It's me....

So, this is our latest story for our 2-year old daughter. 1. There was a man called Newton sitting under a tree. 2. Which tree? Apple Tree (include A for Apple somewhere now...) 3. What color apple - Red Apple 4. Suddenly, a red apple fell from the tree on Newton's head (ask her to show where her head is). 5. Why did it fall? Gravity! Newton ran around shouting - Gravity, Gravity! What did our daughter learn through this story?  - A for apple  - Apples are generally red  - Body parts  - & most importantly - Gravity! Other Kids stories in this blog

Ingredients Masoor dal- ½ cup Cinnamon-2 pieces Carrot, Beans, peas, Cabbage-1/4-1/2 cup finely chopped Salt- to taste Pepper powder- to taste Corn flour- 1-2 spoons Procedure Boil the masoor dal in a pressure cooker with a small piece of cinnamon Boil the finely chopped vegetables with a small piece of cinnamon Mash the boiled masoor dal using a blender In a  kadai add little oil and add a small piece of cinnamon. Add the mashed masoor dal and the boiled vegetables. Add little water to the corn flour and make it into a paste. Add this to the masoor dal till you get the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper powder before serving Note Remove the cinnamon pieces before serving Any other vegetable like cauliflower can also be added Fresh cream can be added while serving Add lesser corn flour and more water if you want the soup to be a thin soup. More posts from Ramya's Recipe Series

Bottle Gourd Kofta Thanks to Aveek's mom! Ingredients For Kofta Bottle gourd- 1 grated Ajwain- 2 tea spoons Jeera powder- 4 teaspoons Chillies- 2 finely chopped Besan- 4 teaspoons Salt- To taste Oil- For frying For Gravy Tomato- 4 Onions- 4 Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom- 2 each Chillie powder- 3 teaspoons Salt - To taste Oil- 3-5 teaspoons Procedure For Kofta Squeeze out all the water from the grated bottle gourd Mix the rest of the ingredients and make into balls  Deep fry the balls and set aside For Gravy Cut the onion and tomatoes Grind the tomatoes and onions separately In a pan add oil and add the Cinnamon, clove and cardamom. Add the onion paste and saute till golden brown Add tomato paste and saute till the raw smell goes Add salt and chilli powder. Switch off the flame once the oil begins to separate. Add the koftas to the gravy and enjoy. Note Green chillies can be avoided in the kofta i...

When my daughter is asked for a story, she tells the story of a crow. A crow went up and sat on a tree. It sang a song but fell down.  It got hurt on its head and went home. Its mother applied medicine on its head and so, it recovered quickly.  This is probably her version of Aesop's fox and crow story . Other Kids stories in this blog

I will be starting with a dessert/snack first! This is an Eggless Banana Bread (with optional dry fruits). I learnt this from a cousin, with few of my own additions/improvements.  The main ingredients...  Maida - 2 cups Powdered Sugar - 2/3rd cup Oil - 1/4th cup Baking Soda- 1/4th tea spoon Over-ripe Bananas - 2 Optional Ingredients: Dry Fruits: Powdered walnuts, Almonds, Cashew - 1/2 cup, Raisins- 15 Method Pre-heat the microwave at 180C in the convection mode.  Sieve the maida, powdered sugar and baking soda.  Mash the over ripe bananas and add them.  Then add oil, powdered dry fruits,raisins and mix well.  Now, coat an aluminium tray with crystallized ghee.  Add the mixture and bake in the microwave in the convection mode at 180C for 1 hour. After 1 hour, allow the bread to cool.  Slice it and enjoy Tips Use over ripe bananas, it gives the best taste. Banana can be substituted wit...

Ramya has been experimenting with different recipes and I have been the guinea pig. Generally, they have been good and I love the new stuff she makes. So, we thought she should start posting her recipes too. Her first post coming up soon.... More posts from Ramya's Recipe Series

I started a series of short stories that I tell for our daughter before she goes to sleep. She has started play-school since November 2011. So, one story that we tell her is how her day passes... 1. Mother wakes her up at 7.30AM, brushes her teeth and makes her drink milk. 2. Father gives her a bath, and hands her over to mother to put her into her school uniform. 3. Mother give her breakfast 4. Father drops her in school at 9AM by car. 5. Mother goes to school at 12PM by walk, picks her up and comes back either walking or by an auto. 6. Grandmother gives her lunch and puts her to her noon nap. 7. Father picks her up from Grandmother's house and brings her back to her house 8. She plays, eats dinner and goes to sleep! Other Kids stories in this blog

