For God Sake, Take Action!

Just a couple of days have passed since the really demeaning and brutal gang-rape which happened in our so called "capital city" and it disgusts me that for a nation who talks so much about equality and women's rights, taking action on the accused is just becoming a matter of discussion. 

I cannot help but wonder the victim's plight..... At least the media is trying to create awareness and bring in some justice but as we all know it would take a lifetime to pass a judgement... Imagine many other's who face similar situation and the accused goes unpunished? 

Quote by Robin Williams says it all : " the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time." !

And as Farhan Akhtar rightly put -

" What is this country that I live in?
With no equality
And the quality of life
Differs from husband to wife
Boy to girl, brother to sister
... Hey Mister, are you the same?
Contributing to the national shame
Replacing your mothers
With the bent ideology of another's
perception that women have a particular role in society
Fills my heart with anxiety
Where is all of this going?
What will emerge from these seeds that we're sowing?
It makes my head spin
But I'm not giving in
Will keep asking the question
What is this country that I live in?

What is this country that I live in?
That takes away her right to love
Brutalizes her with an iron glove
Rapes her without fear
of there being justice for her tear
We've demeaned our goddesses
Gone back on all our promises
Become a gender distorted nation
Given our conscience a permanent vacation
what do we tell our daughter's?
That she's growing up to be lamb for the slaughter
we've got to make a change
Reboot, reformat, rearrange,
and never give in
no matter how much our head may spin
Just keep asking the question
What is this country that I live in? "

Paniyaram Recipe

I know this is not a foodie blog, however I decided to share this as this is one of my favorite breakfast / tea time snack. Make sure you have Idli batter ready before you start to make this :)

Ingredients for making the mix for Paniyaram - 

2 medium onions - finely chopped
10 - 15 big curry leaves - finely chopped
5 - 7 big green chilies - finely chopped ( depends on your spice intake )
3 - 5 table spoon of freshly grated coconut
1 table spoon of mustard 
1/2 table spoon of chana dal (optional)
2 table spoon of refined oil

Cooking Procedure:

Heat the oil in a pan and allow the mustard and chana dal to splutter

On medium flame, add the onions and stir until the raw smell of the onion disappears and the onions turn a shade of golden brown ( ensure to stir continuously so that the onions are not burnt at the bottom )

To this, add the chopped curry leaves and chilies and stir for another 5 - 10 mins 

Add the grated coconut and fry until the coconut turns golden brown 

Mix the above mixture to the idli batter ( the above ingredients serves about 4 - 5 people )

Heat the paniyarakkal 

Apply 1 - 2 drops of refinded oil in each kuzhi ( this is optional - if you require the Paniyaram to be crispier )

Pour a table spoon to each kuzhi and turn them around when the sides turn golden brown.

I like to serve the paniyaram's with coriander chutney, so here goes the recipe for that too :)


Ingredients for making the Coriander Chutney ( Serves 4 - 5 people ):

Freshly grated coconut  -  1 medium bowl
Fresh Coriander Leaves - 1 bunch ( can vary )
2 - 3 green chilies ( depends on spice preference )
1 table spoon of ginger
1 medium onion ( the smaller onions can also be used )
5 - 6 garlic pods ( optional )
Water and Salt as required

Mix all the above ingredients and make a fine paste ( please do not make it very watery )

For Seasoning:

2 table spoons of refined oil
1 table spoon of mustard
Curry leaves - as required
1/4 table spoon of urad dal

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds
Once it starts sputtering, add the urad dhal and curry leaves
Pour this over the chutney paste 

Paniyaram and coriander chutney are good to go! :)


P.S. The hotter the paniyaram's, the tastier they are ;)

Please let me know of your feedback's once you make them! 

Life's Little Pleasures

Little did I know that when friends, relatives and well wishers around me said its difficult to maintain a blog, they were actually speaking the truth..

I cannot believe that its been almost 7 months since I even looked into my blog and mind you, it is not something I am proud about :(

Well, its my first day off from work today and i feel great :) And just when I was lazing around, a thought struck in my head and I started going through my old pictures on FB and that is how I realized how much fun my life was before work life..

