waxy life...

Have been slogging my butt off to make the deadline. No books, no blogging. But i am off the hook now. Till the next deadline, that is. But hey, ain't complaining. i get paid for this. As long as the dough flows, baby, i am game for hard work.

i have turned to my candles again - got myself some dyes and mold sealer from ebay. i actually got an order for my candles - my first! Wowie, am i faltered. One of my colleagues asked me to make about a hundred candles to sell during the durga puja celebration over here. But since i have just about a month left here, i had to turn down the order. It is a nice thought to know i have an alternative career should i ever get sick of coding and trouble shooting. My friends have been goading me to sell my candles on ebay. But i have to work out the profitability factor before i join the bandwagon of ebay-ers.

Here are some of my new creations-



Ever the over-confident bitch, i have not gone for the 10K practice. Would do me good if i were to quit halfway - that would just do enough to bring my confidence level a notch down.

Just a month left. i sure will miss this bed, this room. i am beginning to love solitude - not that i ever hated it before. i could live like this for ever - books, a fast wireless connection, candles and TV. What more do i need? Can't think of anything.

Sex and the city is my fave thing on TV now - well, after NCIS, Law and Order and CSI. Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw is so real. After the Salonis , Banis and Mamtas of Indian television, it is a refreshing change. i made a discovery while channel surfing - movies with "strong adult content"!! Since i am an adult, i decided i could watch without getting morally corrupted (actually, there is no more scope for corruption - i am already saturated!). But boy, after half an hour i got actually bored of it!! god, am i on my way to sainthood? Well, at least half an hour away!!

dolma vs dorma

So S and i had a bet. It all started yesterday when we were searching for the city of Colma yesterday during the exciting laptop hunt. The name colma suddenly reminded me of potoler dolma (It is stuffed potol or parwal) and i told him about the dish. He was like there is no dish by that name - it is potoler dorma. Now, i am someone who is never going to take somebody's word for anything esp. when i am dear sure i am right. So i started arguing about it. And we ended up having a bet on whether it is actually potoler dorma or dolma. i called up my junior who is my walking dictionary for bengali - and he said dolma. Victory dance for me. This morning, i saw this mail from S where the guy had actually googled and found potoler dorma. Eeeks..Give up without a fight? No way...So i googled and found potoler dolma! i went around taking a survey among my colleagues and found we couldn't reach a consensus - half of them said the dish is called dolma and half said dorma. Ultimately, the bet was a draw (no free dhosa at upudi...damn). It seems dolma is the colloquial version of dorma. Ummmm...i have a knack of winning bets - maybe because i only bet when i am dead sure!

Got the laptop - Sony Vaio. It is slick (but not sexy like MAC-oh MAC, oh MAC) and seemingly better than the toshiba i got for my sister. i know baba is only going to use it for watching movies, viewing pictures and playing games. And yes, show it off to everyone, much to my embarrassment!! It has even got a built-in web cam and microphone if baba would ever want to chat (as if!). Will get it set up tomorrow.

lost in the city....

We went to Best Buy to buy the Sony Vaio laptop for baba. It was not in the store we went to so we were directed to another store further away. We called up one of the juniors to look up the address and give us the driving directions. And we got lost. Somehow we missed an exit and went on and on and on till we almost reached the end of san francisco!! We never found the store and as it was past the store closing time, we decided to come back. And got lost again!! We desperately need a GPS. We are going to try again tomorrow. While on laptops, i fell in love with the MAC notebook. It is actually sexy, if you can call a laptop sexy. i am so going to buy it, when i can afford it, that is.

i did almost 8K today in about 1 hr 10 minutes! And my legs feel like wooden columns. i know i am going to limp tomorrow to work. But i am confident now that i can complete the 10K. Amen.

Have been bringing work home lately. So no crime thrillers for poor me. i need to finish coding something by next friday. But since we get paid for overtime here, hey, i am not complaining! Let me get back to work. Maybe if i work 24 hours for some weeks, i just might find myself in bed with the MAC! MAC, MAC, MAC....oh i am so besotted with it.

ek tuku....

ek tuku chhowa lage
ek tuku kotha sunne
tai diye mone mone
rochi momo falguni...

This is my favourite rabindra sangeet gaan. i would like to translate it but i am scared i might not do justice to this beautiful song. The first time i heard it was when my pranner bondhu S sang it. i love it. i love the way it touches my heart. S was the one who introduced me to the world of rabindra sangeet. She would sing me these beautiful songs and translate them for me. i always used to think it was dull. i was more into bangla rock - chandrabindu, fossils, miles, mohiner ghoraguli et al. But, for once, i was glad to have been proved wrong.

On a totally different track, why would anyone(in their right mind) eat green apple with salt? i do. Out of the blue, i have decided that i would season fruits with salt - plum, apple, cherry.. And me being me, i have induced my colleagues to do so too. You know, i am this evil spirit that roams around, inciting people to do wicked things. And i am so enthusiatic about it that i think they don't have the heart to say no. Like ema says, wherever i go i end up corrupting minds! My PM still has not forgiven me for starting the trend of walking barefoot in office. Now the silly guys and girls walk around without their shoes and i get chided for being the one who started the fire! There is something to imitation being the best form of flattery. But who wants to be imitated by anyone?

unwilling muscles and mutton...

Went for the first practice run for the 10K. God, i am growing old - at least my muscles are. After the first 1K, i was all washed out and so i decided to walk the remaining 4K - will start with 5K and move on to 10K. Took all of 50 minutes. And guess what, what pained the most was my cheekbones! i cannot, for the life of me, figure out why my cheeks would hurt rather than my leg muscles. This time i have bitten off more than i can chew it seems! Less than three weeks left. i need to build my stamina. i think i will wake up tomorrow and find that i am paralysed. oohhh...aaaaaaaaaaaaa....

And the cheesecake - i was flooded with compliments which i accepted gracefully! If i find myself axed, i know i can open a bakery. Or maybe a corner pan dukan.

OK, the mutton recipe:

i normally marinate the meat overnight with curd and ginger garlic paste, a little bit of chilli powder. Chopped onion, ginger garlic paste (since i am lazy i rely on the bottled variety rather than the fresh version - though sometimes when i want to outdo myself, i do everything from scratch), turmeric and meat masala - that is what you need. oops..forgot to mention tomatoes and green chillies. i don't like the smell of garam masala so i don't use it in my cooking (and the dishes turn out delicious just the same).

Heat oil in a kadhai. Fry the onion till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste. After everything looks blended, add the turmeric and masala. After the oil separates, put in the marinated meat. i normally cover it till the meat loses its "bloody" look and add the chopped tomatoes. Add salt, cover and simmer on a low flame - till the meat is done. i prefer the gravy thick. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

He says i make the best mutton curry - and i think so too. Shameless!

Here is a picture after i added the tomatoes: