Cooking up a story!

Heaven sends us good meat, but the Devil sends cooks, so said David Garrick. Well meat or no meat- a good cook will always know how to make you feel delighted with what is served on the table. Even making an ordinary salad taste extraordinary is a skill; a skill I’d like to possess some day. Just to make it clear, it’s not that I can’t cook, but I certainly can’t cook as good as a few people I know.

To an extent, I would say, you need to enjoy cooking more than just ‘liking’ it. Also, you need to have the willingness to experiment, take criticism in the right stride and needless to say, make yourself worthy of earning appreciation. Following someone’s recipe may sound easy, but when you actually get to doing it, it is not a cakewalk. This is probably why I actually understand how it feels when someone cooks something for you and eagerly awaits your reply. I’ve been there and my ears have wanted to hear a few pleasant words. I have, but sometimes, I’ve heard just the opposite of what I’d like to. But after a few errors, I’ve finally mastered a few recipes.

I’ve been cooking a lot of late, been trying my hand at new recipes- some traditional, some not. Somehow, I’ve been enjoying the process so much, that my interest in cooking is growing deeper by the day. And the reason why I developed such a hobby is probably because of all those wonderful cooks around me. My interest grew deeper every time I tasted some new, something different, something so well made.

Every person’s style of cooking is different and well, it’s their own unique style, I’d say. There’s so much you can learn from them. I guess, that’s the only way you can actually come up with a whole new recipe on your own. And yes, I aim to do that someday.

There’s a lot I can say, rather I want to say. But I guess I’ll leave that for a real, one-on-one conversation. To sum it up, I just want to say that this write up is actually a big thank you to all those wonderful men and women who’ve been generous enough to feed me some brilliant food. More than thank you, it’s sort of my way of appreciating them.

Something's still missing

A day, or for that matter, even just a couple of hours in Mumbai can be quite entertaining. For now, let’s take a day in my side of the city, South Mumbai, for example.

My day began as usual- same old wake up, laze around, read the newspapers, etc. Just as I was about to begin work on a project, the red light of my phone started to flicker. Me being me, I was in my own world thinking of things that would make an article (read my article) an interesting read. It was then that my phone decided to vibrate and I finally realised that it was time I took a look at it.

It was a message; a message that marked the start of a new project. Excited as ever, I quickly dressed up and in no time I was out of home and on my way to Nariman Point.

I’d rather not mention the meeting in detail, but it was hilarious to say the least. Although, until then the day was so-so, but from then on it kept getting better.

Walking down the Free Press Journal road never seemed like it could be this much fun. Just a quiet stroll on a street which is surrounded with offices- corporate to media- taking in the aroma of the freshly fried samosas, bhajiyasand vadas; waiting for the cutting chaiwala to give you that perfect bumbai ki chai and well, reading just another newspaper. 

Somehow, it felt like I was supposed to do it all. I’ve been wanting to a lot of things, even though they seem silly, but yes, I’ve always wanted to do all these things and more, preferably alone.

Continuing, I’ve always enjoyed talking to cab drivers. It’s funny, but knowing about their lives fascinates me. Everyone has a different story which on the whole somehow sounds the same, but in reality it isn’t. So, coming back to my day, I took a cab from Nariman Point to Cuffe Parade (one of my favourite parts of the city). We seemed to have spotted a lot of policemen on the way. After fishing out information from fellow cabbies/passengers and a cop, we realised some VIP was coming to town. I was in my own reverie when the cabbie suddenly turned around and asked me, “Medumji, aapne Wednesday picture dekha hai?” He meant the movie ‘A Wednesday’. I answered saying yes. He then asked, “Kya mast movie tha, na? Ek akela aadmi terrace pe baith sabki band baja dalta hai. Terrorist log bhi kaise hote hai na? Aur apni police ko dekho, dum hi nahi hai saalon mein.” That one little conversation was so perfectly timed. Him talking about a movie and how lame the Mumbai cops are- all of it while we were passing Regal cinema and the Police Headquarters. Also, what he said wasn’t entirely wrong either.

Finally, after knowing a little more about his background and discussing the movie and of course, chasing all the traffic, I managed to reach my destination. While at my aunts, what I particularly enjoyed the most was sitting by the balcony, sipping on a cup of hot coffee and simply letting the breeze kiss my cheeks. Our endless talks involved tons of gossip, giggles and girlie chats.

By the time I left from there, I was convinced that a well spent morning and afternoon certainly did call for a lovely evening. And I was right. Visiting Café Mondegar was next. When they say two’s company, they’re absolutely right. Two of us, a pitcher of beer, beef chilly, great songs being played on the jukebox accompanied by some stupid, some funny and some lovely conversations- all of it equaled to perfection, at least to me. Of course, the evening then proceeded into a fun night with a lot more people and a different location.

When I returned home later in the night, I came back with mixed feelings. I was satisfied, happy, little high; but somewhere amidst it all, I was still looking for something, waiting for something, longing for something!

Rain, rain come again!

I just realised that I haven’t updated my blog in a while. Never mind! I guess I was busy, lazy or just not in the mood. So, I’ve got to writing again. But while I’m doing this, all I can think about is a good topic to write on. But then, who needs a topic? I can just write on whatever comes to my mind. Let’s just talk about this lovely weather- Aah! The rains!

Since day before, the climate has been beautiful. The unbearable heat has finally disappeared (thank god for that). The heavy rainfall seems to have changed everyone’s mood. Since the first heavy showers, whenever I checked my phone for updates, everyone’s BBM status had something related to the rains- whether it was a verse from a poem, a statement or even an emoticon- it all had something to do with the rains.

My idea of enjoying this kind of weather is sitting down with a glass of chilled beer/ rum, putting on some great music, calling over some friends (or going over to someone’s house) and having some great conversations. Also, some good food that can make you feel better. When you’re in a cosy environment and you have all the required elements for a perfect evening, you know you’re going to have a great time.

Life is all about these little moments. All these precious memories that are stored in your head and these mental notes that you make is when you realise how privileged you are to have it all. Of course, at one point I thought Rebecca Black ruined all weekends for me for the rest of my life, but then I was like, “Hey, wtf! I can always have just ‘fun’ instead of ‘fun, fun, fun’ and still be satisfied.”

Coming back to the main topic, this weekend has been splendid. Perfect weather, perfect company and perfect everything else. I couldn’t have asked for more. Sometimes such things make me forget all my problems and let go off all the stress. This weather is magical.

Realisation!

Writing has always fascinated me. Whether it's mine or someone else's, it just seems fascinating. I especially love it when people realise how much fun it is penning down their thoughts, feelings and emotions. Whether the realisation is early or late, it doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that now you finally know what you enjoy doing.

For some, writing is just a hobby, while for some (including me) it is more than just that. For me it's my hobby, my profession, my way of letting all my thoughts out in the open and now, practically a way of life. I've lost count of the number of diaries I've written and not let a single person read and sometimes, even know. At that time, it was mainly because I didn't write for anyone to read and I honestly didn't think my writing was worthy enough of being read. But after much contemplation and a huge argument with myself, I realised that my writing is not for the world to like or dislike. My writing is for me. Whether anyone likes it or no doesn't really matter. What matters is that after I've penned it all down, I'm happy and I'm at peace with myself.

I'm glad that today, at this point, I've got the platform to learn and showcase my work. I'm happy that with each passing day, I learn something new, something more and with each passing day, my passion for writing deepens. And all of this is because of that one day when I realised that this is what I enjoy doing and this is what I will do.

What matters in this life is realisation...it could be about anything, absolutely anything!

Those weird things

Those weird things you feel at times. Sometimes you don't realise for yourself. Those thoughts are so different. I'm listening to one of my favourite songs right now. I have great company, but never did I think that I would get up in the middle of something to just write this.
I just feel so different. It certainly is a great feeling. I feel happy, stupid, funny, blaah to say the least, but I love it. I'm thinking so many different things at this point in time. In fact, sometime back, I was going through my old posts and I realised that even though what I wrote back then, be it even just a month ago, it was all so different.
I feel like a new person today. I feel like a new life all together. Life keeps changing every minute. I learnt so many new things in the last one month. Learnt things to the extent where I had to be given a reality check by my dear friends and myself as to what I was doing. I don't know who to thank and who to apologise to, but nevertheless, I hope it ain't too late- so SORRY and THANK YOU to all those who've really been there and will always be there.
I feel like singing this song out aloud, but more importantly, I want to write this down. Like someone who is with me at the moment says, "It probably is the moment of inspiration." Well said but I don't know if it is just that. May be it is that with so many other feelings together. May be it is the time for me to just let it all out.
So, here I go all out in the open- I may not be the best at doing this, but I thoroughly enjoy it. This feeling of having mixed feelings gives me this sudden boost to start somethings afresh, repair some damaged relationships and to take along some new formed ones. It is absolutely great.
You may not actually enjoy reading this, but somewhere, I'm sure you might just relate to what I'm saying!
La Life!