I happened to (FINALLY) attend one of my close friends - Nidhin's engagement last weekend and caught up with few of my other buddies too and I think it was one of the best things I have done in a really long time! I generally have a number of excuses lined up my sleeve for not showing up for any occasions but this time around I ensured I made it and it was a great reunion!

Those 4 hours I spent with my friends is something I would cherish for a really really long time! These were the set of people with whom I could be completely stupid and would not be judged...we could make fun of each other knowing we were never serious about it... we could count on each other when things got tough... we would always care about each other and just be there when required/when not required :)....these are my friends who would listen with an intent to understand not with an intent to reply.

Meeting each one of them brought back so many memories of our togetherness and it almost felt like we were back in college wherein our only worry was ensuring 35 marks on each of the paper :D

I really dunno when we will meet again but I definitely do hope it happens sooon enough :)

FRIENDS - one of life's little pleasures :) :)

And if I had to name few more of my life's little pleasures:

2) Falling in bed after a really exhausting day
3) Listening to my fav song when I least expect it
4) Licking off the residues of KFC from my fingers!!! yummmmmmmm
5) Getting wrapped snugly in blankets when it’s freezing cold.
6) Waking up at 6 only to realize it your day off and bounce back to bed :)

7) Waking up, checking the clock and seeing that you have plenty of sleep time left

8) Finding money in your jeans pocket

9) going to bed reading MB's ( hey, dont judge me! its a stress reliever! )

10) randomly laughing at something I remembered ( from days gone by)

11) Having the love of your life whisper "I Love You" :)

12) My family - life would be so incomplete without them 

13) Tea made by my mum!!!!

14) Retail Therapy ;)

I really could go on and on..... Think about it everyone - what are the things that make you happy, makes you smile.. It may not change anything but for one moment you would have thought of someone, something that made you smile and it goes a great way in changing your mood for the rest of the day :)

Our 1st Photo Shoot :)

Sunlight: P, Camera and Shoot! Boom!!! 400+ pictures in a matter of 3 – 4 hrs!

It started as a casual conversation between Arjun’s friend - Ajesh, Arjun and me about couple of months back about him wanting to do a portfolio shoot with us. The idea appealed a lot to Arjun and me and we told him that we were ok to do it whenever he wanted us to. And that day finally arrived over this weekend and what a day we had!!!

Couple of days back, Ajesh made it a point to coach both of us on the do’s and don’ts for the shoot. It seemed extremely simple at that time and I was under the impression “how difficult can it be? All you need to do is smile and look around you so that he can shoot in every angle” Arjun however found it little weird considering he cannot smile without any reason: P

But we weren’t prepared on the hard work that it went from both the ends!!!! 

The theme was decided as ethnic (traditional) - Arjun was dressed in a lovely kurta and pyjama and I was dressed up in a Kerala Saree - which I feel any day, anytime looks wonderful! The location was chosen as Lal Bagh: D

Ajesh, from his end hired lot of equipments’ which were required for the shoot .

And believe me guys; words cannot completely express how we felt about the whole shoot! The weather was brilliant, location was great, photographer was amazing and we, well we were just awesome ;): P

The important things when it comes to a shoot is your expressions, your body language, your comfort level in posing in front of a camera and being photographed in a public place and most importantly  your connect with the photographer.  The initial photos that were taken seemed very easy but it’s only later on when I heard Arjun and Ajesh talk about the lighting effect and various angles which were required to take certain pictures, did I realize that I was so ignorant about the whole concept of photography!  To a layman like me, all I knew was I had to look good in all the pictures , rest I would of course blame it on the camera or the photographer himself ;) But the reality of course is the exact opposite. After a while I realized that our presence of mind is so essential so that we do not lose focus from the shoot.  Though Arjun & I did the photo shoot for fun, for Ajesh it was very important that he get good shots. He is aspiring to get into this field and holds this very close to his heart. From a photographer’s perspective; I realized how important it is to get the “PERFECT PICTURE”

After a while, I knew Arjun too was getting into the groove as he tried to understand many features of the camera and the techniques from Ajesh. Arjun’s passion for photography started more than a year back and it’s his favorite hobby since then.  Unfortunately he is not too keen about portfolio photos yet; else you would have seen me in many of his albums! :D

A big part of posing for photographs depends on how well you are confident about yourself.  As long as you feel good, relaxed and it shows on your face and body language, you can make a good frame which will of course look very natural J and it really doesn’t matter if you are on the heavier side or the duskier!

