the eyes' treasure...

tepid and timid, thieving forlorn glimpses,
how can they be anything but venomous;
to the bold wind caressing your hair.

blinded that they are, these distant oculars,
blinded with the sight of your beauty;
my eyes are now sinners.

to spite others who behold your beauty,
is the sin they'd gladly surrender to;
finding salvation in each glimpse won,
now forever theirs to treasure.

the cookbook - page one...

"follow the nose...that's all there is to cooking."

...considering that my love for eating is overshadowed only by my love for cooking; it was an obvious eventuality that the blog feature recipes of my making. a little prodding on G's behalf made the transition easier. anyways, so here's what i suppose shall be the first of many...the chop-shop cookbook of experimental cooking...

***

Pasta-cause-I'm-bored-alone-at-home!

cooking makes me happy, and so i cook when i have nothing to do. just walk up to the fridge, take a peek inside, rummage through the pantry/drawers, lay out the spread on the kitchen platform and start washing, peeling, chopping, dicing, marinating, blanching, frying, roasting my way to a joyous couple of hours.

yesterday evening was a similar tale...

What I found in the fridge/drawer/kitchen...

• 1 Nos. - Bambino Penne Pasta Packet (250 gm)
• 1 Nos. - Milk packet (500 ml)
  
• 2 Cans of Olives (Pitted)
• 1 Jar of Jalapenos
• Olive Oil
  
• Dried Mint & Oregano flakes
• Onions/Tomatoes/Garlic/Ginger/Green Chili/Lemon/Capsicum (Bell Pepper)
  
• Salt & Pepper

What I did with the ingredients...

Step 1

• Heat the milk. squeeze half a lemon in the milk and bring to boil while stirring.
  
• Observe that the milk will split to form paneer (cottage cheese).
  
• Reduce the water and remove the residual paneer.
  
• Squeeze out excess water and break the fresh paneer into tiny pieces and keep aside.
  

Step 2

• Finely dice 3 medium sized onions and put aside.

• Roughly chop 6-7 medium sized tomatoes and put into blender. add a roughly chopped jalapeno, 3 green chili and 8-10 pods of freshly peeled garlic to the tomatoes. add a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of lemon juice.

• Blend the tomatoes/garlic/green chili together to form a thick paste.

• Dice the fresh ginger (about 2 inches) into thin slices and put aside.

• Take half capsicum, chop it into small bits and keep aside.

• Dice 1-2 jalapenos into circular pieces and keep aside (you can have as many jalapenos as you like; it depends on your heat resistance).

• Chop 6-7 olives into circular pieces (i prefer Green Olives) and keep aside.

Step 3

• Take 2 teaspoons of olive oil, heat on low flame in a non-stick pot/pan.
  
• Once the oil is heated, add the paneer and a bit of the diced ginger.
  
• Add a pinch of salt and saute for about a minute.
  
• Add the diced capsicum, jalapeno; sprinkle dried mint & oregano flakes and saute until paneer is golden brown.

• Remove the mixture from the pan/pot and keep aside.

Step 4

• Take 2 tablespoons to olive oil. heat in a non-stick pot.
  
• Once the oil is heated, add the diced onions.
  
• Saute the onions until they turn transparent.

• Add the remaining bit of diced ginger; throw in a pinch of salt and continue to saute until the onions turn golden brown (i.e. are cooked).

• Now add the tomato/garlic/green chili/jalapeno paste to the onions and continue cooking.

• Once the tomato gravy is cooked, add a generous amount of oregano flakes (i love the smell of tomato and oregano), add about 500 ml of water and reduce the gravy on medium flame.

Step 5

• In a separate pot, heat about 2 liters of water.
• Add a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt to the water and bring to boil.
  
• Add the pasta to the boiling water (basically follow the instructions on the packet).
  
• Once the pasta is cooked; drain out the water and rinse the pasta under cold water.

Step 6

• Add the pasta to the tomato/onion gravy. mix properly.
  
• Cook for a minute and then add the chopped olives.
• Add salt to taste; a dash of pepper. mix well.

• Cover the pot and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

Step 7

• Garnish the pasta with the fresh paneer/ginger/jalapeno mixture.
• Serve the pasta hot.

***


bon appetite!

men don't cry...

...and so said Zeus, son of Cronus, father of Gods & men...

burnt by thy own fire,
O' Prometheus, forgotten shall be thee.
thy gifts turned to dust;
nothing thee did will ever be enough.

guarded by vengeance, chained by ignominy
a bare rock to pierce thee flesh;
where you'd fantasized the touch of gentle lamb skin.

pain & punishment, thy reward for having done fair.

not a tear shall trickle from thee eyes
to whet thy hollow sigh of lament.
it is your bane, O' Prometheus,
that men don't cry.

...

death to hunger...

....

one more serving of soup. bon appetite!

:)

the 'long time' post...

its been a long time since i have been able to blog. i don't know what is it that inspires me tonight. maybe it is the bottle of vodka that i have so happily sipped since evening. maybe its the nostalgia of writing. whatever it is, here i am. writing.

i was always persistent. with elongated periods of laziness in between...

"work. studies. love. family. cat. feeding the cat. cleaning up after the cat. friends"

...life takes no specific order. it chugs along.

***

i cut my hair.

i write ads.

i am going running in order to loose a few pounds before my cousin's wedding.

***

i miss my old 'Nachi' self.

i feel like i am changing.

i am resisting change.

i am failing to do so.

***

i am thirsty!

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. AND I FOUND IT...

for all those people who have indeed wondered where i had disappeared to over the past couple of months, the only answer i have for you is that i was off on the quest for truth. truth that i felt could no longer wait. after all these years of hearing fragments of the tales, of the mystery and the adventure, i simply had to know. find out. and so i did.

my search for the truth took me across the length of the nation; from the peaks of the majestic Himalayas to the ravines along the bank of the Vishwamitri. and the truth i finally found. and now i feel obligated to share it with the rest of the world, and with you my loyal readers and dearest of friends. and so for the first time ever i am presenting to you, and the world, the never-before-seen images of the mysterious creature straight from your favorite monster tale book. the abominable snowman, the bigfoot, the yeti...call it what you may. it exists!! and i have the complete cataloged scientific data.

***

Genus: Amrutacuss Bigfootinhermouth Creatureus

Gender: Female (males might exist. but so far have remained elusive).

Habitat: diverse. but found mostly in hilly/mountainous terrain with plenty of rocky surfaces that aid in obtaining foothold and facilitate swift movement.

Food Habits: Omnivorous Hunter and Forager. Has preference for goat meat.

Social Structure: being the solitary member of her specie to be discovered, the social hierarchy of the species is somewhat difficult to ordain. but a presence of such possibilities is clearly visible in its efforts to communicate through grunts and the occasional facial expression; indicating a somewhat developed brain. the creature can get aggressive when jested with, and can be extremely dangerous bearing in mind its size and strength.

...so much for this adventure. the research shall continue. but until next time, always remember you true-hearted believers...ADVENTURE BECKONS!!!

coming home...

photo credit: Gayatri Thangjam

...like a carpet of woven pearls underneath your feet,
the dew glistens through the torn shroud of the morning mist.
awaiting to be scattered by your gentle touch...

***

it has been a while since i found the fortitude to come back. many times i crept in through the cracks, but i always found myself caught in the void in-between. space and time are constant companions. it is the mind that is fickle.

it takes something more than just desire to come back. to walk down the path we have already tread before and knock on the door we walked out of long ago. it takes acceptance. it takes forgiveness. it takes humility.

so how have you been?

the sands of time...

...some tales are about nothing in particular.

***

there's a distant sand that travels borne in flight by the wind

and a fine sand that slips away from my grasp within



the coarse sand nature violently breaks down into fine grain

a wet sand sculpts the dreams of a child in her innocent play



the crafted sand blazes on the fire to feed my hunger tonight

the glazed sand brightly bedecks my beloved bride

there's a sand i even worship as my faith's right



the sand trapped inside the twisted glass un-counts my day

the ethereal sand of my bones will turn into sand someday



in the end its all nothing, but simply sand laying along my way

...

and the answer is???

my gorgeous lady...

