A Recipe For Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!

Well,I learnt this recipe for a sweet dish from a Bengali friend of mine and made some variatiosn to it.I have not christened it as such,but then whats there in a name.Tried it out for Diwali.Later my roomie took my help for Id and did the same dish.A few of my friends have tried it out.Its time I let the world know about it.Here we go:
(1) Mix a 14 oz can of condensed milk and 24 oz of Ricotta cheese till a fine blend is achieved.
(2)Pour it into a tray(the thickness is your choice)
(3) Set the oven for 275 degrees and place the tray in it for 20 to 25 minutes.
(4)Meanwhile roast some cashews &pistachios. Mix it with raisins and lay the topping over the half baked mixture .Push them a little bit inside using a spoon or a knife.
(5)Put it back inot the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the mixture has solidified.
(6)Remove it from the oven and put it aside.You might want to drain the water that you see on the sides.
(7)Refrigerate and serve!
Enjoy..Let me know if u try it out....
P.S. My bengali connections dont end here.

What are the traits of a Good Ph.D student?

You give up well paying jobs to pursue something you like. You do want to do a Ph.D in Astrophysics, Math,Bio-chemistry or something similar.Then rest assured that (atleast the first couple of years)days will be filled with classes,arguments at the chalk/white boards, a quick lunch and optimism.Evenings start with more discussions and ofcourse end with worries about your grades.Nights carry with them HWs,restlessness ,late night pizzas and a "four-hour" nap on the office table.After all this you start with your research hoping to add your contribution to the sea of knowledge that keeps growing.A Ph.D is more or less a journey into the wild.You shall learn to be a survivor if you come out a better person than before.You spend nearly a twelfth of you life doing it.So learn to do it well.Came across this article which gives some worthy suggestions about being a good Ph.D student:
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2006/060511/full/nj7090-252b.html
Enjoy reading it!!

Where do we fit in?

In life,quite often,we are confronted with situations where we have to make a conscious choice out of the options presented to us:Do I study or work?Should I take up this job?Should I call up home or not?Is this the right girl/guy for me?Should I do this work or not?A million questions and a trillion choices!!Sometimes we think a lot about this and sometimes we let providence take over.Whatever might be the course of action,it helps to kind of walk through the problem/issue at hand and actaully analyze the situations we probably would be in.

So,have there been times when you have regretted about the choices you have made or thought that you could have been something better in life?Have you ever asked yourself where you fit in into the bigger picture?Well remember you are not alone.You may not be the haute couture gal ,the scientist who made some major discovery or the financial advisor to a Goverment of a country or even a prize-winning writer.But then,you still have a place in this setup called the Universe.You have your small contributions that matter to people:You may be a teacher influencing the minds of young people,you may be a great friend, a caring mother,a dutiful wife,a good research advisor or just someone who can smile at people,make them feel better.Remember,the picture would not be complete without you!Greatness is but a temporary state;we all have our moments of greatness.It just depends on how you define it.

But whatever we do we just need to remember that
"When we pick up one end of the stick we pick up the other end too.So learn to live with your choices."
That pretty much addresses our concerns!

An Offering...

In this fast paced reel called life do we get time to stop,think and do things that make us feel good,better?More than time,do we make a conscious effort to add value to our lives?Make it far more richer,not in the material sense but rather in terms of how we feel.Moments which give us a sense of direction...make our live far more fulfiiling. It is true that there can be different things which can make a person happy,but then there are those true moments when you genuinely feel happy,light,unbound....And this is a highly dependent upon the person one is talking about.
October 14th,2006 was the last Saturday in the month of Puratasi. This was accidentally brought to my notice by P.It was 7.21pm and the last few hours had been spent looking at some atomic data and a decision was taken to attend the weekly VS meeting at PBs place.So the next few minutes were spent walking to Press,"the great hangout" in the minds of a few people who had spent a small part of their lives there!As usual people started trickling in and the session started at 8pm or so.S was excited that it was a Puratasi Saturday and was suprised that PB had not made any sweets to offer to Lord Venkateshwara.LA and VS were recited as usual .All this culminated with PB doing the aarthi and handing out the prasad.Then the most unexpected came.And it did come at the right time...atleast for me.Brilliant,Refreshing and Stimulating.A vocal Offering to the Lord.SS sang devotedly which did quite a few times transform me to a different world...paint pictures of Sri Ranganatha,Krishna,Malayappa..all in the mental world.One had to be there to feel the magnetic effect.An offering so spontaneous,pure and touching.In particular "Kurai Onrum Illai" was moving,touching..down deep that one could feel the soul resonate with the divine.Do we really have worries?Or are they just manifestation of our mind?A state that could be healed...All it took was to be just present there when the offering to the Almighty was made.It begs the question "Is HE so compassionate,that the moment when you forget everything else and just meditate on Him,there seem to be no worries whatsoever?"Or is it "something to do with stuff like NLP"?I do not want to answer it.I was just happy to be there when the offering was made. As i walked down the steps,Kurai Onrum IIlai was on my lips...everything felt light..happy.It was hardly 5 minutes, my next door neighbours(they havent said a Hi to me from the day I have been here) knocked on the Door to ask me if I wanted Prasad from the temple."Sure, why not"was my reply. I reread the mail from SM,curled up my legs and played M.S's Kurai Onrum Illai.

