Me... Office... Orange... Coffee & Parrot !!

I came to office today, yeah just as always... !!
Sat on my desk staring at my flat 17" LCD computer screen....

Few hours passed…
Then it happened... Yes, I got thirsty...

How about having a cup of coffee?
Hmm… coffee huh?? don't you remember that 2 days back incident, when couldn't fit in trousers which fitted perfectly just few days back??
Ohh ya… Why don’t I eat those oranges, which I brought to office as a result, deciding to eat healthy from now.

I opened my drawer…. Oranges smiled back to me…
Hmmmm… Oranges dear, will you be fine until Monday lying on your own here?
Ohh yeah, we were lying at your house for days and are still alright so what's more these 2 days going to change? Ahh right...!

I stood up and started walking.
Left right left right left right left right left right left right left right

After 48 steps, I reached pantry area. (Yes, exact 48 steps)

I should not have so many coffees…
But I am not in a mood to have plain black tea or just water...!

Pressed espresso... hmm need milk and sugar too
(Ok I will go for single sugar and not double you calorie freaks..... but then double milk)

I turned around to be back at my desk and that is when it happened...
Yes I saw a full size walking parrot!! (Nooo common, i wasn't drunk!!)

Ohh no it can’t be parrot, it can’t be this tall, looked like 1.5 times my height!! (Ok don’t guess my height here now)...
I tried to focus, tried to wake up my half asleep mind and tried to figure it out...

Ohh ya I was right... It can’t be parrot and it wasn’t...
It was my colleague walking to pantry, wearing yellow sweater and parrot green pants... (Aah Europeans...!)

Anger- Anger cancelled???

Okay so any of you remember that episode from FRIENDS where Phoebe takes up some lessons and asks Rachel whether she will like to accompany her, she does and goes late without doing homework and asks Phoebe's help on gist of the book. Ironically tutor picks up Rachel to answer the question, she gets all the accolades from tutor. Phoebe is next to answer same question and she feels lose of words feeling Rachel stole her answer ? Remember???

Okay so I went through a similar kind of incidence followed by a similar kind of feelings yesterday.

As you might know that I am trying to learn a little bit of Dutch and taking lessons for that ( Ok if you didn't know, now you know). We were given some homework from the class and fellow-next-to-me didn't finish it till last moment. So then he asks me to help him in completing it and I happily do. But then it seems its taking too much time and it's about the time of class to start...

Fellow-next-to-me : ok let me copy down from your sheets
Me : but that way you won’t be able to learn yourself
Fellow-next-to-me : for this time only, from next time I will complete it on time
Me : ohhh ok (hadn’t any options as he had already took my sheets and started copying)

So he copies it down. The class starts soon ... Tutors asks us whether we have completed the homework, all says YES, and Tutor starts all the questioning on homework, which this fellow-next-to-me replies proudly.

Now comes the end part, which is to write some sentences about you... sorry not about you but about what is "not" you or "not" about you.... yeah practising negative replies.
This guy's turn is before me and he just reads out all the sentences copied from me!! ( can you imagine??? he actually copied all those sentences also same to same from my sheet .... imagine my face in red here ) and suddenly now I am left with lose of words on my turn as what I had written he already spoke everything !!! Grrrrrrr
I feel so angry... but but but I cannot be, right? I am in the class after all.

Now the next class exercise starts, and same fellow-next-to-me is my partner in that. As now I am angry I keep the mum and don't talk much. He asks me to show him questions (exercise was to form questions in Dutch reading a given paragraph and ask them to your partner) Again I help him as he asks me but reluctantly due to my anger and only with first part. Now I think he was bored or too much in over-confidence so tells me in a light mood.... ohh ok, it's alright you create and ask the questions in exercise and I will reply.... I say alright and we stop discussing.

Now comes our turn ... funny enough we get second part of paragraph and not the first part which we had discussed. As he suggested me I start with questions.... first question...ok easy enough... second question created from a part of a sentence and he doesn't understand it, third question created from other half part of the sentence and booooom he didn't understand that either (I feel like laughing aloud and saying dude you get back what you do to someone, now you see what it feels like???) ... and then it happens..... A stare..... ( nooooop I know I had felt like but hadn’t laughed aloud, It was all just happening in my mind, feeling and wanting to... all that you know) yeah so he actually gives me a stare and now HE IS angry on me that why didn't I show / help him !!

