Soy sauce chicken wings

You know how some people say they love to eat chicken? Well, I am more selective when it comes to chicken. I absolutely loathe chicken breast and find it chewy and difficult to swallow, no matter how well it is cooked. I always use the chicken leg for all my chicken curries because I find it nice and tender and juicy with lots of flavor.
But, then there are the chicken wings that have me salivating at the mere mention of the name. Be it in any form - breaded and fried, spicy buffalo wings, honey crisp, soy sauce – all of them spell y-u-m-m-y to me.
So this Saturday I went to the grocery mart and picked up a packet of mid-wings. They are not the entire chicken wing but are clipped at the mid-joint and look like this:

As soon as I got home I had this craving for soft melt-in-the-mouth chicken wings and decided to give it a try and make some myself.
And they turned out fantastic and just the way I wanted.
So, I am sharing this super-easy recipe (If I ever forget it, I know where to find it - right here on my blog:)
Ingredients:       

• Chicken wings clipped at mid-joint – 6 pieces (you can use as many as you want – just adjust the sauce accordingly)
•  Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
•  Light soy sauce – 2-3 tablespoons
•  Chinese cooking wine – 2-3 tablespoons
•  Nando’s peri peri garlic sauce – 2 teaspoons (this is spicy so again use more if you want to spice things up) 
• 1 teaspoon canola oil or olive oil. You could also use melted butter. 
• Water   

Procedure:

• Thaw (if required) and wash the chicken wings. 
• Fill a small saucepan up to three quarter with water. 
• Put it on a medium-high flame and add the soy sauce, the cooking rice wine, the peri peri sauce and the ginger garlic paste and stir .
• Add the chicken wings and the teaspoon of oil (I use canola oil or olive oil for all my cooking). The oil is optional and you can skip it altogether. The chicken does release some oil when cooked.
• Bring it to boil and cover it for about 7 mins. 
• Then remove the cover and let the sauce reduce over the medium flame. 
• It takes about 20-25 mins for all the water to evaporate and form a glazy sauce. Once the sauce is reduced …. Voila – you get your amazingly tender chicken wings – ready to serve. 
• Note: The soy sauce and the cooking wine both normally have enough added salt, so no salt is needed.   

This is healthy and easy to make, with minimum frills and fancy. And mmm….I’m lovin’ it!

Lost and Found!

"OK, that's it! The next time I feel the urge to sink deeper into my duvet and call in sick at work, I am going to do it", I declared as I frantically looked around today for my mobile phone.

I knew I had dropped it in the taxi today.

I played the 15 mins journey in my mind over and over and realised it must have slipped out when I removed my wallet from my purse to pay for the cab right outside my office. 

Yes, yes, Ok... I take a taxi to work everyday because I don't like waiting for the bus in Singapore's weather (don't judge!).

Now getting back to the main topic, my only concern was that not only would I lose all my contacts and their nos. but my contacts would not be able to get in touch with me. That would be terrible!

Now, I use a Nokia basic phone whose second-hand value would probably be 20 dollars or so. Needless to say I wasn't too upset over losing the handset. 

In fact, somehow, I was very hopeful I would find it. Maybe because I could hear it ring every time I tried calling it instead of the ominous - "The number you are trying to reach is unavailable or switched off". 

After a lot of 'missed-calls' from my friends, I lodged a request in the lost and found section of the comfort/city cabs and gave the time and destinations of the taxi.

Soon, someone from the lost and found office picked up the call, verified my identity and gave me the address of their office from where I could collect it.

I have new found respect for Singapore and it's people.

Something like this in Tokyo would probably have been "expected" behaviour and if I were in London or India, I probably would not have got it back. I know the above statement is a very 'generalising' one and isn't fair to any of the countries or the people over there, hence I used the word - probably.

But as I returned as a happy girl with my phone in my hand intact with all the contacts and data, I wondered how simple it was to return a smile to a face and put a troubled mind at ease.

