Yes! I can cook

Silly Pulav
It's my recipe so I believe I have all right to name whatever I like.
I am not an expert in cooking, but as they say necessity is the mother of invention.
You get so many recipes on net, but many a time all of those required things wldnt be available with us. I am talking about people who are located far away from India; These days you still get something. While I was at Nice,France it was very difficult for me to get Indian spices, so managed with whatever I had. I dint have a pressure cooker also then.

I am going to write how I managed to cook chicken/veg pulav. The method is same for both. Infact for me all curries are same. One template method just the specimen changes

You need minced onions(2), cut tomatoes(1-2) and cut green chillies (2-3).
Fry the onions and green chillies together. Add turmeric powder(1/2 spoon).
If you have ginger garlic paste add that (1 spoon). Add garam masala powder (1/2-1 spoon).
Fry for sometime, not till it becomes charcoal ..till you think it is fine..i keep for 5mins on medium flame.. then add the tomatoes pieces..and let it all boil for some 5mins.. you may add chilly powder (if u like it spicy).
I am assuming you have an idea on the quantities of chicken and rice.
Now add the Chicken/vegetables. Mix it all well properly..and let it cook for 10mins.
You may add the rice to this and let all the things cook for 2-3 mins..add water to it.
Unlike generally for boiling rice we take water double the volume of rice, here we'll take equal volume. So if you have taken a glass of rice, pour a glass of water to it.
Now to the mixture add sufficient enough salt. 2-3 spoons. Now all this depends on each one's heuristics.
Now transfer this whole mix to a big glass bowl and keep it in microwave for 30mins(again depends on how much time it generally takes for rice to cook generally on it). Some of them come with the preset options for cooking rice.

If you prefer to cook in pressure cooker, you can do that as well..just transfer it into the cooker and stop it after 2 whistles..that should be fine..

This is my own recipe..not read from any website...just an improvisation, Wonder if it is actually cooked like that but I never cared to check cos, I liked the way it tasted.

Happy Independence Day

This is the official instrumental of the National Anthem of India.

The below video is what our Indian Idols have contributed to the nation

From time immemorial historians all over the world have been writing about India. I am not going to write about India, cos how much ever I write about the greatness of our nation it is like a drop in an ocean.

I just want to say that I am

"Proud to be an Indian"

Movie marathon

My 3rd weekend in Doha just got over. So far it has been a movie festival for me.
I watched 3 tamil ,2 hindi and 1 telugu movie
The following are those,in the order I liked them.

Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu (Tamil)     Rating: 5/5

As the title suggests, it's a movie centering on Kabaddi. Has mild similarities with Lagaan and Chak de India where the underdogs team end up becoming superstars. I loved this movie. The story, the characters and the whole setup was very realistic and natural, unlike many of the telugu commercial movies. It's a touching story.

The actress Saranya Mohan is very pretty in this movie.

Amrit (Hindi) Rating: 4.5/5

It's a Rajesh Khanna movie. It was screened on Zee Aflan. As expected a sentimental and moving story. I liked the story and the way it was made.





Raajneeti (Hindi) Rating: 4/5

As some one said it is indeed a mahabharata in 2.5hrs. It was like watching mahabharata in fast forward mode. It's not a bad flick and I can recommend this movie to others. It's all about political strategies.





Vasool Raja MBBS (Tamil) Rating: 3/5

I've watched Munnabhai MBBS in hindi and Shankardada MBBS in telugu. This movie is not that good when compared to the other versions. Kamal doesnt seem to miss any chance of exposing his biceps. Every alternate scene you see him flexing it.
But I am a big fan of Kamal Hassan, he is one complete actor. Sadly none of his recent movies are my favorites.



Yaaradi Nee Mohini (Tamil) Rating: 1/5

It's a remake of the telugu movie "Aadavari Matalaku Ardhaale Verule". The telugu movie is much better than the tamil version. Danush was definitely a wrong pick for the lead role. Wonder how can people digest the fight stunts of this boney guy.




Don Seenu (Telugu) Rating: 0/5

Worst of all movies I watched this weekend. The story is so pathetic, wonder how can some one think doing such movies. It was supposed to be a comedy movie, but no scene was worth a laugh. Throughout the movie..it just gets worse as u go on watching it...making you throw up at the climax.


Next am going to watch
Madrasapattinam (Tamil)

Ramadan Kareem!

Ramadan Mubarak to all 

I am missing the Hyderabadi Haleem

My dream is to fly over the rainbow, so high

I like this song . You may find the original one here. Yves La Rock

When I was a kid, like most of us, I used to look high up in the sky at aeroplanes and wonder when I would get to fly in a plane and when I would get to travel to other countries.

Used to dream of flying in plane, served unlimited chocolates by hot air-hostesses, flanked by clouds on both the sides of the plane, look down at houses and lilliputs through the window......

Little did I know that air travel is not all hassle free thing.

As of today I can say I am a frequent flier, but not of any particular airline.

 

Just for the numbers sake, I took around 60 flights so far starting from the first one in 2003( Anil,Meghamsh,Anurag,Keerthi & Bhargav should remember this for pushing me into the plane as I was sick then). And I've seen about 6% of the globe and been to around 18 countries.

Now coming to the interesting part, some of the incidents I faced. I can bet I've experienced all types of issues with air travel except to the fatal ones (touchwood)!. Some are to be blamed on me also.

Flight delay and wait at airports.

Itinerary:- Hyderabad->Chennai->Muscat->Riyadh.

