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 :)