To a new start!

I'm probably two months late, yes I am! I should've written this blog in January when everyone was literally wishing Happy New Year to each other. But never mind, like they say, it’s better late than never.
The reason why I titled this 'To a new start!' is because there are so many things I realised last year, let go off last year and welcomed last year. The year was quite a mixed bag. From depressing moments to the happiest ones, from having fallen on my face to standing up and making my own identity, there was just so much I did and mind you, learnt too in the process. There was a time, guessing somewhere mid last year where I was wondering, 'what am I doing in life?'. And trust me, when that question pops up in your head, you end up realising that you really aren't what you think you are. Some realise how messed up they are while some just get to know that life isn’t as easy after all.
Coming back to the question in my head, this one day when I was bored with my previous job, there was something inside me that kept saying, ‘this is not what you’re supposed to be doing and it’s clearly not what you’re born to do.’ People kept saying, ‘you’ll adjust, you’ll get used to it, but I knew it for sure that no, I really wouldn’t be satisfied with anything that I would do there. I sure made some friends there, but I was not myself. I knew I wanted to write. I’d lie if I said that’s what I wanted to do all my life, but somewhere, years ago, the writing bug bit me. There was a voice inside me, screaming out loud and trying to give me a push to go get what I really wanted.
Everything was so complete in my life, except for something very important – job satisfaction. I looked around if I could get something somewhere where I could get to showcase my writing but nothing seemed to work out. Then this one fine day, with the help of my sister (I love you!) and this very kind man (my sister’s friend), then unknown to me but now a very dear friend (Thank you very much), I managed to get a job that honestly changed my life. The minute I started working there, it just felt good. It was like finding the piece that propelled the completion of a puzzle. I felt good about my work, myself and just everything around me. Sure there were ups and downs at work, and they will continue to be, else there is no other way a person will learn. In the process, I landed up meeting a girl (now a very close friend), and we hit it off from the very beginning. Of course, right now, I have more than just one very good friends at work and it feels lovely.
Anyway, I made friends, very good friends rather who I can proudly say are brilliant people, brilliant human beings. My relationship with myself became better. You know, your relationship with others reflects your relationship with yourself, wherever you may be in your personal development. I became a better friend to myself and I hope somewhere, to others as well.
Today, at this point, no matter what, I can happily say that I have a life filled with some very, very special people and this New Year has started off at a good note. It’s a new beginning and a new journey with all the people I know and moreover, with myself!

Life as I know it!

Everyday, as they say, is a new day. A fresh morning, a fresh start to something new or may be a new perspective to something old. Some people wake up thinking its a long day, some wake up thinking why me?, some wake up thinking life isn't as beautiful as they thought it would be, etc. Everyone has something going on in their mind, I do too. The only question that constantly pops up in my mind throughout the day is why can someone not wake up with a clear mind? Why is everything so complicated, or is it we who complicate things?

I don't seem to get it. Life is too short to analyse each and every thing, each and every moment. Can't it just be simple and clear? We all think of how miserable our lives are. We all wonder about how many things we have to do and how we don't have the time to fit everything in. But do we ever realise that if this wasn't the case, then there would be no fun. Even with all the running around that we do, don’t meet people as often as we would want to, don’t get to do whatever we want to whenever we want to, but the day all of it happens, the joy and the happiness we feel certainly has no bounds.

We all have days when we feel spaced out, have various mood swings, but everyday irrespective of it all, we still have to get back to the drill. When we look at somebody else, we often feel how lucky we are. Everyone has their share of problems, and everyone thinks their own problem is graver than the other persons. But the fact still remains, that we’re all sailing in the same boat. Our destination is the same- to feel happy and content; it’s just the directions to get there are different. We're all similar is some ways!

We seldom realise that the cause of our problem could be us. We all make mistakes only to learn from them and if we don’t, then we’re just fools. With time you just have to camouflage yourself. I’ve been there and gone through it myself. But today, after some hundred mistakes, I’ve realised how beautiful my life is. The imperfection of my life just makes it perfect…completely worth living! I know I may have forgotten to thank many people on my way to getting where I am today, so I want to thank them all now. I want to apologise to many, but want apologies from none. I’m happy with the people I’m with and glad that many people left me stranded alone on the way because had they not, I wouldn’t have been the person I am right now. So, thank you to them as well.

Today, at this point, I have no regrets, or wait, I’d lie if I say I have none. But I’m happy with the way my life has shaped. Had it not been for it all, I wouldn’t be the person that I am now. So, this is my way of saying, life is wonderful and this is life as I know it.
La life!

Voices in my head

There are these voices in my head that keep telling me, do you really think what you're doing is good enough? Then that makes me think, am I really good enough?
What I'm doing may seem good, while you're just an onlooker. But when I do something, I don't do it to meet someone's expectations or desires. For me, its just the happiness on peoples faces- be it my family, my boss, my colleagues, my friends or whoever else. For me its the happiness the person feels from something I've done. For me it's easy to adjust, but not change. I want to be liked for what I am and how I am, or else, does it really matter?
There would be ten people out there who would do anything to seek attention, I don't need it, I don't want it. All I want is appreciation, criticism, just the required push to learn more, know more. This world is my stage, I want to showcase my art. I want to dance like no ones watching and write like everyone's reading. I want to live life to the fullest, make each and every minute the best.
You may say I'm strange, I'm weird or anything. You may say whatever. There are myriad forms of different words. I want to hear them all, understand them all. I want to do so much, hear so much and learn so much more. I want those voices in my head to disappear for I'm not living for someone else, I'm living for me. I want to be me and not someone else's expectation. If I become that, then what's the difference between Barbie and me? It will all be just make believe, won't it?

How real is real?

Entertainment is a major part of all our lives. We probably can survive days without watching TV, but then we also have those days when we spend hours just watching TV. Indian television has always surprised me. Be it the saas-bahu sagas, or the now very popular reality shows. These so called reality shows have always made wonder how real is real? Each show guarantees you that it's different from the other, but all of them have equal amount of drama involved. In fact, I don't find anything different in them.
For some reason though, I think they're rather entertaining. Let's take Rakhi Ka Swayamwar for example. The lady had contestants from all over who would want to become her groom. She, for once was fully dressed from top to bottom in many episodes. Then after much contemplation she decided to marry Elesh Parujanwala. Well she only decided, never did. Then came Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega. Again the same process, same everything, the only difference was that he married Dimpy Ganguly, the chosen one. But even his post marriage controversies and revelations of how the show was scripted were all out in the open. And now we have Ratan Ka Rishta.  I wonder what will be there in that because from what I see in the promos, one of the qualifications to become her groom is that the guy has got to like 'lauki'. Like seriously? Going by that, my groom must hate brinjal... whatever!
Then comes the very loved and much watched (I was a loyal viewer) Bigg Boss. In the first season, we had Rakhi (yes...again) falling for a fellow contestant but because he was engaged, she was depressed. So in this one certain episode of the show we had Rakhi standing with a broom in her hands, leaning against a wall, crying and there was the song Kya mujhe pyar hai playing in the background. What are we supposed to get out of this? Do we actually do that in real life? Then followed some three more seasons. However, I thought the fourth one to literally have it all. Action, drama, romance, comedy and much more. There was a point when people would literally sit glued to the television between 9-10 at night. Who wouldn't want to see Veena Mallik a.k.a. Pout Queen making a complete fool of herself by pouting in front of the mirror, dancing on the table, Ashmit Patel trying his luck with almost all the single women but then settling down with Veena, Dolly Bindra screaming "hurrrrrr", The Great Khali trying to talk but somehow his voiced only echoed, so on and so forth. The season, as they call it, had all the right masala. But again, the same question arises, is it real or should we just make ourselves believe that it is?
Whatever said and done, real or not, we all somewhere enjoy watching all these shows, laughing out loud and just wondering what actually happened to the concept of reality shows?

Ps- Rakhi Sawant now wants play Phulan Devi... never mind!
Also, I couldn't have mentioned the ten thousand reality shows that are there, else the blog would've never ended.