My 2 year old daughter keeps asking me for new stories every night before going to bed. I have used up most of the kid stories that I remember, and now have started inventing my own stories based on other stories that I read. She has been listening to my adaptations of Tintin, especially  Destination Moon  and  Explorers on the Moon . My stories are really a set of statements, mostly less than 10 and simple. She really enjoys these stories and sometimes repeats to me/her mother. My latest story is inspired from Tom & Jerry , and the Lion & Mouse story . 1. Tom is chasing Jerry because he is hungry. 2. After running around for some time, Tom manages to catch Jerry. 3. Jerry begs to leave him, and offers a piece of cheese that he has at his home. 4. Tom agrees, and follows Jerry to his house. 5. Tom sees that Jerry has a small kid. 6. Tom is a nice cat, so he lets Jerry go and asks him to give the cheese to his kid rather. My daughter really enjo...

Managing my tasks has been one of the most difficult tasks! After a lot of advice from family and friends, I have started maintaining a single list of all my tasks. When I was using a single laptop with MS Outlook, I used the inbuilt task list. Now that I no longer have Outlook on my laptop (I work for IBM, and we use Lotus Notes as our email tool), I was looking for a better tool (preferably on the web). I didn't like the Lotus Notes version of task management, primarily because launching Lotus Notes is a task in itself (with a start date and end date) :) I was therefore trying out a variety of tools on the web. Gmail Tasks I started with Gmail Tasks. This was great because, it was integrated into Gmail. I liked it also because I didn't have to do much in terms of clicking; tasks and subtasks could be created using just the keyboard. However, I wanted slightly more detailed options - especially for reminders, start date, due date, and the UI was not so intuitive for that...

I have been a great fan of Douglas Adams ever since I started reading his " The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy " six-book trilogy! I was such a crazy fan of the book that I had an index of my favourite parts of the book. I used to participate in online quizzes, conduct quizzes and post in online forums, and such... I have re-read the book an uncountable number of times - focusing specifically on the indexed pages. I recently listened to the audio versions of the book. Found some parts much more interesting than while reading. I also inspired quite a few friends to start reading his books. Whenever anybody asks me for book suggestions, that is the first book I suggest. Recently, I listened to his posthumous book - " The Salmon of Doubt ". This book is a collection of previously published and unpublished material, mostly content from interviews, introductions to his books, his views on technology, and god (he was a faithful atheist). I am now reading the paper...

Submitted my car RC book for cancellation or removal of hypothecation at Indira Nagar RTO in Bangalore. (I had completed my car loan repayment in July).   1. Received NOC from financier, and 2 copies of Form 35. 2. Went to Room 13 with a copy of current car insurance and the NOC, the 2 Form 35 copies, the original RC book and a self-addressed envelope (with a Rs 12 stamp).  3. One officer (counter 9) verified the documents and sent it to another counter for data entry.  4. After data entry, I was asked to go to the Cash counter (Room 1) to pay Rs 300 as fees (Rs 100 for cancellation of hypothecation and Rs 200 for converting my paper RC to smart card). 5. Went back to counter 9 in room 13, the same officer verified everything and sent me to counter 6.  6. At counter 6 (Inward & Despatch), another officer verified everything, filed everything and gave me an acknowledgement that they have collected my original RC for cancellation of hypothecation and convert ...

Tatkaal Passport Reissue Experience Astonishingly simple passport reissue process in Bangalore. My passport was due for renewal mid-2012. But wanted to get it renewed by the Tatkaal mode early. Multiple changes in my passport details - Chennai->Bangalore, Single->Married, ECR->ECNR.  Phase 1: Online 1. Register at  www.passportindia.gov.in 2. Fill the online form & Submit it.  3. Upload 4 relevant support documents (pdfs).  4. Apply for an appointment at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) through the same website. Appointments can be booked only 1.5 days in advance. For eg., appointments for a Thursday open up only on Tuesday evening at 6PM.  5. Print the Passport Application Receipt. 6. Carry the original and one photocopy of all support documents.  In my case, the support documents were: a. Address Proof:  SBI Bank Passbook (with more than 1 year of entries).  HR Letter mentioning that I am an employee and have been staying ...

Google Video has stopped allowing users to upload videos and soon, it will stop letting play uploaded content. I was expecting this a long time back (almost since Google bought over YouTube). Anyway, there is no easy way to migrate videos from Google Video to YouTube. Download them one by one and upload them onto YouTube one by one. I have just uploaded some 3-4 videos, and not too difficult to migrate them. However, I am worried about the Rhythmica videos!! So many of them on Google Video!! I have to let the right people know!! Update (2012-01-16): I now use Google Docs extensively for all my document storage and sharing!

Yahoo Briefcase is finally closing down when I was hoping they would improve it to Web 2.0 standards and compete with the upcoming Microsoft Live Mesh or Google GDrive. I had been using it in my early days with the internet when that was the only place for safekeeping as well as sharing with friends. Used it for sharing my BTech Project code with my project partners. Used it for keeping backup of some of my important mail attachments. Ever since Gmail came, I have not needed the Briefcase, Gmail was the one place where I stored everything. Sharing with friends was uncomfortable, but with unlimited space, you didn't care about how many times you mail the same files :). I have not attempted using Microsoft Live Mesh yet. But tried eSnips for some time, but it was still not Web2.0 standard. Let's see if GDrive matches my expectations....

I get reminded of the story about the Monkey's Heart everytime somebody does something crazy on the road. Though in this scenario, instead of the heart, it is the mind that is hidden away safely. Bus, taxi and autorickshaw drivers keep their brains hidden somewhere and imagine (?) themselves to be the sole owners the road and nobody else. Two incidents today: This is what I presume goes on in the head (?) of a 1. bus driver: OK. I am on the right most lane. Looks like there is a bus stop there... OK. Should I stop the bus or not. OK.. Let me stop. OK.. No point stopping on the right most lane. So, let me switch lanes. Who cares about rear-view mirrors. OK.. There is something called a brake pedal. OK.. let's press it.. OK.. Nobody in the stand, so no use stopping. OK.. Lift up the brake pedal, push down the accelerator, turn right and shift to the rightmost lane. 2. taxi driver: Hey, I drive a Scorpio, very powerful, and very responsive steering. It is nice to wriggle th...

Have been starting to think about what I will miss most once I leave IISc. Very few (and mostly involving music), but whatever I will miss, I guess it will be huge. And I can continue to have some things even after I leave. Rhythmica... First year in IISc, i wasn't very involved with Rhythmica. But, when I became the Music Club Convener, got really involved. Didn't participate much, but kept hanging in the music room while others were practicing. Have had a really nice time there. Even though I can't participate in its programmes, I definitely want to continue hanging out in the music room, which I can, if I have time off my job. Food at A-mess. Again, first year wasn't significant. 2 nd year was quite significant, once I started hanging out with the Rhythmica guys. Department lab/sem hall... Exams/presentations mean spending nights at the sem hall or the lab. The sem hall belongs to the 1 st years. So my first year, I spent most of my pre-exam/pre-presentation nig...

I joined LinkedIn!!

Before... It is the first time I am going back home after staying at IISc (almost a month). 3 days at home. How do I plan to spend the time? 1. Meet the people most important in my life (have been missing them badly). 2. Cousin sister's marriage (actual reason I am going home). 3. Get some stuff that I left behind the first time, because of lack of space. 4. Finish and submit some work assigned by a professor before Sunday. 5. Catch up with old friends in Chennai. Miss out on badminton for 3 days :( Not sure if 3 days will be enough for all this and more. Have been really looking forward for (or should it be 'to'?) this trip. Let's see how it all works out. Had typed the above text before I started... But couldn't post. Just returned to Bangalore today. And here is what happened at Chennai... ...After Actually, have done all of the above, but nothing satisfactorily. Couldn't spend enough time with the people most important to me. Couldn't help in the marriag...

I have been at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore since last Sunday (30 July 2006). More than a week here. What have I been doing? 1. Attending lots of lectures organized by our seniors here (The top finance and consulting companies in the world) 2. Touring the huge IISc campus. 3. Playing Snooker/chess at the Gymkhana 4. Attending a Salsa workshop (great fun, will probably join Salsa classes) 5. Trying a leg at the DJ Night. Flopped miserably... And left the place early :( 6. Getting to know the 19 MBA and 6 research people at the Management department. Having fun. 6. Started classes since today Found Statistics too huge for me... MIS was OK.. I have a bad feeling that the academics is going to be tough. Particularly the parts concerning Mathematics. Lets see. Hoping that the next couple of years are the best.

I have started getting really excited about going to IISc in 6 days. About staying in a hostel for the first time in my life. About finding new friends. About doing new things - playing tennis, and dancing. About not having my own comp with me. About not having my bike with me. And finally, about STUDYING :-) [ Sent from my mobile phone using the Blogger widget from www.bluepulse.com ]