...once upon a time, there was a boy who loved to make up stories inside his head. somewhere along the way, he met lots of wonderful people he became friends with, learned to hold his alcohol, found out he was somewhat crazy, traveled around a lot, fell in love, started to write on a blog and ended up with a camera slung around his neck. now, temporarily settled (but still a bit crazy) he spends most of his time trying not to wonder what to do next. in between, he manages to pen a few words down and take pictures with his camera.

apparently he's back to where he started from, but his life is really not as bad as it sounds. now he has a lot of stories to tell...

here's one

***

Him: "I feel too lazy to get up"

Her: (*an exasperated look*) "OK! I'll go"


...as she walked up to the counter to order them a cup of coffee, he couldn't but help wonder. he met her for the first time in college around 3 years ago, as future classmates always do, by walking into the same classroom. him, still groggy and disheveled from having to get up so early in the morning and her, the immaculately dressed pretty young lady. and right from that day onwards, she had always astounded him; it was unfathomable to the boy, as to how she always managed to look so gorgeous...

its been a fun journey since then, during which they have walked their own separate paths. always minding their own business, but never failing to exchange a friendly smile and a heart-warming laugh each time their paths crossed

...oh! and she always gave him good gossip too.

***

someone once told the boy, "the best things in life aren't things". well, now he knows that the best things in his life are the people around him.

as for his gorgeous friend...

well fellow men, guess there is a Lord watching over us after all!!

the knock on the window...

...the quiet prattling of the wind against the window-pane fills the mind with ideas. what is it that is trying to get in? is it the cold breath of nature wanting to kiss you, reaching out to you from beyond? or is it something more sinister? something supernatural?

of the many things that seem to want to come in through the window on this cold winter night, what is it exactly that is knocking?

maybe something is trying to get out! wild thoughts that stem from within, slithering their way towards the window. the imagination runs amok and lulls you into the idea that something wants to come in. in reality, it simply wants to get out...

***

ps: we shall always have something to say, won't we brah? so let the countdown begin. 1000 posts from the Ghost Particle. it's been a fabulous journey...

***



for more pics visit the photoblog

...a little something i came across in the archives. i'd completely forgotten having taken this photograph...

the Republic...for 60 years!

***

60 years of being the republic means, six decades...

...of being the most diverse nation on the planet. of bearing the weight of the expectations of a billion people. of cutting corners paying and accepting bribes. of making a mockery of our political and judicial system. of bitterly fighting amongst each other in the name of religion, caste and land. of pitting our individual identity against that of the nation. of electing corrupt criminals to our politico out of indifference, ignorance and fear. of exploiting and hurting each other. of ridiculing each others beliefs and values...

60 years of being the republic also means, six decades...

...of saluting our martyrs in absolute honour. of shouldering each other in times of grief. of laughing together. of celebrating together. of praying together. of congratulating each other on a Sachin century. of crooning along together to the tunes of Lata and Mukesh. of wanting to leave to find a better life somewhere else, but of always coming back to reclaim it here. of accepting the generous hospitality of unknown countrymen and of reaching out to others. of being awed at our collective culture. of greedily indulging ourselves to the never-ending culinary delights of this big kitchen from each others plates. of learning the mystic knowledge collected over centuries through folk tales with talking animals. of embracing each other. of always dreaming of success as a nation. of sharing one nation despite our differences and apprehensions...

...today is the completion of 60 years of the Republic of India! but being an Indian lasts forever. and this song is one of the many cherished memories that i grew up with. a truly Indian song of unity and love...

...Happy Republic Day!

if perspectives went downhill in a cart...

...a moment is what it takes for the present to be the past. for everything to become distant. from "when" to "now" to "then" to "back then". such is the nature of time. yesterday seems like a long time ago now. looking back now makes it all seem so distant. where did it all go? all that we can see now is the future. mechanical & shiny, perhaps...

...it all seems like one of those fairy tale beginnings, "a long long time ago" fable. back when everything was seemingly easy. when we were what we wanted to be. back when we changed the world. back when we were the revolution...

...funny part is, "far far away" was never that far away. all it took was a little bit of imagination. the child in us knew it...

***

"i believe that eventually we are all at the right place at the right time. call it 'in retrospect' or 'statistics', what are the chances of it all being otherwise?"

of colors...

..."color me red!"

for more pics visit the photoblog



...would it change anything if i were to be colored red,
instead of black or white or blue?
a single stroke of the palette soaked brush
bestowing to this life a tainted hue.

a different shade,
for a different me...

..."maybe not"

the great sun jester...

photo taken by Gayatri Thangjam. location: Shimla 01/01/10

"sunsets always bring about a change. they are like the heralds of time, summoning the old day back into the recesses of the grand old design from which it emerged in the first place. what is here, must be replaced with something else that shall be here. the night must engulf us and a new day must dawn.

this is the 'one' rule."

...its all a big joke! this daily melee of our days.

***