Leisure

One of my favourite poems from childhood. I recited this poem once in a competition in our school. I didn't win but I can still remember how happy I felt when I was reciting this poem to a room filled with teachers and students.

W. H. Davies

Leisure

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Lasooni Methi

In the link above your will find an awesome recipe for Lasooni Methi from Madhuli's blog. I tried it with the exact same measures and it was yummy. So go ahead and give it a try.

For those who can't open the link I am pasting the recipe as it is from that blog:

 1 bunch Methi (fenugreek) cleaned, washed and chopped. (Add the tender stalks if you like)
2 large onions chopped
10-12 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
~ 2tbsp tomato puree
½ tsp Garam Masala
½-1 tsp Red chilli powder
¼ tsp sugar (or just a pinch)
½ tsp Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
~5-6 tsp Oil for the
1 tsp Ghee(clarified butter/optional)
Blanch the Methi leaves for ~ 4-5 minutes in as little water as possible along with some salt. Drain and keep aside. Don’t discard the water; it can be used for making rasam or soups.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok/ pan. Add ~ 2-3 chopped garlic cloves  and sauté till the onion turns a light brown color.
Cool and grind in a blender to a smooth paste (add 1-2 tsp water if required)
(to save time:alternatively you can directly grind the onion and garlic in the blender to a fine paste without first sautéing and then fry it in oil)
Heat 2-3 tsp oil +1 tsp ghee in the same wok. Add cumin seeds and add the onion paste. Fry well till the paste turns brown (~ 7-8 minutes)
Add the spice; red chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and fry for 1 minute more.
Add the tomato puree. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the blanched methi leaves.
Mix well. Add salt and pinch of sugar and mix again.
Add ~3/4^th cup water and cook for 2 minutes more or till gravy turns to a slightly thick consistency.
Remove from stove top.
In a small pan heat remaining oil. Add the remaining chopped garlic and fry till light brown. (If you like spicy food you can add chopped green chillies to the oil too)
Add the fried garlic along with the oil to the Methi gravy.
Serve hot with Naan or Tandoori Roti.


Note 1: This recipe demands a generous amount of oil for the tadka and tempering compared to my usual 2 tsp oil; but once in a while I don’t mind pleasing the palate . You can reduce the amount of oil used.
Note 2: For a rich gravy you can also add 2-3 cashenuts to the onions and then grind.

Magnificient

Moonlight

The evening was lonely for me, and I was reading a book till my heart became dry, and it seemed to me that beauty was a thing fashioned by the traders in words. Tired I shut the book and snuffed the candle. In a moment the room was flooded with moonlight.

Spirit of Beauty, how could you, whose radiance overbrims the sky, stand hidden behind a candle's tiny flame? How could a few vain words from a book rise like a mist, and veil her whose voice has hushed the heart of earth into ineffable calm?

~Rabindranath Tagore

The Foreign Hand by Subroto Bagchi

An interesting article about the "The Foreign Hand". Indians would be able to catch this term easily as we as a nation have got accustomed to hearing about 'the Foreign Hand'. But it looks like countries like America are also picking up on it now!

From the article:

 The quantum of government contracts that comes to Indian IT companies is a fraction of the nearly $57 billion of export business we do all over the world. So, whether Ohio or some other US state bans outsourcing, there would be miniscule impact on Indian companies. But, on the other hand, the rhetoric could mislead the American people and create a “whipping boy” mentality that blames the Indian IT industry that has become synonymous with the term “outsourcing.” In addition to making outsourcing feel “unpatriotic,” it could create fear in the in the minds of the American private sector. What is extremely disconcerting is the fact that any opinion coming from the US President becomes the overall sentiment, the official line on any subject. That alone is bound to affect the US law enforcement and border agencies. We are beginning to see isolated, though serious acts of unfriendliness. Unchecked, such posturing can hurt the complex supply chain process in which bits and bytes that travel by ether need a substantial free-flow of human beings between the two countries. So far, the industry has acted with restraint in the face of US utterances but continued silence could signal servility. Hence, a few key issues need to be raised by us ahead of the US President’s proposed visit to India later this year.

Attitude

Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

~~Viktor E. Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning

Have you read Man's search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl?


With more than 4 million copies in print in the English language alone, Man's Search for Meaning, the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl's struggle to hold on to hope during his three years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, is a must read.

African quote

Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.