I recommend..

Few good things / people I wanted to talk about..Though I must say when the technology to convert thoughts into words on the computer arrives, I had be writing a blog everyday...

Bish got this wonderful wonderful masala (spice) from an Indian store. Eastern Fish masala..

The taste is absolutely delicious. When we added this masala to fish the curry reminded me of authentic Goan Fish curry without the coconut. We have since then used this masala for prawn and chicken too...I am loving it..

Came across this site www.sewing.patternreview.com while searching for patterns. It was started by an Indian lady Deepika in 2001 and now it has grown to 200000 plus users around the globe. It has professionals reviewing new patterns, and of course lots of tips, patterns and techniques for sewers. Inspiring to say the least !!!!

For all those Indians in Phoren land wishing to grind dry spices into fine powder and disappointed by their mixers, we came across coffee grinder. We decided to try it for grinding khuskhus (as most mixer grinders failed to achieve a fine powder form). The results were amazing.

Last but the best..Bish my husband..This guy knows when I am tired and in desperate need of some good food and great tea.. Came back home after a very long day dog-tired, and found Bish had prepared steaming cup of ginger tea for me. Yeh baarish, chai aur tum!!!

Day dreaming...

Couldn't sleep last night...Stress is making its presence felt again in my head and heart...Heart is beating too fast and head is working on an overdrive...

All of a sudden I started to day dream. I was thinking (yes i was!!! though many advise me to not!) about a beautiful sea facing house..Lots and lots of greenery..A gentle breeze caressing the face...

Nice blue gentle water and I close my eyes to be in the nothingness of it all...

There is something amazing about sitting in front of the sea...It relaxes you. The mind grinds to a halt..the heart slows to a steady rhythm. You look at the vast expanse of blue above, below and beyond.

Hmm..put me to a nice deep sleep.

Heart baring lyrics

Bollywood has always managed to come up with heart rending, soul touching, and mind reading lyrics..

There is a song for every mood that you can think of..

Examples I can think of

1. lullaby sung to a child by a happy mom - Chanda hai tu, suraj hai tu from Aradhana

2. lullaby sung to a child by a sad mom - So jaa, chupp ho jaa from Sansar

3. Song sung by friends in honour of their friendship - Ye dosti from Sholay

4. Song sung by lovers in honour of each other - countless songs from countless movies

5. Seductive song - Bahon mein chale aao from Anamika

6. Cabaret song - Mehbooba Mehbooba from Sholay and all of Helen's songs among others

7. 'Item" song - Om shanti Om from the same movie and ofcourse all the other songs done by wannabes and has-beens.

8. Patriotic songs - Kar chale hum fida from Haqeeqat and so many other songs filmed on Manoj Kumar.

9. Struggle song - Hanste hanste from Khoon bhari maang

10. Inspiring song - Mitwa from Lagaan

11. Happy song - Hum hain raahi pyaar ke from the same movie

12. Sad song - Koi hota jisko apna from Mere Apne

13. Song of Betrayal - Tadap Tadap from Hum dil de chuke sanam

14. Sports' related song - Chak de from Chak de India

15. Festival related song - Innumerable songs for Holi, Diwali, most notably Rang Barse from Silsila

16. Love songs - Gum hai kisike pyaar me from Rampur ka Lakshman

I can't think of anymore categories....can anyone add to this?

At the moment, the song Aaina Mujhse meri from Daddy best reflects my emotions..go listen to it..

The lyrics are:

Aaina Mujhse meri Pehli si surat maangi
Mere Apne mere hone ki nishani maangi...aaina mujhse meri...

Main bhatakta hi raha dard ke veerane mein
waqt likhta raha chehre pe har pal ka hisaab
Meri shaurat meri deewangi ki nazar hui
Pi gayi may ki botal mere geeto ki kitaab
Aaj lauta hoon to hansne ki ada bhool gaya
Ye sheher bhula mujhe main bhi isse bhul gaya

Mere apne mere hone ki nishani maangi....aaina mujhse meri..
Mera fan phir mujhe bazaar mein le aaya hai
yeh vo jagah hai ke jahan mero vafa bikte hai
Baap bikte hai aur lakhte jigar bikte hain
Kokh bikti hai, dil bikte hai, sar bikte hai

Is badalti hui duniya ka khua koi nahi
saste daamo pe yahan roz khuda bikte hai
Har kharidaar ko bazaar mein bikta paaya
Hum kya paayenge kisi ne yahaan kya paaya
Mere ehsaas mere geet kahi aur chale
Phool Puja, meri bacchi kahi aur chali....Aur chali

I think thats roughly it...

