Memorable characters

While I relax on my couch these characters flashed and when ever this happens they all bring smile on my face.  I am talking about fictional characters which I enjoyed as child and they entertain me till date. It's strange how these lifeless characters manage to give us joy and make us smile while in reality many characters hurt at times well that's the harsh truth of life, will not ponder over the latter.  I am here to write about those characters which entertain and make me feel light though momentarily, their presence is eternal I am sure many feel so too.

Tom & Jerry : Funny never tired  of to see marathon of these episodes. The master plans of Tom which fail miserable due to our smart Jerry and to add to this race is between music. Full family entertainer and many generations have been entertained there is no question of generation gap while watching this series. 

 Scooby Dobby Do : The title track is catchy, wasn't watching it regularly but my brother used to. Now my lil one see and enjoys and this makes me nostalgic, it used to be telecasted in television at time we returned from school.

Mr Bean : Have see all episodes in this series, have lost count of how many times. Never ever felt bored of watching again and again. Smart yet stupid character of Mr Bean makes an masterpiece.

Shaktimaan : This is super hero series, as kid we were very fascinated by this character. A flying super hero, seeing him jump building, perform super stunts and his other face to the society was of a dumb person. Shaktimaan meaning powerful man, mostly helpings kid in need and danger thus we were all mesmerized by his powers.

Mowgli  : The Jungle book had this character, a boy raised in Jungle and his life in it. The picturisation was good. It was series of adventurous  by Mowgli.

Supandi : A character from Tinkle comic, every week we were eager to meet Supandi an stupid, innocent yet smart character. Was always fun to read.

Shikari Shumbu : Character from Tinkle comic, a shikari meaning hunter who is lazy and coward but by luck and hook or crook turns into hero in eye of society. Funny short stories.

All the above are associated with my sweet childhood memories and am sure will stay along in my journey of life. Thanks to all those amazing people who created these characters and many more which aren't in the above list of mine creativity can touch many, art stays on for ever, these fictional characters are eternal. 

Theater and family

After almost five years I managed to sneak out time for a family outing and went to movie that to Kannada movie. As family we really go out and this time ten of us were out to watch Victory movie at 9.30 pm! This post is not about the movie Victory, which I regret till this date to having spend my money and time on it instead I want to write about the crowd at theaters at late evening show. Typically India movies run from 2.5 hr to 3 hr at this hour of day I was surprised to see families coming with kids, with babies and I was wondering what example are we elders setting to these kids. 

Though they aren't out every day late night but still why even a day to be out and awake at that hour of day instead they should be snuggling warm in their cozy beds. Early to bed early to raise is foremost thing to mould child's discipline. The small things we do when young  defines us when we grow old, those are habits which stay till we end. This doesn't mean that parents have to sacrifice going to theater when kids are young instead of getting them to theater and creating hazzle for them they should plan for sleepover for there kids at friends or relative place which is far better than dozing in theater with broken sleep.





 

Few lines on Life bond

'I didnt know where I end and she begins' this line was taken from book Anna Karenina, the character Levin is newly married to his love Kitty and the above line states his thought. Isn't it such a meaningfull and apt line to describe what one feels when newly married.

Marriage an institution wherein the two individuals are bond for life time. Marriage does change everything between the two, I don't agree when one says 'nothing is changed post marriage'. Your own soul gets extended to incorporate your partner, your way of thinking gets changed say you be more responsible before doing anything, you both exist as two physical bodies but one heart isn't this enough to call it a change.

Well with partner comes his or her likes and dislikes  which might not match yours but we do overlook them and at times the other overlooks there comes in compromise but in this scenario there is no loss of either as the happiness is found in each other, seeing one happy is happiness for the other, what a special relation isn't it. It  might exist between any family relation  and friends but this is truly special as you live with this relation each and every day.

Everyday is not sunday, thus there may be ups and down in relation but to speak it out and clearing the issue is the key for the happy tomorrow.  'Silence speaks' doesn't work here as a matter of fact it doesn't work where there is issue. According to me if there is any misunderstanding or indifference just talk it out and get it clean off is the way to go. Who knows will there be a tomorrow or not!! 'Life is short make it sweet'.

Kitty and Levin's love story in the novel is simple and am sure to which many can relate in real life.  A relation where there is place for jealousy too and yet at the end of day you are sure that those eyes of your partner were just meant to see only you.