Ohhh boy, It's me who is angry on you, You can't be angry on me !!! right??? .... THIS IS NOT FAIR!! Not at all fair !!

Can anyone tell me in any chance, does it work in a way that anger - anger ... means two angers cancelled??? Huh?

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Life of contrasts...

I love speed, I hate risks.
I love giving advice, I hate taking them.
I love cooking and eating till tired, I hate putting on weight.
I love to live in my dream world; I hate anything that's not practical.
I love proving myself intelligent, I hate others being stupid.
I love mystery, I hate suspense.
I love to dream all the time, I hate being called day-dreamer.
I love books; I hate being called a bookworm.
I love being talked to, I hate people talking non-stop.
I love singing, I hate when others keep singing around me.
I love to dance, I hate when I don't have a company.
I love to paint, I hate when I don't have anyone to admire it.
I love being quiet, I hate people around me being quite.
I love being with myself, I hate when people around me want to be on their own.
I love oceans, I hate that I can’t swim.
I love to remain fit, I hate exercising.
I love Saturday evenings, I hate Monday mornings.
I love saving, I hate not being able to save.
I love packing, I hate unpacking.
I love being praised, I hate false praise.
I love my friends, I hate having to say goodbye.
I love to be busy; I hate not having time for anything else.
I love being infinitely lazy creature the way I am, I hate doing nothing.
I love designer wears, I hate the way they don't fit me anymore.
I love spontaneity, I hate impulsiveness.
I love my friends, I hate being away from them.
I love being around people who take care of everything, I hate not being in control.
I love being very busy in my own world, I hate not being able to hang out with my Friends.
I love analyzing, I hate being analyzed.
I love logical thinking; I hate people around me getting in too much logic.
I love having an opinion on everything; I hate people being over-critical all the time.
I love chocolates; I hate overly sweet things/people.
I love being lost in my thoughts; I hate others being lost in their thoughts.
I love to sleep, I hate seeing you asleep when I am awake.
I love to be busy, I hate when you are too busy to talk to me.
I love being crazy, I hate others being crazy.
I love to write, I hate not having any ideas to write.
I love me, I hate too many "I" in this post.
I love you reading my blog, I hate you not putting a comment of encouragement.

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Taxes...duh...!

I hate paying taxes
I know all social responsibility and development and services and blah blah blah....
I was so so sooooooooooooo waiting for this vacation allowance to come and it came... yeah
And as i have been in this job only for 10 months it was anyway not full and then 42% straight deducted for taxes !!

why why why?? :(
I so so soooo were looking for it to come and when now it is there it looks like peanuts in front :(

I think i will seriously have to think about being on my own if i want to earn more, more and more as much more as much harder i try to work.
Taxes will be still there yeah but atleast it will be more exciting and challenging.... This fix salary system isn't working too well for me :(

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Batti's Ball - A Multipurpose Product

Few days back I got an e-mail from one of my friends, he had been asking me for some recipes to try his hands on as he was going to be alone at home and wanted to sharpen his cooking skills.
Whatever I suggested turned out didn't suit Indian environment considering availability of seasonal vegetables and fruits, so here he goes on his own... making sure to keep me updated with his cooking adventures ;)

(All rights for this post belong to my friend simplyhardik, for those of you reminding me of breach of copy rights .... Prior permission to post it over here has been taken)

Batti Balls ki kahani... simplyhardik ki jubani (My reactions in italic blue)

Since last few days, due to absence of my mom's at home, I have started cooking. - ohhh no
Being a gourmetian, I have always experimented myself on various tastes. - Ohh yeah, now I know reason of that little extra effect all-over you ;)
So yesterday, I tried to make Dal -Batti, a rather difficult decision to make without the presence of my mom, but I was determined to cook it, as I was improving on my cooking since last few days & positive aspect was that I was improving in the taste also. - he he ha ha ha.... I know what improvising in the taste means here ;) yours or food's?? :D

I bought the required atta for Batti & ingredients for dal , however what was difficult to make turned to be simple. One needs to mix all the three varieties of dal i.e. mong, udad, tuvar and then cook in the pressure cooker. Afterwards it should be mixed with required masalas, however Dal should be spicy to add the taste. Masala's include mirchi, ginger, lal mirch powder, lasun, salt. Thus the dal was ready on the cooking gas for heating. - Phew....that's easy dude..!!
It was like Sonia Gandhi needed to give speech in Italy, soooo easy, I enjoyed making as it was fun. - Sonia Gandhi's speech in Italy??? When... where exactly...how??? Seems I missed it :( May be çoz I wasn't born yet at the time of that speech?? ;) hee hee hee

Now coming to the easiest part of the recipe i.e. Batti. - Ohh yeaah
Batti is much easier to make than roti, no need to shape it like roti which is most difficult aspect, God knows how Mom makes it, but I had tried it once upon a time, I could make it any shape like amoeba, but could not make proper shape for roti. - I can, I can since I was a kiddo in school.... so what if I am a girl... common give me some credits !!!

Coming back to Batti, one need to mix flour with water & some curd & salt to add taste. You need not have any specific shape just make some ball shape of medium size, Afterwards it should be kept in the Oven & then few minutes later the Batti was ready . - That surely sounds easy!!
Tragedy has the perfect timing as always it strikes at the right time without fail & never misses the target, so it happened to me. While trying to crush the Batti with my hands, failed to crush a single part of it, others also tried it but all in vain. - Oooops didn't turn out as easy as it sounded!!

All of sudden it started appearing as if breaking stone would be much easier than crushing the Battis. After a while hands gave up vehemently. - Ooo poor guy :( so then what happened???

Another try... to use the hammer to break it, but while trying it, Batti hit directly to a person standing nearby on his head, he started caressing his head & thus this idea also failed. - :( :( :( hoping that other guy didn't have to go to hospital

Any more ideas?? Yes... to grind it in the mixture, as soon as I started the mixture, strange sound started & then mixture blades broke out. - Ooooh boy, when back, mom is going to kill you dude!!! And ya I got it that other guy didn't have to go to hospital looking at you still there with yet another idea to try on your Battis ;)

(After yet another failed attempt my dear friend wasn't yet ready to accept the defeat, I guess this is what he must be shouting at that time.... Ohh Batti... I won't accept defeat from you... suna tune?? It is i, who created you with my this hands... and it is I, who will destroy you with my this very same hands.... he he ha ha ha... mogambo laugh)

The next idea was to collect all Battis together in a cloth & hit it on the wall. (Yeah the concrete wall, dude nice try). All of a sudden it became useless; probably Ambuja cement may also not help the purpose now. (Bhaiya yeh deewal tutti kyu nahi - use my Battis, thus my Battis can be used to unite the divided family) - heee heee heee, now even your dad is gonna kill you buddy ;)

To help you readers imagine what he did next - After so many tries he sat on chair scratching his head, then it happened ... an idea ... and so much like in Hindi movie a scream of simplyhardik...

What an Idea Sirji!!! (How do I know this??? No, I didn't put camera in his house!! Grrrrrr)
So here is what I think, After trying all ideas which apparently failed, I can send these Battis to IPL as they can use it for replacement of cricket balls and can earn additional income out of it, with special coverage by Mandira Bedi who will discuss every aspect of it apart other than main crux & Harsha Bhogle will discuss at length how Battis turned into balls & what prompted me to have dal-batti for dinner- origin is the root cause of everything. (Wah kya dialogue hai!!)
As IPL has been huge success, so will be my Battis & thus the business sense will prevail & I will be in full fledged manufacturing of Battis for cricket matches which can be extended to other sports like hockey, table tennis, golf, etc & if the quality of Battis is brittle, then origin purpose of Battis can used - for food, I can open a restaurant also & or can hire a franchise. - sahi bole sirji.... true as you said... what an idea sirji ;)

Aha Gujarati's business acumen will prevail. ) As there will be huge brand equity for my Battis. - Can we be partners in profile sharing?? :-/
Product: Battis Ball - a multipurpose product
Brand Ambassador: Abhishek Bachchan with his What an Idea Sirji!!!

Thomas Edison has rightly said that many failures in life are when they do not realize how close they were to success!! - Yes man, I totally agree... simplyhardik tum aage badho hum tumhare sathe hai...singing hum saath saath hai... :) [Translation: simplyhardik you go ahead, we are with you, singing title song from Hindi movie hum saath saath hai which means we are together!!]

P.S. - No, I didn't give that recipe to him.

P.S.S. - No, Those ideas also weren't product of my mind.

Oye, It's...oooops... It WAS weekend …!!!

Reason for this weekend break in writing ..... As was busy in chilling out ;) hee hee hee

Okay seriously, it was fun..... a long weekend starting from Thursday.... driving, visiting new places, a visit to amusement park, sunny days, good food.... oooh wow, what else you need? It was just perfect.

It all started with a visit to Movie Park, Germany on Thursday. (Yeah waking up earlier than what we do to go office was a serious problem but we overcame that hindrance luckily). It was a slightly more than 2 hours ride... and as soon as we entered Germany border you would have seen cars speeding up.... we drove at 150 km/hr and then there were cars overtaking us with zoooooom... yes you can actually hear that zooom sound when they cross you, ohh boy ... I wonder at what speed were they driving, huh!!

Okay back to park, this Movie Park is a theme park with real movie studios in
Bottrop-Kirchhellen. The park was opened in June 1996 as "Warner Bros. Movie World". Since 2004, the park is under the leadership of StarParks, a sub-group of Palamon Capital, leading to the name being changed into "Movie Park Germany" in 2005.

If it is compared with other European parks like Disneyland Paris, or Efteling in Netherlands, it is not as large as those, but it was fun.

From there we visited cities of Dusseldorf and Cologne. Both are beautiful cities... It struck to us that Germany and Netherlands are neighbouring countries sharing the borders (in a border-less Europe of now a days) and still people so different.

Some of the highlights of the weekend trip...

- Shrek 4D at Movie Park was truly amazing; not only kids but all age can enjoy it. Proof...huh??? A scene where donkey spat and audience feel it sprinkled on them and everyone is suddenly wiping their faces hehehehe and a scene consisting lots of cobweb spiders, you feel them on legs with air coming from floor and many pulled their legs up... some even on chair... heee heee... and you ask me were they all kids ?? ;) ... hee hee hee

- Roller-coaster and free fall rides..... ooooops...crazy and loved it. Roller-coaster gave more butterflies in stomach while looking at it though than riding it, but worth a ride. Free fall amazing specially when u haven't done it before and don't know what to expect as was the case with us.

- In this more than year stay in Netherlands we have hardly seen anyone fighting in Parking or street ( Amsterdam is an exemption ) and there at movie park parking we saw 3 fights at single time...grrrrrr

- Look your back while walking in Germany, otherwise on streets people will actually scream from back to have a way if you are coming in between their way.

- One of the longest beer bar on a street, but if you will ask for a cola in a bar it will be replied in NO with a stare!! hee hee. This was funny as cola being Ashu's first love in drinks, so then he had to try local beer in a "beer bar" ;)

- One of largest cathedral we have ever seen, magnificent - it was in Cologne
We paid 5 € more each for city tour bus as opted for ticket in which you can get down the bus at any place and catch any next bus. But seemed everyone else had strategically planned against us by not opting for that ticket, ultimately inspiring us for not utilizing additional power that extra 5€ brought us. Grrrrrrrr

- Some funny, interesting buildings (for e.g. dropped ice-cream cone on top, egg shaped etc etc)

- Good food and a lot cheaper than here in Netherlands... A dinner for 3 at Spanish Tapas Bar we paid 27 €, for same we pay here not less than 70 €.... Grrrrrr

Nice weekend over all with lots of good food. Yummy...
Thursday - Nice Lebanese food on Dusseldorf's food street.
Friday - Spanish Tapas bar in Spanish food street, Dusseldorf ( Las Tapas, if I remember the name of the place correctly)
Eating on streets...so much true fun for we Indians.

It was fun cooking and eating at home too this weekend.
Saturday - Palak Paneer, Paratha and Biryani (cooked by great me, hee hee hee. No laugh it was seriously yummy)
Sunday - Puranpoli, Pulav, Punjabi pakoda kadhi (Again by great me, I am getting expert at cooking now, he ha ha ha)

So Great Weekend with fond memories.... mwaah....loved loved loved it !!

Talent talent everywhere...

I simply loved this performance by Susan Boyle, i have seen the clip so many times in last few weeks and every time it has the same touching effect. It was so rightly commented, never judge a book from it's cover !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

I didn’t watch the season 1 & 2 but when i watched few performances this time, i just love it now.... so much talent and so many funny and even ridiculous acts... but it is fun. Can't wait to see semi-finals starting from tonight !!


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