Light or darkness- its our choice

Until we open the doors the sun light can’t come in , until we put the lights on it will remain a dark night , until we allow good to happen it won’t happen . I have known this for a long time , I have experienced it at a very deeper level , I am a staunch believer of it . Something made this feeling even more stronger for me today . I have been under the weather from yesterday, I can’t handle cold weather by the way , am a sunshine soul 🙂 . If there is no Sun I will feel something is amiss in my life, Light plays such a key role for me and people who know me are aware of the importance of light in my life . Light is also positive energy for me . Sorry I digressed . Here is what I wanted to write , I have been down with cold , headache from yesterday and been home bound for the entire day . Popped in some med and slept last night to wake up feeling better today while not completely ok . I was wearing a sweater , a pair of socks and was under a quilt the whole morning and wondering how will I deal with the cold weather today . I hadn’t opened the windows assuming it will be cold outside obviously . I had to finally step out for lunch around 1 and I chose to wear a pull over so that I am warm and left home . The moment I stepped out of my building I realised how hot it was . I was regretting dressing up the way I have as I needed ac to remain alive with all this dressing . All sunny ,a bright day and instant boost of energy .

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pic courtesy : Google

While I was driving this thought occurred to me that I was inside my home , my comfort zone and just being there unwilling to explore what’s behind that door . It was an assumption , it was a choice I made . All I had to do was step out of my comfort zone , see what was happening to see the light , to feel better . In life isn’t that what we all do? Live in fear , live with assumptions while all we have to do is may be peek , take a leap of faith , just open that window or open the door to see what is in store outside . It is always better to experience than assume , I have always seen sunshine on the other side whenever I tried .. I have seen happiness , I hope you do too .

Prawns Fry

I simply love feasting on prawns . I happened to lay my hands some fresh prawns at the thippasandra market on a sunday morning and I wanted to eat a simple dish so here is what I did . Washed the prawns with salt water and deveined them . Please note it is very important to remove these black , slimy things from their lining to avoid infection and damage to our digestive system . Here goes the simplest recipe .

Ingredients :

Prawns

chilly powder

Turmeric powder

Oil to fry

Salt

Lemon

Method :

Marinate the prawns with all the above and keep it in the fridge for an hour .

Heat oil in a wok/tawa and add the prawns . I prefer less oil in my food so you are welcome to use as much as you want to

fry till the prawns curl up

squeeze lemon and devouver

Happy Eating!

New Modern Hotel

It was another sunday morning and another place . We stopped at the new modern hotel and I had heard rave reviews about the sambhar here . It was bustling with people and we didn’t find a table but the best part of these places is that we can share the table with others . When the agenda is gorging and walking out who cares really ;). So we shared our table with 2 others. We ordered for idli/Vada and there were loads of sambhar on the table in these utensils . Also extra sambhar was served very proactively .We also tried the kesari baath .

Idli /Vada was good, Sambhar was ok too. Nothing I fell for unfortunately . Some places have their legacy from years and may be people just love it. No reasons required .

The keshri baath was very sweet for my palette but good . Look at it, doesn’t it say it all ?

And of course this board there 😉 .I plan to visit for lunch sometime soon

Its an AYE from me , Go try!

Address :

#143,Dr A N Krishnarao Road, Near Minerva circle, Vishweshwarpuram,, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560004

Phone : 080 2661 2625

China Bistro

During my week long stay at Mumbai finalising a restaurant for dinner every evening was an adventure , we mostly retorted to google and went to the options those were closer . One such day we zeroed in on chinese as a cuisine and China Bistro screamed my phone . We decided to walk the 1.25 km distance considering it was Ganesh visarjan time and the roads were adorned with Ganesha’s and this was my first time during Ganpati in Mumbai 🙂

We reached this place wading through sea of people and was surprised to find a place tucked away and were unsure if this was the place we wanted to step into. We however walk in to check and realised it was a huge place bustling with activities . We happily settled in one of the sofas, we were 5 of us by the way .

Very friendly staff and they were very quick in helping us settle and choose the dish. I didn’t click most food pics as I was blown away by the pickles and sauce and was busy devouring it 😛 . I ordered for crab meat soup with wine and it was nice , My colleagues ordered for lemon chicken soup and it was one of the best . The lemon grass was used just perfectly in it (Don’t look for the picture )

We then ordered for some chicken starter and veg momos. The momos were done to perfection and the water chestnut in it was crispy and complemented the momos well . The main course was burnt garlic fried rice and mixed vegetable gravy . We were not that hungry and stuck to these only. The food was awesome , ambience good, staff very courteous , a great experience indeed . Its an AYE from me , if you are in Mumbai go try I say .