The taxi driver who had turned over my phone to the lost and found office would have just spent maybe a few extra minutes to do this kind deed and yet I will pray for his well-being and happiness just because this deed of his saved me so much anxieties and trouble.

God bless you Uncle!

So, what am I going to do about this? I will pay it forward... and hope that soon I get a chance to do some good deed that puts another troubled mind at ease and gets a smile back on someone's lips. :)

"Days"-section

'Don't count the days- make the days count' - goes the saying.

There are countless sayings that focus on every day, such as - "seize the day" or "save the day" or even "Rome wasn't built in a day".

After all, a day is the lego block of lives. So every day should ideally be just as important as any other.

But we have somehow classified days into categories. I was going through some article that actually said that 11 am on a Tuesday is the least productive time of a person's life.

And it got me thinking if it was just about a day and what it was named and the order in which it arrives that determines how it would go.

Why can't a Tuesday be just as awesome as a Saturday?

I was thinking all this on a Friday as I sat at my desk at work. I could see my colleagues dressed up in brighter colours(Yes, people always wear dressier clothes to work on fridays!) and suddenly I turned around and asked one of my colleague what was his favorite day of the week and he picked Friday.

I immediately made a office-communicator-poll out of it and 5 out of 8 picked Friday, 2 picked Saturday and 1 actually picked Sunday.

So the clear winner was Mr. Friday! (I just generally gave the days a male title and it means no offense to ladies, so all the feminists out there - steer clear!)

As my curiosity grew, I checked out on-line polls. 

Here are the stats :

     - Website 1

         Friday - 23%

         Saturday - 38%

       ** Clearly Saturday emerged the winner here and Friday came a close runner-up. The other days got measly percentages of votes and aren't worth mentioning.

     - Website 2

         Friday - 31%

         Saturday - 10%

       ** Clearly Friday emerged the winner here and Saturday came a close runner-up. There was a poll choice here called "Weekend" which got another 10% of votes and even then, Friday still takes the cake.                         

     - Website 3

         Friday - 26%

         Saturday - 20%

       ** Friday was the favorite here and apart from saturday the other days managed to rake up about 4 % altogether.

Now that I collected enough statistics to satisfactorily and safely infer that Friday was most likely to be the winner of the "Popular-Day Pageant", I couldn't help but wonder why.

I mean, ideally, it should be Saturday - it has got all the ingredients in it to be the winner.

a.) It is the first day of the weekend, so you don't have to go to work.

b.) Again, playing the first day of the weekend card means you don't have to worry about getting up early the next day and feel obligated to feel all charged up for the upcoming week.

c.) You get all the weekend action with bars and restaurants staying open until late.

d.) You can get up late and stay up late - just re-iterating a.) and b.)

e.) and a whole lot of etc. etc.

So why does Friday dominate the title?

I asked all the 8 of my friends who very sweetly did not wonder why I was asking them weird questions, and even if they did wonder, they did not call me "weird" on my face ;o) and let me know their thoughts.

The answers in no particular order (some omitted coz it was getting repetitive):

- I like Friday, because it is the last day of the week. I have the whole weekend to look forward to. Two days of relaxation and catching up of sleep. Even if the week has been crappy it still is the last day and so people are generally happy on a Friday.

- I like Friday. Well, maybe people choose Friday over Saturday because there is a sense of hope on a Friday. A lot of looking forward to the weekend. Saturday is already a weekend and then you know it's going to end.

- Friday is always fun because people are more relaxed at work and look forward for the day to end and party. You know you don't have to wake up early the next day.

- I like Saturday. First day of the weekend. You can get out of bed whenever you want. Spend the entire day with family and friends or alone and you don't have to worry about tiring yourself out or gong to bed  on time because the next day is Sunday and you can sleep in again.

- Sunday - Because Sunday is very peaceful. Saturday seems very rushed because we try to fit in everything that has to be done - kids, errands, shopping, housework. Sunday can be relaxed, can prepare for the next day.

