The 1st supper.

I cooked dinner last night. The whole of it. As in chapatti as well as curry. I know what you're thinking, but no, everyone at home is quite alright, thank you very much!

Last night was lesson no.1 in my mom's "teach daughter to be independent as far as food is concerned thingy".

Anyway, I made this very simple tomato curry thing whose recipe I'm gonna put up here for people who have only 15 mins to prepare themselves a nice meal.

So you cut up some tomatoes in small pieces and some onions - say about one onion and two tomatoes. Two green chillies are also cut up. (if you don't get green chillies, you might wanna use chilly powder. If you like spicy use more. Don't use less than two, it becomes too bland). Cut up some ginger also (again as much as you want for taste. I'd say some 10 small pieces (small being .5 cm sided cubes approx).

Next, you switch on the frying bowl and put in about 3-4 tea spoons on oil, and wait for 30 seconds. Then, you put in half a tea spoon of mustard and half a tea spoon of black gram dal(ulutham paruppu) and fry for 15-30 seconds. Then add the cut up onion, ginger and chilly and fry till the onion starts developing a tinge of brown. Just a tinge, mind you. And then add some salt. 3/4th - 1 teaspoon. Depends on you, actually.. Then add the tomato and fry for about 5-10 mins and voila, you have your tomato curry.

15 mins max. And you can garnish with coriander if you want, but if you're cooking for yourself, I'd say "don't bother". Unless of course you like coriander.

Oh, and I made chapattis as well. Not that that's new - been doing that since I was 'eah high.. but the mother seemed to have forgotten that. She bought me my own rolling in and rolling board when I was about 5 which she has no recollection of! Which was good in a way. She was all in raptures when she found out I could roll chapattis. Ah, whatever. These mothers, I tell you...!!

Oh, and tip: Once you roll said chapatti, fry it immediately, else they become dry and hard. At least cover it up.

Okay, enough cooking lessons for the day. And do not fear, this is not going to be a cooking blog, but since the mother is set on her "my-daughter-independent-blah", a few recipes might pop up every now and then. So be warned.

The night before the wedding.

One evening Marilla, coming in from the orchard with a basket of apples, found Anne sitting along by the east window in the twilight, crying bitterly.

"Whatever's the matter now, Anne?" she asked.

"It's about Diana," sobbed Anne luxuriously. "I love Diana so, Marilla. I cannot ever live without her. But I know very well when we grow up that Diana will get married and go away and leave me. And oh, what shall I do? I hate her husband--I just hate him furiously. I've been imagining it all out--the wedding and everything--Diana dressed in snowy garments, with a veil, and looking as beautiful and regal as a queen; and me the bridesmaid, with a lovely dress too, and puffed sleeves, but with a breaking heart hid beneath my smiling face. And then bidding Diana goodbye-e-e--" Here Anne broke down entirely and wept with increasing bitterness.

- Anne(12) in Anne of Green Gables


"It's all pretty much as I used to imagine it long ago, when I wept over your inevitable marriage and our consequent parting," she laughed. "You are the bride of my dreams, Diana, with the `lovely misty veil'; and I am YOUR bridesmaid. But, alas! I haven't the puffed sleeves -- though these short lace ones are even prettier. Neither is my heart wholly breaking nor do I exactly hate Fred."

- Anne(21) in Anne of the Island

5 things i can't live without

Of all the things they ask in your orkut profile, i think this is the most ridiculous! The obvious answer being oxygen, food, water, etc.. But I've read that so many times that i conclude anybody who has that written as "bo-ring". I'd rather they leave the field empty..
The next obvious thing they write are "mom, dad, siblings, dog(?), friends, girl/boy-friend.." Yeah, sure kiddo, your mom and dad and siblings and well, dog mean a lot to you, and sure you'll be heart-broken if anything were to happen to them, but it's not like you can't live without them, is it? I'm sure you've lived away during your hostel days/school, college trips, etc.. And as for friends, i think it's high time they realise that 40 years from now, it's highly unlikely that they'll still be in touch with their friends.. And as for the boy/girl-friend, well, actually, i won't say anything there and merely give one of my "looks".

So why am i being such a hypocrite, you ask, when i have filled in my tab with 5 things i supposedly can't live without.. Well, I've written "laughter, coffee, something to hug, books, a phone".. My dad, thanks to not-too-pleasant expirences regd. the phone bill for the last 8 years or so will say that the last at any rate is true.. But i don't think so.. If you take away my phone, i'll be miserable, sure, but i think it's highly improbable that i'll be broken-hearted and die.. Ditto coffee and books and "something to hug". But laughter? If there was no laughter, I don't think life will be worth living. I am as good as dead without it. But that's one. And honestly, i can't think of anything else "i can't live without".

They should change it to "5 things without which you'll be miserable". Makes more sense. Else i guess, the answer is the same for everyone: Oxygen, food, water, a working heart and brain.. And of course laughter.

