Contemplations and Ruminations

One of my favourite Oprah shows used to be the home make over stories, I  loved watching how they would tear down a place (which wasn't really that bad to begin with) and turn it into something stunning with gorgeous furniture and luxurious drapes. I think anything can look better if you just drape some flowy rich material somewhere near it. I remember Nate Berkus was in charge of the home makeovers on Oprah and he sure knew how to spruce up a place... I liked his blend of earthy and neutral tones, it lent a great deal of elegance and grace to the place. Wonder why they don't air Oprah these days... anyway, I just thought of giving you a glimpse into my home...  Here's the living room and I love the way sunshine floods into it... The rest of the living room...  My own little space... my bedroom (check out the framed picture, its the same as my blogger header and the other is a picture of my home town). My charming little kitchen... The poster in my kitchen...

Here's a delightfully creamy and easy Paneer recipe. I usually buy the Hatsun brand Paneer... among all the brands available here, I find they are the best. So if you like Paneer, try this out sometime... Heat a little oil and fry sliced onions with ginger and garlic paste till the onions turn translucent. Drop in some chopped tomatoes and fry for a few more minutes. Add appropriate quantity of chillie, coriander, turmeric and jeera powder. Mix it up and let it fry for a few minutes...  After the onion tomato masala mixture has cooled down, grind it with a little water to make a smooth paste. Chop your paneer into the required size and shallow fry them in a little oil, till they turn slightly brown at the edges. After frying them drop them in a little warm water, so that they remain soft and succulent.  In a vessel, add the ground masala paste along with the paneer (any other vegetable like potatoes, peas or capsicum can be added too). Mix it up well, add sa...

Starting with the catastrophic act of nature that rocked the northern coast of Japan and had the world reeling under the shock of witnessing such an unparalleled and unimaginable act of destruction. It was like something out of an apocalyptic themed hollywood movie... cars, buses, boats, houses, buildings even small planes were lifted and carried away like toys in massive 10m waves that ravaged and plundered north Japan. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred on 11th March, 2011  was one of the worst in the history of mankind... kinda makes you wonder what the creator was upto, what good reason could He possibly have to tear apart a nation that was once already in ashes after WWII. But the Japanese have proven their resilience, no one doubted that they would build up their nation and get on with their lives. What is really inspiring is their core character; they are a disciplined lot with integrity, value and compassion sewn i...