नवीन वर्षाच्या शुभेच्छा!

आंब्याचं तोरण आणि श्रीखंडाचा गोडवा
चैत्राची चाहूल घेऊन आला गुडीपाडवा
गुढीचा मान, लिंबाचं पान
नववर्ष जावो आपल्याला खूप खूप छान

As I mentioned in my earlier post on this blog, I am reading Dev Anand's 'Romancing With Life' presently. He has described his visit to Norway. I liked some of the lines he has written to describe the trip:

The road was snowbound at places, trees denuded of leaves for the winter was right ahead, lonely isolated villages with dim lights eyeing you through the mist shrouding the wooden houses and sideway inns.

They make you think about dropping everything to take the road by yourself, don't they? :-)

Keoti Daal (Sanjeev Kapoor's Kitchen)

When I saw chef Sanjeev Kapoor making this daal in the cookery show 'Sanjeev Kapoor's Kitchen' on Food Food Channel, I was a bit skeptical at first. A daal with only garlic and dried red chillies for spice? Won't it taste a bit bland? But over the years, I have realized that almost 99.9% of the times the dishes turn out to be tasty if you follow his recipes to the tee. So I decided to give it a try. And this recipe was no exception to the rule. :-)

Here's the recipe if you are looking for something to eat with rice or chapati!

I just finished reading the 6th Chapter of 'Bhagwad Geeta - As It Is'. My takeaway is a little bit confusing. Krishna says that he is the Supreme Being who everyone should strive to ultimately reach. The chapter also mentions that there are various other demigods that people worship in order to fulfill a variety of earthly desires. Being an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha, I am not sure if He too comes in the category of the demigods. If yes, then is it possible to keep worshiping Him while trying to follow the principles laid down in the Geeta to bring about Krishna consciousness?

I have been keenly following seasons 1-5 of 'Supernatural' aired on Star World. So Dean Winchester has been to hell and back - literally. And now he is on a mission to find out who had the guts and the gumption to yank him out. Turns out it's an angel who spreads his wings when Dean asks him for some Authentication (or ID) :-) What's more, the angel has told Dean that he was brought back on God's command because He has some special plan devised for him. Now, knowing Dean, you cannot expect him to get all misty-eyed after being informed not only that God does exist but also that He is interested in recruiting him. But surely some surprise would have been definitely in order. :-)

Predictably, he asks the angel, Castiel, why God himself doesn't intervene when so many innocent people are being killed. And then gets frustrated when he senses that the angel is about to give the same old answer 'God works in mysterious ways'. A tip for you Dean, do a net search on 'Karma' :-)

I have a question of my own to put to Castiel. He sends Dean back to the '70s but Dean is unable to stop his mom from making a deal with the yellow-eyed demon. When Dean gets back to the present, he is heartbroken at that and Castiel tells him that Destiny cannot be changed. But in the same breath he asks Dean to stop Sam from whatever he has been doing or the angels will have to intervene. Now, if no one can change destiny then Dean will be unable to change Sam's destiny anyways, isn't it?

I came across references to the following books in Dev Anand's autobiography:

Lust For Life by Irving Stone
The Naked God by Howard Fast
The Arrangement by Elia Kazan

Justice With Michael Sandel

http://www.justiceharvard.org/watch/

Ordinary People, Extra-ordinary Acts

When Mowgli met the Lepchas

The phone never rings so early on Sunday mornings. So I was surprised when it did so around 9am. I was more surprised when I saw that the call was made from the local library from where I rent the books. It completely slipped my mind that I had asked them to let me know when anyone returned Dev Anand's "Romancing With Life". Of course, I went there later during the day to pick up the book.

I was reading "Prizes" by Erich Segal but have decided to keep it on the back-burner while I check out what Dev has to say about "Romancing With Life". :-)

I didn't want to have a Gelato for dessert. My whole being craved some ghee-laden Indian sweets. And the trays at that shop in the mall were laden with exactly that :-) After the selection was made I realized that 2-3 people were staring very intently at something in one corner of the shop. If you are in India and there is a cricket match going on, it is safe to assume that the center of such attraction is a TV set tuned to the sports channel airing that match. Sure enough, as I ventured to the corner I came face-to-face with a small TV set with its volume turned very low. India was bowling and Pakistan was batting. My stomach churned at the thought of the Indian side having to chase at least 275+ runs. Plus I could see that no wickets had fallen yet.

"Can you believe it? No wickets yet" I yelled at my family. That caught the attention of the attendants watching the game. One of them smiled knowingly. But one of the owners who was sitting nearby seemed completely unfazed. "Chinta mat karo, India hi jitega dekhana" - Rest assured that India will win - the old man said smiling confidently. I smiled back politely but shook my head in frustration as I walked back to devour the sweets.

I thought of the shopowner as I stared at the score of 329 in disbelief that evening. What are the chances that our so-called 'top' batsmen will dig in their heels and chase the target bravely? Still, I couldn't help but keep stealing a look at the score every now and then as I watched other programs. Miracles seemed to be the norm of the day. Tendulkar, Kohli and Sharma steadily chipped away at the huge target. I so wanted to watch the match after they crossed 300 but didn't want to take any chances. What if the wickets start falling as soon as I start to watch? Better to watch the highlights later. My engineering and MBA education takes a back-seat to blind superstition when India is playing. What to do? :-)

Needless to say that I thought of the shop-keeper again. What made him so confident of India's victory? Maybe, he can see the future. I must ask him next time I go there to buy sweets. :-)