Contemplations and Ruminations

I love this green peas curry, it reminds me of my grand mom's place in Mahim, Bombay. I remember eating it with kadak pav (this really hard crusty bread, that wonderfully soaks up a curry and you have to chew on it slowly to savour every molecule... ). I don't know why but my mom rarely made it at home while we were growing up, so it always remained a Bombay delicacy until I grew up and learnt how to make it and now I make it quite often. And it really is a time saver, you don't have to chop any onions or tomatoes... this dish is just gloriously easy and to borrow a phrase from KFC its finger licking good! First soak your green peas for at least 6 to 8 hours in water. I am assuming you know which peas I am talking about here, those hard ones you get in department stores (not the frozen or the fresh ones). Then pressure cook (don't use the same water you soaked the peas in, add clean water) it for 5 to 6 whistle spans. And you'll get something like this...  Here th...

A Psalm to hang above my door... made this using fabric paint and a piece of discarded cardboard. I've always liked this Psalm and I was wondering how to incorporate it into the room somewhere... So, is it legible enough...

A few pictures from my trip to Yercaud , its such a charming little place... you can almost expect to see Jane Austen characters walking about, its that lush and beautiful and sparsely populated. The word Yercaud comes from two tamil words 'Yeri' & 'Kadu' which mean lake and forest and that precisely sums up this hill station. There's a pretty lake and the rest is basically forest with a few coffee/orange estates thrown here and there. A little stream on the way... The rocky terrain...  A quaint little bench under the roots of a tree... The view from my room....  A sleepy little hamlet... Everywhere you look, you see sights like this.... Pretty flowers swaying on a breeze... Don't they look delightful... There were monkeys all over the place, caught this fellow staring into the room...  A little bridge connecting two rocky ridges... The swimming pool at the resort, check out those bar stools... pretty neat...

So it was a lazy Friday afternoon, and we (me, Sajeeve and Jude) were kinda bored so we decided to play this game and I had no idea it would turn out to be this sacrilegious. So if you are a religious fanatic please do not continue reading this... I am pretty sure the story we concocted is blasphemous in at least 3 religions, Jude (a cousin) seems to think so anyway. I was too busy laughing and trying to bring some modicum of sensibility (not to mention respectability) to the story but my cousin Sajeeve is blessed with a very fertile imagination and once he unleashed it there was no going back... So here it is...  Karen : She was moping the floor and singing along loudly with the radio. (I was thinking along the lines of a cute M&B... she a hard working woman and he a wealthy arrogant guy who gets drawn to her calm, strong & sensible nature) Sajeeve : But deep down she was contemplating if she could forsake her conservative principles. (This is when I knew the ‘cute f...

I just had to tell you bout Taylor Swift's new album ' Speak Now '... been listening to it the whole week and I have to say most of the songs are really good. The title track 'Speak Now' is my favourite song... its so cute and whenever it plays you can't help but sing along. I bet even the video is gonna be great, cause the lyrics tell a little story... bout this wedding that is goin to take place and Taylor is hiding behind the curtains preparing what to say when the preacher comes to the ' Speak now or forever hold your peace' part of the ceremony. Then there's 'Back to December' a song where she regrets breaking up with this nice guy, she realizes she loves him but its too late... I'd go back in time and change it but I can't. So if the chain is on your door, I understand. .. its a beautiful sad song. The only country sounding track is 'Mean' and I like Taylor's attitude here... she describes how she feels when people...