Website : chinabistro

Kalmane Koffees

I like sipping on black coffee once in a while and love the smell of coffee . While I was at VR mall,Bangalore last weekend , I noticed the brand new Kalmane outlet located in the minus 1 floor and didn’t think twice to visit them. Coffee has its way of attracting people , it has its way of calming nerves and of course it makes me happy , a satisfied feeling which only a coffee lover will understand 🙂 .

I didn’t want to waste my time sifting through the menu as my order was simple, however my friend wanted a madras coffee and that was the powder they sold so the guy at the counter suggested we try their premium coffee . I happily nodded and we sat at our tables . The coffee was ready in less than 5 minutes and was accompanied by badam biscotti . Rest is history . I loved it , it was a refreshing break for me . MY tag line for coffee would be “A lot can happen after coffee ” 🙂

Its an AYE from me . Go if you are around

Address : BLACK BOX, WHITEFIELD MAIN ROAD, MAHADEVPURA, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560048

Located next to pantaloon in minus 1 .

Why to stop judging?

I have been noticing one trait with lot of us from the time I have known myself . We are conditioned in a way that we judge and we are constantly judging people around us , people in our lives without the knowledge that we have all become seasoned judges . How sad isn’t it? Do we even realise the kind of impact that will leave on another’s mind? especially a kids? No! we don’t. Why? because we are not even aware of the blunder we are busy committing day in and out . Thankfully we don’t go behind bars for being not so nice in our thoughts or behaviours with our family and friends and the best part is at most times the victim doesn’t even know he is suffering until a certain stage. All this because we judge . Our spouses, friends , families , kids , colleagues , etc etc etc I am not even going a little far and discussing politics or current affairs , thats unbearable 🙂

While all these thoughts have been juggling in my head for a while now , today I decided to put them here . What if one of us stop judging and stop accepting being judged ?

Just because I don’t think like you, I don’t become any lesser than you .

Just because I don’t do all that you like ,I don’t become a bad soul.

Just because I don’t do all that you want me to, I don’t become a fool.

Just because I don’t dream all that you do, my dreams don’t become void.

just because I am not like you ,I don’t become a nobody.

Just because you don’t see me for what I am , I don’t cease to exist.

Just because I am not a part of your world ,I don’t become an alien.

Just because you think you are right, I don’t become wrong!

Just because you don’t see the good in me , I don’t become bad.

Just because you think you are smart, I don’t become dumb.

Just because you want me to be you , I won’t become a clone.

We are all unique and no two people are same on this planet . Lets please stop judging , categorising folks around us and accept them for what they are and who they are. Just because we don’t see the good , they don’t become bad

How not to be “happy”!

Why don’t we wonder why the Doctor doesn’t put the band aid without cleansing the wound .

Why don’t we ask questions when we are told we need a clean face to apply make up?

Why do we clean the utensils before we cook or eat on them again with no questioning ?

and many more questions popped on my mind . Just that my mind said its because they are things we are aware of ? isnt that common sense ? Come on Bindu! dont ask stupid questions it says.

Then I have another question if thats the case then why don’t we vent out what troubles us ? why do we pretend to be happy and all ok? In the last few days I have had the privilege to meet many strong people and realised that most of us don’t want to confront the truth and all we want to do is go with the flow and live under the presumption that all will be ok . we have always been told and made to believe that crying is for the weaker ones, especially the men (i feel sorry for them). So obviously why would anyone share , vent it out, avoid a volcano from bursting? Its the unaware mode where the mind is dictating what one should do next and with no after taught we operate like robots listening to all the commands we receive at all times . It took a while for me to realise what was happening , the best tool of course is meditation which makes things clearer. When I see most living in a oblivion I thought I should write about this because I am of the belief that life is not long enough for us to learn from our own mistakes so why not learn from others . If there is a problem, its important to choose a person with whom we can share our thoughts and of course one who doesn’t judge . It helps immensely if the thoughts are penned down and read out , what I am trying to convey is , if the thought has been penned down or voiced out how many times will it occur again? All that the mind wants is importance for what it is saying and the moment we are aware about the thought, it will fade away . Its like we telling someone to stop doing something we can say once , twice , thrice may be innumerable times to someone who isnt listening to us . What if the person listen to us and say I understood , will we repeat the same thing again for a 100th time ? I think may be not(if you said may be yes, then that needs help ;))

I learnt that being vulnerable is not a sign of weakness but its strength to show others that I am vulnerable and its only human. We never know what we get to learn in the process of sharing and how that might change our lives . Ofcourse too much of anything is too bad so if we keep whining then God save us!

