindless development and helplessness of ordinary citizens in extraordinary situations. The organisation gained momentum in the years that followed. They gained respect of the ordinary citizens- children, youth and the elders, the countless other NGOs and environmentalists who together were actively propagating a more environmentally friendly development and lifestyle for the residents of Pune. They encouraged walking, climbing hills, planting trees, cycling and standing up against unnecessary deforestation in the name of unnecessary development. It was these young activists who made everyone hear the plea of nature of the city and the surroundings.
As years grew by, they diversified into conducting nature trails, and treks, along with their regular activities. The group matured, and started running as a full fledged organisation… their treks were much sought after, and some of the popular ones had to be conducted more often that they initially thought they would. The word spread to certain Mumbaikars

And then one fine premature summer morning, the organisation circulated their events update with a unique concept. Many inboxes were opened and the mail read… and re read with disbelief…
They had come up with an entirely new programme that time!
It was a 3 day bike trek to the sea forts of the Konkan region. And many were thrilled! As many were eager to participate…
They would be covering six forts, two caves and several scenic beaches on the way, along with the best of the Konkani food…
Lodging at Dapoli, route map and information brochure, a leader with safety equipment and food were included in the package…
What was not included was extra food and soft drinks, break down costs and petrol costs…
That’s where it was re read… not including petrol (?!?!) costs.

It was a motorcycle trip not a bicycle trip…
And I stared in disbelief…

I stopped gloating on flickr... so i gloat here

1. a portrait of ray, 2. rhinos, 3. early morning fog, 4. and then these guys decided to jump around, 5. and then... the other night at Pondicherry beach..., 6. the pondicherry beach again, 7. the return of that stupid mad season..., 8. raindrops on a spiderweb,

9. guerrilla photography, 10. what an egg..., 11. Untitled, 12. monsoon, 13. the brownie!, 14. neighbour's cat, 15. Untitled, 16. star trails over southern Pune skies,

17. B O K E H, 18. lassie, 19. aye eye sir!, 20. Edge Detail and DoF, 21. Untitled, 22. Hand, 23. up, 24. Untitled,

25. reflection, 26. NODE, 27. Against the sun, 28. local call..., 29. PJ, 30. pretty little yellow flowers, 31. contused, 32. Twilight Swing!,

33. Hope you had a ..., 34. The Full moon through deodars, 35. Poornima and pine dreams, 36. F.R.I., 37. of RIVETS and LOCKS and METAL and the GREAT INDIAN RAILWAYS GOODS TRAIN, 38. Human race suffers from "narcissistic Personality disorder", 39. we, 40. Leftist,

41. I dream in Technicolour, 42. Push me, or pull me out., 43. Crimson, 44. Tell me whats in your mind..., 45. My most favourite beach!, 46. i LOST my PINK PLECTRUM, 47. when CRAZYME sings... i PLAY, 48. MARBLES,

49. THIS can HURT, if you CROSS over, 50. Vaidehi..., 51. STAY... And help me to END the day, 52. FAST, but NOT so FURIOUS, 53. Of Lunar DREAMS and ECLIPSES, 54. i LOST my LOVE today, 55. PERFECTO!

55 on explore!!!
(not that it matters much anyway... )

the subliminal consequence of yielding to disbelief and accepting the inevitable ...

Is like a mild feeling of euphoria amidst a mix of the damp forest aroma and salty sea breeze, sitting on a creaking windmill all night from dusk to dawn.

OR...

Bitersweet blues

Just exploring the simple sevenths progression on my acoustic
the part I did just today:

e|-------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------2-2-2-2-2--------------------------|
G|----1-1-1-1-1-1----------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------2-2-2-2-2-2b3-2-0------------------|
A|----2-2-2-2-2-2-0h12-----------------------2-----------------|
E|0-3----------------------------------------------------------|

e|-------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------2-2-2-2-2--------------------------|
G|----1-1-1-1-1-1----------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------2-2-2-2-2-2b3-2-0------------------|
A|----2-2-2-2-2-2-0h1-2-----------------------2----------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

e|----2-2-2-2-2----------------------0h3-3\5-3-0---------------|
B|----0-0-0-0-0------------2-2-2-2-2---------------------------|
G|----2-2-2-2-2---0h2h3----------------------------------------|
D|----1-1-1-1-1------------2-2-2-2-2---------------------------|
A|----2-2-2-2-2------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

I'm not a all good at solos, but will make a start some day...

my experiments with intuitive and improvised cooking - I

This blog is after all about experimentation. And improvisation… so this is a blog entry that deserves to be here: my trials and improvisations with food… cooked.

I have never really had to think about cooking this seriously. Neither am I really thrilled about it. But mothers on vacation are the absolute inventors of necessities. I don’t like to eat out all the time, so I decided to go against all odds, and decided to fend for myself for a full 10 days.

The condition suited me fine. There was no one else really to be experimenting on with food, other than an occasional customary lunch for the best friend… the best friend that incidentally, is one of the better and intuitive cooks I have known.