Death’s Knoll

The eyes are closed, wishing
For the moments to be filled

With silence and peace, unknown
To the devil that resides within.

The fists clasp, strands
Of hope in the heavy darkness

Wishing and willing dreams
Into reality, beyond the empty stares

For death’s hand does
He often seek.

Temple heights, polished pews,
Softened sandstone of modern mosques

All created and recreated
With million imprints of galloping minds

Stand in subdued silence
Counting quarters

With the face of Hope
Engraved; for the moment

Of forced exit, cosmic churning and cleansing
Shall but see the dawn.

What!!!!!!!!!!

Black...thats the color i dislike the most.Black cars,black dresses,black...anything..they were just objects which conveyed a sense of death,despair,of loss of hope and of unfinished things. This must suggest that i possibly like light colors;maybe pink.Haha..well i do own a few garments which are pink and i love to wear them to social gatherings pretty much aware that it was just ruining prospects of ending the dry phase of being single.Hmm...Still i wear pink.

It was a Saturday evening.I had been invited to one of the freshers party that are planned at the beginning of the academic year.Hmm..another chance to get to know more people.It helps to keep floating around in the space called humanity for no less reason than not to feel lonely.So i agreed to accompany my friend to the party.To my suprise i got to meet some people i already knew and it was not tough to coalesce with the gathering.Then all of a sudden i spotted a flower..fresh,radiant;i cannot find the right words to describe her.And she was dressed in BLACK!!Did that make me not appreciate the beauty that i was being assaulted with;heck ..no.

I remember..

I Remember

Those things
Forgotten

Immersed in
Time

Scathing and
Soothing

All at
Once.


I remember
Conversations overheard


In the gloom of
The other man’s sadness

Within the bone-white boundaries
Of the hospital room

In the silence
Of the polished pew.


I remember
Now;
This minute that I have.

Memories of Nellore-I

It was two months or so after i had returned to Chennai,after a sweet-sour stay at Hyderabad.I was hoping to get into a Ph.D program (particularly IMPRS,Germany).Meanwhile i needed money to fund my efforts to do that.To take care of admission tests,email,printouts,etc..I had to find job .So i started looking for two kinds of jobs:teaching or writing.For the first time I was finding the going tough ...well there are always some first times:-) While all this was happening my parents were very supportive of me.
Then out of the blue,I got a call from my friend about a vacany in a new engineering college in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. My initial enquiries led me to believe that it was the best job that I could ask for:9 hrs of teaching everyweek.I would also get back home on Saturday evenings.Perfect!!.So with a sense of relief I packed my certificates and couple of clothes and started a jouney which would all atonce be tiring as well as gratifying.Something that would teach me to be more Human,teach me to care for people.

4am the day of the journey:
I walk to the shed of the bus service I was going to use.
4.45am :
I pay the conductor an additional 10 rupees to go all the way to the mofussil bustand in Madras.
5.30am :
The bus is quite full and starts on its journey to Nellore.
9.45am:
I ask for Marymatha church and the conductor tells me to get down.
9.47am:
It is hot and I stare at barren lands before me.No sign of any engineering college.I look for the train tracks that I was supposed to find.At a distance i see a big grey structure coming up.With disbelief I walk towards it.

10.15am:
I reach the structure and ask for Mr.Y. I am received by a short pleasant man dreesed in a white dhoti and shirt.He introduces himself as shiva and starts talking in tamil(all the time with a wide smile on his face).This was the man with whomI was going to spend the majority of my next 10 months.I also get to meet Mr Y.

