Books Read

The book is about Nikhill Arya, an MIT graduate, who plans a short vacation to Cambodia along with his friend Sam after graduation. And his life changes for ever. He goes from one unexpected place to the other, witnesses unbelievable situation one after the other. As you read through, you feel sad for him, happy sometimes and feel pity at times.

This is Karan Bajaj's second novel after Keep Off the Grass. Am yet to read the later one.

A very interesting Kannada novel i read recently after a very long time. It is authored by V.M. Inamdar. The three sections Kusuma, Pratibha and Chitralekha are very well narrated. He makes the visualization of the characters so easy and vivid that you feel the whole story is happening in front of you. Can finish the novel in a day or two

Recycled Art - Gift Jars

Here I am with one more recycling idea. Empty jars being used for making a beautiful decorative piece or a perfect gift item. You can use jars or bottles of any size and shape for this purpose. I have used empty honey bottles

First, empty the jar, clean it and dry it, remove any stickers on it before using it for any purpose

You can fill any material of your choice. May be layers of different colored rice or sand, dry flowers, small cute dolls. You can even convert these jars into interesting votive for candles

I have used crystal jelly balls. I picked up these lovely pastel jelly balls for a very low price. Cover the jar with a gift wrapper (you can use the old ones also). Tie a beautiful bow with a ribbon. Now your jars are all set to be gifted which are ready at such minimum expense

Aren't they cute?

Check out my previous recycled art here

Karela Curry

Karela or bitter guard is not on many's favorite list. But, seeing its innumerable health benefits, it is wise to include it in our food often. In every karela preparation, efforts are made to lessen its bitterness either by adding extra ingredient or in the way of making.

Try out this karela curry, wherein we will be frying them a little bit and use curds to get rid of the bitterness. It tastes really different and good.

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd - 4-6 sliced
Curd - 3 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Salt to taste

Oil few spoons.

Wet Grind these to a Thick Paste:

Pepper - 1-2 spoons
Green chilies - 5

Thoor dal - 1 cup(soaked for 1 hour)
Tomato - 1
Ginger - 3-4 (1inch size)
Garlic 4 -5 cloves

For Tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds - 1/4 spoon

Urad dal - 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 spoon
Dry red chilies - 3
Curry leaves few
Oil for shallow frying.

Procedure:

1. Wash and clean bitter gourd. Pat dry them. Trim their ends off. Slice them to thin rings.2. Heat oil, in a shallow pan. Fry bitter gourd till crisp and dark in parts. Leave over tissue paper for a while

3. Heat a deep heavy bottomed vessel. Add oil and wet ground paste to it. Fry them till they loose their raw smell. Then add asafoetida, salt, turmeric and yogurts. Mix them well. Let them come to 1-2 boil.

4. Now is the time to add fried bitter gourd and bring it to boil as well.

5. In a separate pan we will prepare the seasoning. Heat oil, add mustard, cumin, asafoetida, red chilies, pepper and curry leaves. Once they start spluttering switch off and spread this seasoning over the gravy made above.

Serve warm along with plain rice or rotis.

Aping? to what extent?

Aping has become a cult for the Indian television industry. This is now taken to be a mark of Creativity. The Oxford Dictionary defines Creativity as an Original work. It seems that the Originality is in the concept of Aping and not in the substance.

I have listed few Indian Television reality shows which are copied (oops! inspired, adapted) from US, UK based shows.

It seems that the land of Panchatantra is starving for want of new ideas to entertain.

Read on..

I came to know about Big Brother as the original version of Bigg Boss only when Shilpa Shetty brought home the title. Now Salman Khan is all set to kick off the next season Bigg  Boss.(He will be paid3.5 crore for each episode!! Now thats a Bigg money)

Shahrukh Khan couldn't pass in this reality show 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass se Tez Hain?

Dance India Dance, one of my favorite shows. The little masters was equally entertaining. Well adapted from 'So You Think You Can Dance?'

Its may be true that best singers are produced each year, though the show is loosing charm with each passing season. Can't Anu Mallik be evicted in the coming season ;)

Never watched a single episode of 'Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao'. But heard, it grabbed top position in the TRP listings. The Indian celebrities did not miss a chance to imitate their western celebrity contestants of 'I'm A Celebrity, Get me out of Here!'

Amitabh Bacchan seems to love this show more than anybody else. Yes he makes people Crorepati, as he becomes one before each episode! (He is going to charge 1.8 crore for each episode)

A show very well adapted from 'America's got Talent'. Get to see a lot of hidden and peculiar talents from the nook and corner of the country. Yes India truly has got Talent!

'Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega', somehow this show has not caught my attention. Is it because Anu Mallik is present?May be or may not be. No idea about the talents presented in '30 Seconds to Fame'

Sharman Joshi entered the Small screen hosting this bluffing game show of 'Poker Face'. He did his job pretty well. The makers of the show did not take the pain to change the name while adapting from popular UK game show 'Poker Face'

The moment of Truth was very harsh for some, embarrassing for some. Some accepted it, some rejected. 'Sach Ka Saamna', landed in controversy in the first week itself after its launch. The sensitive and potentially devastating issues which should have been discussed between the contestant and the family members were eagerly witnessed by the whole nation!

The list seems to be endless...Have I missed any?I'm sure you will add to this list....

Check out these useful articles - 
What is meant by TRP Ratings?
How To check Latest TRP ratings of TV shows