This was in the year 2006 when I was going to Saudi for my onsite project at Riyadh. A direct flight generally takes 4hrs(Emirates). But the great TCS booked me this long itinerary just to show off their loyalty towards Gulf Air(cheap flight). My luggage was a huge suitcase, 1 backpack and a laptop bag. This was my first time going out of the country and was going alone as the other person who was supposed to travel with me dropped out at the last moment. And that too it was to gulf land so there were butterflies in my stomach. Took a Kingfisher airline at Hyderabad Begumpet airport to Chennai and reached at around 8pm. My next flight was at 4am. I sat there in airport watching at people moving in and out, for me every minute was like an hour. That was one of the most boring moments in my life. I sat till around 10pm cursing TCS everynow and then, then comes the nature call.. I had to relieve myself urgently..had this whole luggage in front of me and cant leave it also...kept holding it for long time and when I realised I cannot any more I took the trolley kept my luggage on it and pushed it till the toilet, then I discover the toilet is so narrow cant take the trolley inside.. I looked around desperately..at one moment I thought I will leave it there..but somehow dint, I thought of asking someone to watch my luggage and was looking for reliable people around....then suddenly I spotted a cloak room far outside the airport..phew~..I went out showed the security the eticket.. dumped my luggage in the cloak room..kept my lappy with me..obviously...felt relieved....thanked GOD for saving me :)..the flight was delayed by 3hrs..it took off at 7am..was awake all the time..after reaching Muscat again there was delay with the next flight..around 6hrs. Finally when I reached Riyadh..I realised it took me 30hrs to reach that place.

Note:- Never ever board a Gulf Air flight. It's worse than a red bus(literally). All kind of mass and cheap people board the flight. By cheap I dont mean the people are poor. They behave insanely. Trying to touch the airhostess, throw the food stuff down, keep the used plates along the passage,fight with airhostess for an extra drink..etc..

Sleeping in airport

Itinerary:- Kolkata->Hyderabad

This was in the year 2008 when I was in my first year in IIM Calcutta, I was coming home to Hyderabad. I booked the Kingfisher flight which was at morning 6:50am. The airport is 50kms away from the campus, so we generally leave around 4am by taxi. Since I was traveling alone I dint want to take chance so I kept awake the whole night, at around 3 am called the taxiwalla, and reached the airport around 5am. Got my boarding pass and the security check was also done. The area near the gate was crowded with people waiting to board. I saw there was still 1hr time for boarding. I somehow managed to get a seat. Was looking at the clock..and in no time I was in dreams..I heard an announcement that the flight was delayed by 15mins. To this day also am not sure if it was in my dream or in real. So then I thought, ok I can sleep for some more time.....

After a long time...I woke up from my deep sleep and it was the pin drop silence which disturbed me..... There was no one around me...Then I remembered that I had a flight to take. I dint find the kingfisher flight in the charts also...ran to one kingfisher crew asked him about the flight. That man said the flight already left and I could see the frustration in his face, he yelled at me asking where I was all the time when the announcements were going on. I said "I was sleeping here(pointing at the seat)" and asked them how could they miss me. Then there was another crew member with a sorry face. I asked them, "now what? Can I get another flight immediately?"...At that moment..there was one girl(Kingfisher crew) standing at that gate.. shouting at me to run fast.. I ran fast towards the gate..then she told me get into the bus immediately..she ticked on my boarding pass..and I jumped into the bus..It dropped me next to the Kingfisher flight and left..... I was a like lilliput standing all alone next to this giant airbus plane.... Then after 5mins arrived the stairs, the captain opened the door for me. It was one embarrassing moment for me. I just avoided everyone staring at me.....could see some awkward faces...and murmurs..aaah wwoo...I just sat at my seat..slept till the breakfast arrived..and in no time we reached hyderabad..and even till then..I couldn't believe that I actually managed to take the flight.

Ok the story is not yet over...

I feel sick!

It's my 2nd weekend here, and is no different in terms of boredom when compared to the 1st but increased frustration levels thanks to my ill health. I am suffering from cold and fever and I've no mood to do anything in life. Today with great difficulty I had bread and maggi as breakfast n lunch.


I need some rest, not that I slogged the whole week. All I did was attending meetings.


I look worse than the image above...

Home alone in Doha

I am back to my solitude..and ya that's when I remember my alter-ego, the unknown (aparichithudu).
Its been 3 days here in the gulf land. I am in Doha, capital city of Qatar.
For a change there were no hassles this time during the whole journey.
It's my first weekend here and I am so bored. It is almost half the boiling point outside so cant dare to get out.
I am all alone in this 2BHK flat as my other roommate has gone to India to get his visa renewed. The unsecured wifi which we shamelessly steal also connects intermittently. And naturally even though you have some pending work at office it doesnt appeal much to work on weekends.


Thanks to the pirates, got to watch 'Tere Bin Laden' and 'Kattha Meetha' online. Both were not that funny as I expected to be. But TBL was better. In Kattha Meetha I felt, the stupidity part of Akshay was dragged to much. Trisha's character was crappy. It was like any another supporting actor and not a lead role. It wasn't that impactful.


Owing to my joblessness I say(but some say narcissism) I kept myself busy with self photography.
Here are my faces with different moods.
Weak-hearted ones should strictly avoid.
Children are supposed to browse under parental guidance.

Scary faces


It is not my homesickness but this time I want to go back to India soon. I've some plans for future , If all goes well InshaAllah I will be back in 2months.