Cast Iron it is !!

Here comes the most awaited kitchenware ( till date :P ), my first own 12" cast iron skillet. Certainly tags along the instruction manual, no-soap, just hot water and brush, wipe it dry after use etc etc. Heavy it is, as i wished for and i felt this special one needs something special to start with. Hence preparing Andhra special - spicy Gongura pickle, which is made with red sorrel leaves or Gongura (as it is called in my mother tongue Telugu). Shall blog the recipe sometime soon. For now, happy with my gift :)

Paoli

Thanksgiving season, malls with people running around for deals, turkey smell in every neighborhood. Certainly missed my dear friends Lylah and Michael. Their welcoming and sharing nature towards us as students, will always be a lesson for me to carry on till my end. Being married this year, we thought we shall spend our holiday in a quite suburb where we started our married life and had to leave the place owing to shift in projects. The 3 months in this suburb will be one of our most cherished memories. As the train landed, we felt as if we are not from NJ but we have just gone for some shopping and returning back to our townhouse in Paoli. Loved the moment, as the nostalgia gushed in, enjoyed the walk to the Paoli place apartments. It was not a very active vacation, we just lazed around enjoying the place with our friends. Surprisingly, our week has started with so much of positive energy. We are feeling ecstatic about our stay in New Jersey now, though its an extreme cntradiction to the Suburban life. Reminds me of n-number of trips i enjoyed with my TCS gang. Even though most of us are scattered to different places, something tells me all of us remember and miss our days of togetherness and relaxing walks in the wild. Happy about life and the holidays. Hope you had a good holiday too :)

Silence

hai charon taraf
pehli howi arzoo
dil main chupi
ankhon mian hi aaye kion

My first Cast Iron skillet

Cooking, a hobby, passion, habit whatever i call, its become a part of my life. It might sound funny yet a badly seasoned dish or shortage of herbs in my kitchen frustrate me more than 100 other goals in my life. So i went online to make use of a gift card given by a dear friend to buy something that gives a lifetime company in my kitchen and voila !! i found it, its cast-iron. Well seasoned cast iron releases supplements of  nutritional iron into our food and a must-have possession of every chef. Skillet is a necessity than luxury for now and hence there goes my shopping splurge. Its expected to be shipped around November end and i shall keep you posted on the delicacies that i want to try on this new guest. Signing off sipping the chamomile tea in the lousy afternoon.

Fall season

A fine morning, windy and sunny. Cam in hand, just took a stroll, hair wound up in a knot, in my pajamas, just a jacket to ward off cold, unkempt and lost. Fall and the trees shredding leaves, one of the best examples i could quote for "Change". A transition which accompanies distress and hope. The sadness that the colors are vanishing and the hope that someday its gonna be lush green again. Feeling good and trying to be content. Spoke to a dear friend, caught up on updates from india and was amazed at how lazy i have become. People travel for hours to reach their work place and here i am with so much of convenience. Am i getting used to unnecessary luxuries or am i managing my time diverting from the commute to useful stuff. Sometime i think more potential was tapped out of me while i was working in india as i was handling work, commute and yet had my lifestyle rocking on. Not sure.....thinking for now... Chao !!

God and Universe, the perception and fact

A beautiful friday morning, 70F in Paoli, Philadelphia. I sipped my cardamom tea sitting on the step gazing at the lawn in front of my home, relaxing and enjoying the breeze. Stepped into my routine with deccan herald and ndtv filling me up with the updates around the world. Some mishaps, some big fat greek weddings, some political  buzz and Voila !! there i see the picture of stephen hawking and in big bold letters "God didn't create Universe". My first response was "Not again". I read the article, was quite thought provoking. Here i am reading about Lokayata/Carvaka and some recent studies into the Indian materialistic thought system. It might take few years for me to pen down even a simple opinion on something so vast , but shall certainly provide my view on this book edited by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya. The book gives an overview (quoting some source materials) on Carvaka, a redoubtable intellectual and doctrinal sect outside the vedic fold, which despite the intense persecution from orthodoxy, stood its ground unfailingly and left a powerful impression on the corpus of Indian literature from Vedas to Upanishads to later. To conquer your opposition, you need to know everything about it. Ignorance doesn't seem like a bliss today. Chao !!

Buzz

The stars can’t line up any straighter

Do it now and think about it later
 
Time's money but you knew
 
U saw the null, sometimes u flew
 
Gear up and learn, its easy to run
 
See-Saw is life, balance is fun