One thing was very clear once I had heard all the opinions an views. Human nature thrived on "hope".

A certain "looking forward to" always has to be there for people to be happy.

Is it because life is turning out to be very monotonous and clockwork for everyone?

Most of us have jobs that we take up to earn money and support our lives. Some of us are fortunate enough, or may I say, courageous enough to have jobs that we love. Artists, media, accountants, whatever they might be, they love their jobs and what they do. But even for them, getting out of bed every single day and going to the same building and sitting at the same work station must get a tad repetitive at times, don't you think?

If not, the word "vacation" would not have made it to the dictionary at all.

Everyone needs a change once in a while. A challenge well done makes a day satisfactory. Pursuing a hobby or an interest helps bring a good end to an "alright" day.

We all need these little somethings to look forward to. Something that makes us move on and onwards.

Imagine, waking up and realising that there is absolutely nothing left in the whole wide world that you might look forward to. Would you even want to get out of bed?

I used to look forward to going to work when I started out. Now, I don't like my job as much, but thankfully, I have other things:

- I look forward to getting back home and sketching something new.

- I look forward to ideas that I might write about in this blog.

- I look forward to finishing up the knit-baby-bootie project that I have taken up - I will blog about that next.

(See - another thing to look forward to *grin*)

- I look forward to getting back to school to get my MBA.

- I look forward to having a family someday.

- I look forward to having a job that I actually and truly love.

And the list is long and un-ending and I am glad it is, cause that means I am set for a long-time and it will be a while before I have to worry about waking up purpose-less and life-less.

We all need a drive, a momentum to keep us going forward.

Even if it's as silly as a poll to pick out a favorite day and then dissect it to find out why.

So what's your favorite day and why?

         

Have a little faith

It's amazing how much of a difference it makes just to believe. To have the flicker of faith in your heart and to know that it will remain steady and guide you through the toughest of roads. It will keep you warm and safe and lead you along the right way. Suddenly the realisation dawns and you are peaceful and free because you know you don't have to worry.

I am not a very religious person, but yes, I am very spiritual. I believe that the existence of a world so beautiful and complex such as ours must have been the result of some sort of power. I do not believe that all of this was just a chance. It has to be something greater, something divine that created such intricacies and made it look so simple and wonderful.

I call it my God. I don't believe God can be contained in any religious boundaries or given any forms or restrictions. But yes, I am and always have been intrigued by the different religions. That is mainly because I feel a religion shapes a person and his/her outlook to a certain extent.

Few years ago, I witnessed my closest friend, who is a Muslim, fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. He went 30 days abstaining from food or water from dawn to dusk.
As I watched him, my curiosity was tickled and I started reading about it.
As I got to learn more and more about this, I realised that this was all about self-control and being a better person.

In our day-to-day lives, we do so many things and speak so many words that we tend to forget the purpose of being alive. We forget to think if we hurt someone, we forget to stop and ponder if we did any good deed today and we forget to feel thankful and grateful for being a part of this universe.
There are so many people who are not as fortunate as we are. People who have to go without food and water because they are poor and they are weak. People who have been trapped in the vicious circle of struggling to be alive and need to fight for every drop of nutrition and nourishment.
In the holy month of Ramadan or Ramzan, Muslims observe abstinence. They remind themselves of their good fortune by understanding and accepting the fact that food and water and other things that we take for granted otherwise, are a grace of God.

I found myself believing and it felt to me like I had to be a part of this.

This year, I observed the 30 days of Ramadan and I thank God for seeing me through it.