For these few days, my reading matter has a latest addition. Print outs of Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipies that my mum has been collecting, and the little book of Indian cooking presented to me by the best friend who, I believe I mentioned earlier is a wonderful cook.

Till date, whatever little I have done on my own has been a bit disastrous. Not the final result… that’s not all that bad. It’s just the massive trail of destruction and devastation that I leave all across the kitchen, and in the process I get many things wrong. And I totally cook by the book. Well, at least I used to…

Now, I can say that I’m getting better, my speed’s increasing. And I’m quite enjoying myself… Now I know why Philipp considered cooking the ultimate stress buster.

So here I go… my experiments (rather successful) with intuitive and improvised cooking. The last few days saw two wonderful improvisations:

Pepper chicken.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken

Roughly ground pepper

Salt

A tomato – chopped

Turmeric powder

A few cloves

Some butter

Cumin seeds

Onion – chopped

Ginger paste

Garlic finely chopped or paste

Vegetables of your choice (mine being capsicum)

Maybe some saunf powder. I love it in anything.

Preparation:

Mix pepper powder, salt and turmeric powder and apply it over the boneless chicken pieces, just enough to cover them all, keep for half an hour.

Heat a wee bit butter in a pan, and add some cloves to it and the chopped onion and cook till they turn golden brown ( I wonder who coined that term? The onions never do that!) Add the chopped tomatoes, ginger and garlic and the marinated chicken that has been now turned yellow and waiting to get cooked. Add some water – maybe half a cup, and some nice helping of the saunf powder! Mmm … let the aroma spread…

Cook till the chicken is truly cooked, and add more water if wanted. Add salt.

Just a few minuted before the chicken is totally cooked, add the capsicum. I like it to be a little raw and crisp, hence add during the last few minutes over the fire, otherwise it gets all soggy and limp, and not as much fun…

Viola… you have a lovely aroma spreading all around the house… smelling of Cloves and saunf… its tastes awesome too. And I have a happy best friend…

Cooking for just one person – self- is a little perplexing. How much is too much? Is it worth all the effort? What exactly do I make for myself? That was the dilemma I was in when I started wondering what to make for dinner for myself tonight.

I wanted to have soup, then I decided I wanted to make Dal shorba… I had no idea how shorba was made. So I checked out the set of printouts… I needed moong dal for it, but I was out of moong dal, so decided to chuck it and make an improvised version of the dal shorba with Masoor ki dal!

Meghana’s Improvised Masoor ki dal ka tasty shorba

Ingredients:

Take some masoor dal 50 – 100 grams will serve two people with two mid sized helpings.

Chop a small onion. ‘Small’ being an onion of roughly the diameter of about 5 cms.

Some grated ginger

some chopped garlic

one chopped green chilly that’s about 10 cm in length.

A wee bit butter again

Cumin seeds

Turmeric

And salt.

Preparation:

Take the dal, ginger, garlic, chilly, onion, turmeric and salt and add a lot of water to it, and cook it till the dal is cooked. Make sure theres enough water so that some remains till the dal is cooked to verrrry soft! Strain this dal. And keep it aside till you heat the wee bit butter and ad some cumin seeds in it till they crackle. Add the cooked and strained mixture of dal, onion, ginger, garlic and turmeric to the butter and cumin, and some water, till you get the consistency you desire… it will not really be a colloidal liquid, and the water dal and the water will not homogenise properly… but hey… its shorba after all, not dal….

So bring to a boil, add some more salt, and hey presto! You have wonderful tasting Meghana’s improvised dal shorba made out of masoor dal…

I loved it, and had it with 2 slices of kadak toast… what a pity I didn't click pictures of these two recipes...

Wow… maybe I’m soon going to become the next best thing since sanjeev Kapoor after all … Hah! And I’ve only just begun…

fireball past midnight

I have a habit of taking a walk on my terrace at night before i go to bed. so at 12.15 AM 28th January 2009, I was walking on the terrace when I saw a bright fireball in the sky! It was HUGE! bigger than the 5 I had seen on 14th December 2007 as a part of the Geminid meteor showers!
It was greenish blue with a little bit of red, and lit up the terrace twice as much as a full moon would!
Today the day started off with not a very positive note, but as it went by, it was quite nice... and at the end of it, I was pretty okay. I clicked a pic of Vivek in office holding his 'A Portrait of Ray' LP cover in front of his face... I am hoping it will come out well... leseee ...
Thats the thing with film... I have to wait till I finish the roll. If I'm using digital, I can click 36 pictures in the space of 2 hrs, but if i'm using a roll, lord knows I take days to finish it!

my love thing

love thing
Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

I was just browsing through my notebook today afternoon. And I found my 'Love thing.'
My 'Love thing' is a little piece of black paper with a heart shaped cutout for bokeh shapes through camera lenses. This term 'Love thing' - was coined by my flickr contact Sneha (beatnikbug) when she saw me making this shape for another flickr contact Vinod, during e P@P exphibition on the 27th of Dec '08. She said - 'Whats that...? oh... it's your "love thing"'

'Yes,' I said ...'Its my "Love thing... '