Gotta respect SRK, KJo

Finally succumbed to the SRK charm.

Had avoided seeing My name is Khan (MNIK) because of the needless controversy created and crisis mysteriously averted. Felt that was a calculated move to garner publicity. However, absence of any good movie for weeks finally made me eat humble pie.

MNIK is a powerful movie and has the right message this world needs to listen to.

There are only 2 kinds of people in this world: Good people who do good things and Bad people who do bad things.

A truer statement was never said.

This then is the premise of the movie. It explores the basic humanity in us all. Some people who live all their lives based on love, look for and find love everywhere. And those poor misguided souls who have based their lives on hate, give and get hate from everywhere.

SRK has acted well in this movie and has proved that he deserves the superstar status. In the hands of a good director (like Shimit Amin, Chak De) the actor in him overrides the gimmicks of loud acting (a mainstay in Bollywood).

And for this reason, KJo needs to be lauded for making a film that is not mushy, insensitive or over the top. A well balanced movie, where for once SRK and the screenplay completely overshadowed Kajol. She has a screen presence which complements SRK well. Her role wasn't meaty enough for her to display her skills. What little scope she had, she grabbed with both hands.

This generation of Bollywood directors, music directors and singers aren't afraid to make path breaking movies. Hera Pheri, Munnabhai series, Taare Zameen Par, 3 Idiots are movies that can stand the test of time, language, and geographical location.

I think MNIK needs to be dubbed into English and sold in America and Europe to be shown in little towns and cities.

There are undercurrents of race here. People are hurting with recession, job losses, insecure future, and rising costs of living. Where is the place for hatred and war, when we have such a huge burden to carry? But isn't this is the story everywhere?...

Scarily this hatred is touching, crippling and even destroying the lives of very young children.

Our generation bears unprecedented pressure. Bad health, bad economy, bad politics....

Its almost like we will have to break new paths to take life forward. We need more love all round to make things a little easier for us.

A little hug someone???

I am losing it...

I am losing it guys...not my marbles or pennies but my patience. Patience with people..I find most people ignorant, arrogant and unnecessarily aggressive. Always out there to prove something..As if we didn't have enough problems already.

There was a whopper of an earthquake...actually 2 of those..then a tsunami..strain changing viruses...the earth shifting its axis by 3 inches...unstoppable snow showers here in the east coast...Aren't these enough?

People who get my goat:

1. Unsolicited Advisers (not to be confused by Macro advisers)

People who believe the rest of the world is in its infancy and can't take a single baby step ahead without their invaluable and continuous advice. I have people (mere acquaintances / strangers) advising me on how to raise my child, on why I should get another child, on how I need to make more friends, on how I should work towards a new qualification, on how (& why) I should settle down in US.....etc etc.

2. Vanishing helpers

As I have gone through n number of emergencies, I have had the (mis)fortune of meeting this species several times. They will hover around you begging to help you, and will do a Houdini when you actually need help. Once the need is over, they reappear and assure us they would have helped the most and the best if they would have known about your problem.

3. Rich beggars / Freeloaders

Its a breed that's a class apart. Lazy women and stingy men make a great combo package in this category. They arrive uninvited just in time for lunch / dinner but are exceedingly busy the day you decided to drop in on them. They are also the first ones to arrive at a party and the last ones to leave. You ought to consider yourself 'privileged' if you can manage to get a glass of water out of them.

4. Compulsive winners

The scariest kind; I try to run away from this species as a simple act of drinking water can be turned into a competition by them. They have to win at all things, be seen as right in all things. If they cannot win, then they will not let the game happen. If they aren't the best in a particular activity, that activity isn't worth spending any time on at all. Their young ones are trained from the incubation stage to start winning at all things, including coming out of the womb at the best time of the year.

5. Extra efficient advertisers

Some people are the unofficial advertisers for products and services. They will force you to use the product/services endorsed by them, even if they themselves have been burnt by it. Even if they have to shove it down your throat. What they use is the best and has to be therefore used by all us ignorant folks.

6. Health experts

You just have to tell them your symptoms, and they will tell you what medicine to take, how much to take, what caused your illness in the first place and an horror story of how one of their friend had to die because he didn't listen to their advice. These people are experts in allopathy, homeopathy, homemade and all other alternative medicines.

7. Macro advisers

These 'learned' people know how to run your house, the country, the neighbouring country and the world in general. They have opinions on everything that has macro implications like finances, economics, weaponry, war, politics etc etc etc. Even if their own house, finance, relations are in a major turmoil.

I am running out of theories on how to deal with these classes. Any advisers???? :P