Life is truly a merry go round, in which marriage is a prime loop which surely is loaded with ups and down. One has to cling to the other and viceversa and ride along this and the end sure to see Happy Family just as in Levin and Kitty do.

Deciphering My Love!

She picks toy one by one out of basket, examines it as though she is about to dissect and see what's in it - it's what is called being 'curious'.

She looks at me and puts her fingers in mouth purposefully - that's how she grabs attention.

She crawls all around the home and never sits still at place - that's how active she is.

She comes to me at anytime of day and stares at what I eat or drink - that's how interested she is in new things on plate.

She hates to sit in carseat or go out to restaurants - that says she just want to be free to move around.

She loves if I sing a rhyme or read books - that's how she says she likes to learn.

She comes to hug, kiss and squeeze me - that's her love to me.

She laughs aloud and giggles - that when she is excited.

She gives a smile when I ask her questions, do you want curd? shall we go for stroller walk - that's an 'yes'

She squeezes her face which then turns red - that's when she is busy pooping.

She is still at one place - that's when she is trying to hand pick some thing from floor.

She streches her hand forward towards an object - that's when she wants that object.

She grunts and screams while feeding - that's when she is done with eating.

She is cranky and rubs her beautiful eyes - that's when she is sleepy.

She is one who keeps me active 24/7, a priceless gift for me, a treasure. Thank God for giving such a lovely daughter for life.

My Chef cap on : Vegetable Biryani

Well, well after making this dish - The Vegetable Biryani for about ten plus times finally liked what I made recently. Though this is not an authentic vegetable biryani this version is still a finger licker :)
Here is the colorful aromatic dish and one of the favourites among my family.

Receipe through photos follows :

Cut the vegetables of your choice, usually carrots, potatoes, beans, onions, peas and capsicum are used. You can add paneer too.
In a vessel, put oil - little more than what's required for vegetables to cook.
Add whole garam masalas - cloves, cardomom, pepper, cinnamom,cumin, red chillies and bay leaf.
Add onions, followed by the vegetables of your choice and green chillies.
Sautee this mixture till the vegetables are half done.
For briyani vegetables are cut in to medium large size.



While your vegetable mixture is getting cooked, we can start to cook rice. Basmati rice is preferred, as it's aroma and texture are what rightly required for the Biryani.
Cook the rice along with whole garam masalas - cloves, cardomom, pepper, cinnamom,cumin and bay leaf. Add little salt because you have to add salt in the vegetable mixture too.



Once the vegetable are cooked, add ginger and garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes.
Add red chilli powder, cumin powder, corriander powder and salt.
(This dish is very rich in masalas, add masalas as per your taste)
Cook the above mixture and occasionally give it good mix, so vegetables are quoted with all the masalas.
Better taste the dish now and adjust as per your taste salt and spice.



Add yogurt to this mixture, this is done almost at the end once your vegetable are cooked fully.
By now you will have a vegetables in a gravy, with oil floting on top here and there.



Add coriander and mint leaves and mix.
Love the color of these leaves on the gravy in background, the aroma is very tempting to attack this dish now and we can do so as we are almost done.



Before attacking, we have to do important step - put vegetables and rice in layers.
For layering :
Soak saffron in water or milk, chop cilantro, roast cashews and raisins in clarified butter (ghee) and finally deep fry onions which are thinly sliced. These fried onions have a sweet taste which some what balances the spiced up rice.
Take a big bowl and first put a layer of vegetable mixture and then rice followed by cashews and raisins, cilantro, fried onions and saffron this forms one layer, continue the same till your vegetables and rice are all used up.

Here is the final top view of the yummy Vegetable biryani :)



Serve with plain yogurt or raita.
For raita, chop cucumbers, onions,tomatoes and green chillies mix with yogurt. Add salt as per taste and garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy this home made easy version of Biryani.



My Brother who is better cook than me used to make this dish really yum but his version was always loaded with lot of spices, I make it with medium spices so above I didn't write in terms of quantity of ingredients to add, it depends on once taste. Try, experiment and find out the perfect receipe yourselves :)

GoodBye Cincy!

As Life goes we meet strangers,
time makes them dear and near to you,
as days pass you will have a friend for life who was stranger in past.

As life goes on only thing constant is change,
we have to move leaving behind people we love and care,
moving ahead to meet new people and make new friends.