10.30:
Mr Y. goes through my certificates and talks about the college.He is a very pleasant gentleman and I like him instantly.

11am:
Mr. Y.and Mr.S. take me to a class room and ask me to give a lecture.After my presentation,Mr Y.says that I am good but would need to work on a couple of aspects as a teacher and Mr S. nods his head in agreement.

12.30:
I get my appointment letter.It is signed by Mr.S.It is then I know that Mr S. is the chairman of the college.All the time he was humble and his simple attire and smooth talk really threw me off track.

1.30pm:
All three of us dine at Mr.S's place and I am already at home in their presence. I tell them I shall be back in a couple of days.

4.30pm:
I board the bus to Madras.

In the Cauldron...

A wide expanse of
White, blue, black and gray
In His brewing bowl
Weed, shells, you, me and many more.

A Summer Afternoon

(Lazing in the summer afternoon)

An array of numbers spread
Out to test dame luck’s presence,
Twenty five cents a sheet and
The humid air, filling
The space before me
And the moments that trickle by.

Mass Graves

Mass Graves
(Pits filled with tsunami struck victims)

Blue Black Red & Grey
Even the vultures would dare not prey
Woe; it’s an unknown devil’s evil play
Numbed; there is little that I can probably say.

I dream..

I dream
Of the pouring rain
Of its ethereal dance
Of its attempts to unravel
The scented secrets from earth’s bowels
I dream.

I dream
Of wild colors
Of twisted dances
Of damned sounds of eternity
Unlocked from the chambers of grey infinity
I dream

I dream
Of befriending the Unicorn
Of fishing in the Tiber
Of gaining Aphrodite’s grace
To fill every moment of mine with HER presence
I dream

I dream
Of my death
Of my soul flying high
Of my redemption
From earthly sins buried in complex realities
I dream.

Spring

It’s been long due:

The tempting embrace of the sun god

And the all refreshing azure hue.

Unknown fingers clasp

The flaky spirit.

Retardation stops.

With heavenly joy I gasp.

Complex realities dissolve;

Images of happiness erupt

From the choked chambers of the mind;

In a flash I realize that the pristine dream

Is not far from dazzling reality.

Worry

If there are no hands to wipe our tears of distress
If there is no comforting shoulder to provide us succour
If none is there to say "Hey, its okay!"
Is worrying even meaningful?

She seemed to have touched some unknown switch in me:What followed was the following

I started with these,it was kind of free verse writing..stream of conciousness.Hope u enjoy it!

Its so true..but then we do feel helpless at times.trying to hold on to invisible strands of rope called hope....all the time wishing that the winds of change shall wipe the tears of our cheeks,heal the scars left deep in our hearts,set the building blocks right..the wish listnever ends..the topmost being the need of a soul mate!

The rest is here:

Broken Glass
I cannot but deny
Life is nothing but a farce.
Ignorant I may seem
But deep down You know
Life is not just about roses and sweet cream.

Whither happiness?
Whither my happy soul?
Whither my pristine heart?
Whither my SELF?

Little did i know ur four lines shall open me up...

Uninterrupted, I write
Fearless and liberated.
I would kiss the ground you walk
For on a journey I embark
All the while using your medium
To do away with tedium......

Time leaves behind
Deep footsteps
Too deep
It looks Ingrained
In the beaches of my life...

Little did I know
All sorrow stems
From the seeds I have sown.........
Little did I know
The existence of "none"
Is nothing but a cosequential harvest,
Of all that I have done...
Little did I know
That future is but a reflection
From distant past stems its definiton.........

Little do you realise
That you have been of great help
For me
To look at myself!

The warmth of the sun,
The quenching waters of the river,
The sweet rustle of the trees,
I have been in Neverland.
But,i am but a bird
And do know
That I have to go....
Thanks for being Mother Earth!

Random Chemistry

Its you, me and they

Alive,withered and the withering.

A frantic move

A last minute half-hearted attempt

To add a loud color to the bone-white stretches.

Unclear , yet unfazed

The die is cast

For thundering words to touch and heal.

To freeze the stinking sordidness,

To whisper in Phoenix’s unseen ear,

To awaken me to reality,as it is defined.

Acids and bases,

The two halves of the incomplete me,

A touch of synesthesia,

Pain,

10.49pm,

Hope- Random Chemistry.

I am back...

Well I am back!