ArunRocks

Sun, Sand and … you know what. Mixing six ordinary desis with that
deadly cocktail will result in the inevitable. A weekend of pure
escape in a scenic (check out the pictures) place called Bournemouth.

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Here is a recipe I wish I had when I was learning to cook. For the
benefit of all the Indian bachelors who are gonna start cooking, I give
you - a lifesaver:

How to make Pulaaaaaoooooo

Or

Idiot’s Guide to Homely Indian Food

Since I’m going to teach you this ultra cool recipe, you are going to
do all the cutting and slicing. He, he, he… start with the
onions. We’ll need half a piece. Cut it into small pieces. And a tomato
too. You can keep them together if you are really stingy and cannot
afford many bowls (like… say a cookery show).

I’m assuming we are preparing for 2 (But that I’m eating both is a
totally different matter altogether), so take 1 cup of rice. Now
“wash” the rice. It’s easy - Pour some running water on the rice, do
some sort of cleaning action with your fingers and drain it off. Do
this 2-3 times, till the water gets clear. Now drain off all the
water.

Take a pan-like vessel. Pour some oil so that it is about 3
millimetres high. Now, put some mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Heat on
medium flame till the mustards starts “popping”. Now add your onions
and tomato pieces. Did I remind you to cut potatoes? Of course, I did,
you idiot. Well, one small potato is fine. Keep stirring till the
onions turn slightly golden (or fumes fills the nearby room )

Time for Masala mix. No, not the TV programme. Real masala. It’s
roughly like this (all are in tea-spoons):

• 1 spoon turmeric powder
• 2 spoon dhaniya powder
• 1 spoon masala powder
• 1 spoon red chilly powder
• 3 spoon salt

Keep stirring till the onions looks shrunk (or your roommates starts
coughing in the nearby room). Looks good? Maybe not. It sure tastes
amazing. Not yet, you fool. Just wait some more. For now, transfer it
to a pressure cooker or a large vessel.

If you are cooking in a pressure cooker, use twice as much water as
rice (note to use the same cup you used to measure rice). Close the
cooker and let it cook. If its an open vessel, use thrice as much
water. Stir occasionally to prevent the frothing up effect (not as
cool as it sounds, very messy actually).

Turn off the cooker after you hear three “proper” whistles (as in, not
half whistles or hissing sounds). Or in an open vessel, wait till the
water dries up (or till your roomates start jumping out of the window)

That’s it. You were expecting more, right? Sorry, that’s all there is
to it.

Tip: Best eaten with Yogurt/Ketchup

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As I write this, I’m receiving reports of the numerous killed in the blasts. I express sympathy for them from the bottom of my heart, as I could have been one of them.

Today morning, I had plans to go to office early as UAT was still going on. This entire week I was reaching ahead of time, because I was taking the bottom-line for the UAT. Except for yesterday, I have been successful in coming early, despite my fondness to stay up late. Fortunately, I overslept. Missing my train, I reached at 9:30 in Liverpool Street. It was sealed off. Since this has happened a couple of times before, for incidents like fire outbreaks, I was not very perturbed. But people were talking about a certain “explosion”. However, in the haste of trying to reach office, I choose to ignore such “minor distractions”.

Now, what normally people would do to reach my office in Barbican would be walk for 15 minutes or catch a bus. Whenever I choose to walk I would fumble with my directions and barely manage to reach. This time, I tempted fate and tried to “figure out” the right direction. I literally strayed my way towards Tower Hill (those who know the way will be rolling on the floor laughing) and retraced my way back. I crossed several affected “areas” like Aldgate station and kept wondering what all the cops and choppers were doing. At several places the yellow vested police told me to return as the road was closed. It seemed so strange. I was in a sea of men and women in formals, rushing towards their office. Perhaps, that’s why there were not many onlookers, as it would have been in India. The weather, as if on cue, was dark, gloomy and damp since morning. Reaching Liverpool, I tried afresh and managed to reach Barbican.

First thing I did was let everyone who were still travelling to return home. Then I called home and all near and dear to tell them that I’m safe. Now we are practically glued to news websites and the news is now slowly trickling in. The death toll at last count was 40. It seems there will be no office tomorrow. We know it is a terrorist attack, but the cause is not known. London won Olympics bid yesterday and there are lot of protests regarding G8. Al-Queda has claimed the responsibility. But even if that’s so, they haven’t given any reason. I hope things will come back to normalcy soon.

[Images courtesy: BBC and Sky News websites]

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The image of a typical Indian around the world is increasingly changing to that of a singing, dancing, romancing and festival loving person. Thanks to Bollywood movies, India is perceived through its celluloid dreams, just like once we conceived the West through Hollywood. Perhaps as a testament to that, the following cheeky poster campaign by Kingfisher is being increasingly spotted in Central London. There are others in similar lines, which reminds you of the bright traditional Indian ads.

Last week, I came to know that the smart phone I was planning for all along – Sendo X2 might never get released at all. Due to administration problems, the company has been taken over by Motorola. Sendo X2 which was expected this month seems to have been shelved indefinitely. Not that I’m dying for a smart phone (which I feel is quite inadequate given today’s technology). But I definitely miss a jazzy looking music player

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A test to see if the mini-site on game development is working…. A promise of more exciting things to come

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This weekend, I was humbled in more ways than one. First while
visiting the London Science Museum, when one gets to see a spell
binding display of the relentless scientific pursuits of Man. Despite
spending a good 2 hours inside, we barely managed to cover the ground
floor of this five storied treasure house of knowledge. And second,
when I realised that, whenever one feels financially complacent; pay a
visit to Harrods and you’ll swear never to use the expression
“over-priced” in your life.

Harrods is the world’s most recognised department store spread over
five acres right in the heart of London. Here you can see heaps of
well earned money frittered over the most trivial or sometimes futile
purchases. Like for e.g. in a “Sale” a pen for £250 (twice the price
of a mid-range digital cameras) or a coffee table with a chess board
print (not even carved) for £10,000. However, what would probably
surprise you is - simply, the crowd. Yes, hundreds of rooms filled
with buyers busy filling up their umpteenth green ‘Harrods’ shopping
bag. If you hadn’t noticed the price tags, this would have passed for
an ordinary departmental store.

Few minutes later, you look around. Your fears get confirmed. You are
indeed the only person who is not shopping. So, I decide; while I’m
here, I better observe the ways and manners of the elite. Most
disappointingly, they look exactly like the ordinary London
milieu. Most of them in casuals like sneakers (horror!) and jeans. Yes
my friends you have to look out for subtle giveaways like designer
labels or rolex watches to spot the real cash puppies. Hints that
never escape the sharp eyes of the shop assistants. So, if you are the
right crowd, you’ll perhaps be treated like a prince (most probably
you are already one;) ). But I’m far from one, so…

The next planned destination - Hyde park, was sealed due to the
Live8 concert. Though a major event here, the whole idea seemed
shallow and pointless to me. In fact, it was not even a fund raising
event like ‘Live Aid’. People seemed to have watched the whole 12 hour
show and stayed up most of the night. In fact, I did stay up too, but
for my game project Was fighting some Ogre-Blender related issues,
but I got my issues solved thanks to the excellent Ogre3d
support. Yet another day is saved, thanks to the excellent support of
open-source projects :).

PS: From now on we can have beautiful category icons designed by Jimmac

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