So yes friends, Arjun and I are proud of the fact that we put our Saturday to very good use and did not hibernate as we generally do ;) There was no reason as to why we did this shoot but yes it was one of the things we did different and hopefully it will be better the next time! (Hope Ajesh is reading this: D)

So for our next trip, we have decided to put in much more effort and Arjun I know for sure will know his wife is ever ready to pose: P

 I have attached few pictures from our shoot - Enjoy!

A big thank you to Ajesh, who made it so much easy for us to be ourselves and hoping to see few of our good photos on your "Ajesh KV Photography" page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ajesh-KV-Photography/189444361071254)  :) 

I happened to tumble across Orkut today... Remember Orkut?? :) Used to be our life just like Facebook once upon a time... I think I was in college when I first created my Orkut profile and I felt that was the coolest thing I have ever done - adding every other person you talk to, adding all your school friends, childhood friends, the good looking guys in other class ;) , your seniors , the b**** from the other section ( just to see what she is up to ) :P etc ... 

The next best thing that you could do on Orkut was checking out photos, writing scraps and who could forget the various testimonials from numerous people - some write out of their own choice , some out of compulsion :D 

I was going through my testimonials today and I couldn't stop feeling extremely nostalgic!!!! I have /had so many friends who had some many good things to tell about me. It actually made me feel special that I have friends who think I am such a good friend to them! It was a time in my life when my world revolved around them. I couldn't think of doing anything without their views & opinions but of course with the no. of friends I had, there was bound to be too many cat fights & difference of opinion. I can still remember few of the stunts that I pulled with my friends ( totally unnecessary) and we wouldn't talk for days and weeks together. Towards the end of college, there were way too many slam books to be filled - some were filled just for the heck of it and some were filled with too many mixed emotions of leaving behind you own small world and stepping into a new chapter of your life. 

Those innumerable promises that you make to your friends that you would stay in touch and meet every week...

That you would meet for all their birthdays....

That you would meet for lunch at least 2 - 3 times in a months....

That you would go for a 1 day trip at least once a month ....

That you would go for a week's trip at least twice a year...

I'll be honest here... I haven't done any of these.... :( 

From my perspective alone I can say, the excitement of getting a job - not just any job, my FIRST JOB!!! I kept pushing myself to get better and better at what I was expected to do. My friends slowly took a back seat and all the while I kept telling myself " Hey, its OK if I couldn't catch up with them this week, I'll make it up to them the next week " and its been almost 7 yrs since I left college and I don't remember meeting all of my friends for more than 4 - 5 times... and trust me I am not proud about it. Forget meeting them, a simple call would have gone a long way to tell them that they are being thought of...

I have been working for more than 5 years now and one thing I have accepted is I did not study hard and struggle in life to be a machine and live a meaningless life. There is so much more to life. Its your family and friends who will lend you a helping hand and a shoulder to cry on whenever you need it. No matter how serious Life gets, you still gotta have that one person you can be completely stupid with :)


So guys, just leaving with a  thought:

Call that friend of yours today , catch up with them over this weekend , let them know they are being thought of and tell them how much they mean to you :)

"It's impossible." said pride.

"It's risky." said experience.

"It's pointless." said reason.

"Give it a try." whispered the heart.....

Nervous, Anxious, Excited and a lot many more mixed feelings... I have always wanted to write blogs but the fear of what I would write after 2 - 3 sentences always stopped me. I used to wonder how is it possible to write and write and write and ensure your thoughts flow accordingly and you capture it immediately; well doesn't look like it is difficult considering I do the same all the time just by talking :P


Its kind of weird that out of nowhere I made up my mind that 'yes, lets do this'.. I mean how difficult can it be - to pen down your thoughts and then at a later date re read these over and over again and wonder what is it exactly that you had in mind while doing so. 


I can for sure say that it has been one of my good friend who has inspired me to write :) 


So yes, I am gonna blog without any purpose, without any aim other than entertain myself and maybe others... 


Happy Reading!