All our life's revolves around the way I have put in above lines. Sometimes it's hard to move on and accept the change, its difficult to come out of the comfort zone one had with friends around but that's how it works, one has to get going to achieve better things in life be it professional or personal as opportunities are rare and as rightly said - Oppurtunity knocks only once.

It's easy to move on if you have right attitude, that's being positive. Hoping the new phase will be better, somewhere a house waits to be made your sweet home and strangers are out there who might become your friends for life too.

I am writing all this because we had to just move from our beloved city of Cincinnati which was home for us for four years, where I have learnt things, met wide rage people who have thought me many things and this has helped me somewhat to see life in different perspective. This blog is to mark all those memorable moments of last four years.

Pacific North West

The vacation to Pacific North west was in our to do list this year but I was bit reluctant as we had 9 month old baby to travel with us. Nevertheless my husband dragged me into this and we did it no regrets and credit goes to our baby who was so much cooperative in this week long trip were in we travelled by all means of transportation air, land and water.

Mt Rainier




We took off from Cincinnati to Seattle, 4 and half hour flight our little angel managed it smoothly. From Seattle we drove straight to Mt Rainier National Park. Stayed two night at National Park Inn, a warm cozy place. Next day it was cloudy and Mt Rainier was engulfed in huge cloud most of the day and by evening it started to come back to view and there she was clam and beautifully standing. The park has many trails which doesn't disappoint anybody, we took :
Groove of Patriachs - after a beautiful drive along Steven Canyon, we headed to the trail and got see Douglas Firs, red cedar trees a memorable walk through old growth forest.
Nisqually Vista - easiest trail in Paradise area of park and gives breath taking view of Mt Rainier which stands decorated among beautiful strech of wild flora. This was my favourite spot in park, trully a paradise on earth.
Trail of Shadows - small simple trail in Longmire area, we took this early in morning the fresh air amidst the trees in forest and green meadows gave good kick to start a long day of hiking.
Reflection lakes - lakes are spread through out the park and sight of reflections of Mt Rainier on surface of silent water is breath taking, one can sit for hours admiring the beauty of mountains, the reflections and the calm serene environment.
We wrapped our MtRainier Visit with the beautiful sunset view at Paradise area, from there we drove to Mt St Helens.

Mt St Helens



Through out the drive to Mt St Helens there are many view spots which gives you good view of the entire area, this historic place is part of Pacific Ring Of Fire. The place where most devasting volconic eruption occured in 1980, Johnston Ridge Observatory screened movies which are very informative. Weyerhaeuser has hand planted around 18 million seedlings in this area which was swept away by the eruption, as we drove through those trees we were apprecitive of this initiative as today these sappling stand about 70 feet tall filling the entire area green where once it was covered by mud ash.

Quinault Rain Forest









Lake Quinault Lodge



Next we headed to Olympic National Forest, Olympic National Park and Forest are interwined. Beautiful fresh greenery through out, entired Quinault Rain Forest first this was my first visit to rain forests hence I was excited to see the immense fresh lush green trees, plants and wide variety of fauna extensive vegetations and ecosystem live. The stay at lake Quinault lodge was comfortable, an authentic lodge facing prestine lake Quinault, calm and peaceful.

Ruby Beach - Sunset



We drove to Ruby Beach during sunset and there it was diminishing sun, cool breeze, whispering waters at shore, here and there standing proud rocks enjoying as water splashed at them now and then and sun set spread exotic mix of colourful rays which was worth to just stare and stare and we stood there admiring the beauty of nature at its best.

Hoh Rainforest







We continued our trip next day to Hoh Rainforest populated with different variety of trees and unique compared to Quinault Rain forest in vegetation, water stream in trails and greenery just lead us effortlessly in to forest.

Lake Crescent - Sunset



We reached lake Crescent that evening, a huge deep lake and water has bright blue color, mountain view with water between gives a spectacular view especially during sun set.

Mountains view at Hurricane Ridge



The last stop was Port Angeles the Hurricane Ridge, wild flowers everywhere and lots of trails which gives specatacular views of mountains in the area, got to see the Cascades ranges too. The drive to Hurricane ridge itself was very scenic and as we descended higher it was getting more and more beautiful.

Thus comes an end to the exhilarating journey of Pacific North West, biding adieu to the mountains, wild flowers, unique trees and fresh air. As we roamed thorughout this area in one place or the other we could always spot the bold and beautiful Mt Raineir as she stood there high and proud gaurding the entire region. Truly a must trip to make if you like outdoors, trekking and nature lover.