Listening helps immensely . Listening to the gut, intuition , people around , soul inside us . All that is happening around may have a message but we need to listen .

I believe happiness is a state of mind , but being genuinely happy and not running away from the reality is the sign of real happiness . not cleaning a wound will only aggravate it no?

Besan Laddoo

Its Diwali time and mithai tho banta hai time .. I wanted to make something for Diwali and thought why not start with some Besan Laddoos as they are easy to make and tastes yum too . So here is a simple recipe trust me this is super easy and delicious too. When we make them at home we have the control of everything , I mean environment, sugar , ghee quantity/quality etc ;). So without more blah blah let me get straight to the recipe .

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Ingredients :

Besan/Chickpea Flour : 2 cups

Powdered Sugar : 3/4 to 1 cup (basis your liking for sweetness)

Ghee : 1/2 cup (check notes below)

Elaichi /Cardamom – 4

Method :

Take a wok and dry roast the besan for about roughly 14 mins . You need to keep stirring as it might burn and trust me this is a good exercise too 🙂 . Then add the ghee and again keep mixing for about 7 mins stirring continuously . By this time you will know how heaven smells 😛 . Now put the stove off and add the sugar and mix well. Finally add the elaichi powder and let the mixture cool for about 30 mins and then you can roll the laddoos . If you are unable to roll them keep them in the fridge for a while for the ghee to solidify and then roll them . Voila! Yummy Besan Laddoo ready!

Notes : More ghee can be added as mine is with less ghee say a little over 1/2 cup for more laddoo consistency and of course flavour

Dry fruits like raisins and cashew can be added , I simply didn’t feel like

Happy Diwali 🙂

“Gratitude” Universe

And I always thought my problems are bigger ..

We at R SQUARE are handling India Inclusion Summit 2016 in November and Rohit is curating the speakers . During one such event he was to meet Priyanka one of the speakers and asked me to tag along . I wasn’t sure why I was going yet happily went with no expectations. We were to meet her near the Ganesha temple inside embassy golf links and thanks to Ms. Google we reached the venue correctly . I see a smiling face walk out of the building and Rohit call her name out and that was when I realized she was priyanka and was partially blind. Now my senses were all alert and watching her as I felt responsible , she said we could go to the cafeteria and lead us without the stick and I was amazed until she almost walked through a barricade and I abruptly stopped her . She then asked me if she could hold my hands and I readily agreed and of course reached the cafeteria and settled there . While they were speaking about her life I was watching them and listening with rapt attention , I clicked a pic too. I thought we had so much stress in our day to day life until I met her . I always believed as humans, until we loose what we have we wont value it and until we see bad we don’t understand what is good .

She spoke about her childhood in a Marwari family , the upbringing . Her losing her eye sight and still leaving home to pursue her career, her struggle in the corporate sea like IBM , her commuting , her passion for dance etc

It made me think what problems do I really have ? In fact we create problems that we don’t have with all the time we have with us . I couldn’t go for a holiday , I missed buying something , I fought with someone , the traffic jam, no network etc. I was so ashamed at the fact that we live to create problems and people like priyanka to fight the real problems that exists . Who is more capable here ? Need I answer ?

We will at most times have a ready list of what we don’t have. Well who appreciates what is there ? Isn’t our purpose to chase what we don’t have ? Isn’t that how it has worked from years now ? Hasn’t that become our way of living ? I snapped back from all the thoughts towards the “now” and she said she wanted to take a selfie and I happily jumped at the thought of it 🙂

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what we always miss is to thank the universe for the life we have , to thank the five senses without which the world wouldn’t have been the same . The ability to talk, walk, eat , drink , touch when we want is the freedom we own and should be happy about . She said bye and cheerfully went back to her life not before she made me think so much . I have a feeling that IIS is going to change my life with so many stories told and untold .. I can only say Gratitude to the universe for I was again reminded to appreciate what I have ..

Bindu Gopinath

Food – Life – Travel