Kids these days..

My 9 year old cousin has come down for a visit. In passing, she happened to mention that she writes poems. A few of them are pretty amazing. A couple of phrases she uses are ones i'm sure i didn't know when i was her age! Anyway, i've put them up her.. Check it out..

Green

Green is the joy of nature
Green is the whistling of grass
Green is nice bright happiness
Green is the surprise of breaking glass
Green is a cucumber, smooth and soft
Green is fresh apples sitting in the loft
Green is vines swinging to and fro
Green makes me happy like a frolicking doe
Green is the joy of nature


The next is a limerick:

Red

Terrible, terrible red,
A battlefield with bloodshed
I hear a loud rumble
Of a castle going to crumble
So I ran home to my bed




A haiku:

Blue

Deep loyal and dark
As beautiful as a lark
Sea with a giant shark




A couplet:

Purple

Purple, purple magical and deep
Eggplant that’s good to eat

Purple is the sister of pink
They have a very close link

Purple is the sign of love
As lovely as a white dove



5 W’s

Who? The green grass
What? Whistles quietly
When? In the afternoon
Where? At the meadow
Why? Because of the wind



The next one is my favorite. This is one of her 'deep' poems...

Life

Life goes spinning at a pace
Life goes spinning in your face
Life goes spinning round and round
Until you fly and never touch the ground

Pretend you’re a fledgling learning to fly
Upto a point that’s high
If you miss a flap or two
You’ll fall down and that isn’t cool

Pretend you’re building a bridge
With a tall pointed ridge
If you miss a brick or so
It’ll fall down and you’ll have a row

Life goes spinning at a pace
Life goes spinning in your face
Life goes spinning round and round
Until you fly and never touch the ground



Okay, the next one she wrote in a matter of 10 mins. Pretty good for a 9 year old, no?

Morning

The flowers are opening their petals
The sun is rising on a new day
The dew drops are splashing on the grass
I could shout hooray

Hooray, hooray it’s morning
A few flowers are opening last
Hooray, hooray it’s morning
I can see a mast



Lol.. The next one she started it when she was 6 or something.. She completed it just before coming. But phrases like "in a thrice", who uses that??

India

I like India a lot
Even though it’s hot

I have family there
I know they care

India is very nice
I’ll be there in a trice

In desperation

The link to my blog page was on scroll down thingy of my IE7, and my dad chanced across it. Thankfully I had deleted the incriminated blog only the previous day (Muhahahaha, Dad!) :-P Anyway, he commented on how there was nothing there, so I wondered what to put in.

As a general rule I love writing stuff - recording events of the past. I send e-mails which go on for pages and pages. My style of writing, I have been told, is very conversational. That is perfectly fine by me. After all, I ain't trying for the booker.

Anyway, with regard to my blog page, I wondered what to put it. I wanted to fill it in, so I can format the page (I love formatting - don't ask me why!). So I clicked "new post". The box opened. I looked at the cursor. It blinked at me. Wanting to be polite, I blinked back at it. But the cursor, politer than me, blinked again. This went on for sometime. Finally, I minimized the window and opened my google chat. RG was online.
"Ah", I thought, "RG has a blog, he'll know".
The following conversation ensued:
me: i've started a blog!
RG: Cute
let me read it
me: er..
i haven't written anything yet..
RG: Oh brilliant
me: actually i wrote something.
RG: I'm definitely going to sleep now.
me: then i deleted it.
anyway..
sleep
'night
but answer this..
what does one write in a blog?
RG: Ha ha
okay
Anything
Whatever you want.
me: see..
it's gonna be read by everyone no?
RG: Yes.
me: so it can't be personal stuff..
RG: And there'll probably be an archive that'll never die
Depends on whether you want people to know
me: No!
duh!
like, it isn't a diary..
RG: You can write stuff like about your trip and shit
It's cool.
Actually depends on you.
me: i usually don't like too many people knowing too many things about me.
ah.. trip
good
wait.
wat trip?
RG: Or like, about IISc.
Or stuff like that
me: but tat'll go for pages and pages
remb the mails i sent?
tat was only half of it!
so it'll be really long..
RG: Ah, that's good
me: which no one will read anyway..
RG: Long stuff is cool
me: so wats the point?
RG: Just split it up to multiple days.
Yeah, that's the point.
me: the point is no one reads?
RG: Exactly
me: ah.
so no one reads your blog?
RG: Ron Weasley dies.

Like that helped! Like I said, I don't want to write personal stuff, cause I wouldn't want anyone to read it, and my day-to-day activities are just too long. Too many things happen, no? So, for starters, I've decided to upload a few articles I wrote.. Most of them were wrtten in class due to desperation. (Desperate to have something to do which'll prevent the prof's dulect tones from reaching you..). A few are copyrite Woodstock.