There are three pillars of Ramzan and the first and most important is "Niyyat" or intentions. You need to have the right intentions. You fast for God and to understand his grace and in obedience to that power which is responsible for this beautiful creation.
I had my intentions in the right place and though I was nervous because this was my first attempt at going without food and water for the duration of 15-16 hrs for 30 whole days, I had the faith that God will guide me.
I used to wake up every morning at 4:30 and have my Sehri or Suhoor. Most of the times it was the night before's left overs with a glass of milk and some fruits or dry fruits. Sometimes, I would just drink Milo and have a toast and go back to sleep.
Trust me, you do not feel hungry at 4 and it is very difficult to keep everything down specially with so much water. You have to have water because there's the risk of dehydration during the day otherwise.
First few days were difficult and I am not very good at staying hungry, but somehow, I never had any problems.
Post sunset, around 7:30pm, I would say my prayers and thank God and pray that the food and water provides me the nourishment if my God wills, and then eat and drink.
Every time I had someone to break my fast with. My friends supported me throughout this month with so much love and understanding. I shared my Ifthar with all of them.
I love you all and all this just made me realise what an amazing set of friends I had.
My sister was extremely supportive and caring and thanks to ramzan, I value her even more if possible.
I always had good food and good thoughts and my faith grew stronger.
Even though I felt ill a couple of times in the morning, and feared if I would be able to pull through the day, my belief never wavered and it was because at the end God did help me sail through with ease.
It felt as if He was physically holding my hand and guiding me, just like a parent looks after a child.

I celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr on 30th of August. I celebrated the joy of the new found faith. I celebrated life.

Now, I don't feel hungry during the day. Sometimes, I forget to drink water. At other times, when I eat something, I try to spit it out and then realise that no, wait a minute, I can eat during the day now. Things are now getting back to normal, but this is an experience that I would cherish.

I controlled my anger, my hunger and my thirst. I now understand what value a simple thing like a glass of water holds. I understand the value of food and hunger and the great feeling associated with helping a person in need or feeding a hungry soul.

There is nothing in life that will seem impossible to me, as my faith that all troubles will be resolved has now been re-inforced.

If you feel let down and your shoulders feel heavy,
Look up and shrug it off, have a little faith
If you think your problems are here to stay,
Smile and let them go, have a little faith
If your health fails you, you feel you won't be able to go on,
Let your God heal you, have a little faith

Our life may not be smooth, and things might not always go as planned. Happiness might be elusive and peace and satisfaction seem like something unattainable.
But a little faith goes a long long way. When you believe in good, you believe in hope, love and what you do and how you do it, you just need to keep walking. Things will work out.
To appreciate the cool quenching nature of water, you have to be dying of thirst. Just like that, the trials and tribulations that life poses, is necessary. Only as you pass through those, would you realise the true worth of peace and happiness.
And when everything seems too hard to bear, just count your blessings ... and you will realise that it is a wonderful world after all!

It's a dog's life

I love the stationary shops and can spend hours in one. 
When I got my bedroom renovated, I spent quite a huge amount of time (and a teeny bit of money, alas!) picking out bits and pieces to liven up my room and shelves. I was looking for a whiteboard with a marker that I could hang on my door just like the one that Joey and Chandler (from the hit TV series F.R.I.E.N.D.S) have.
If you ask me why do I need one, I do not have an answer. I did not have an answer when I was looking for it, but hey, it's my room and if I want a whiteboard with a marker and eraser and I am going to get myself one. Period.

So one evening, my flatmate and I head out to watch a movie (Captain America in 3D) and the only decent seats we get is for the 12:00 AM show. So we decide to utilise the couple of hours we have raiding the only shops in the vicinity that are open, followed by a dinner at burger king.
That's when I spot this ultra cute whiteboard. It's actually a chicken with this bright yellow borders and it holds a marker in it's arms or wings, whatever you may call it. 
(Here's a picture of it hanging right beside my door all bright and cheerful :)

I am delighted as it's the only piece left and I instantly buy it. We raid a few other shops and I end up buying a charming Charles and Keith sandal in blue and brown, and a wrist support to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome due to over-using the keyboard and the mouse at work, and few other knick-knacks. All of it took about an hour and even burger king closes at 11pm, leaving us with an hour to while away.
We roam around for about 30 mins gossiping about the essential differences in the views of a guy and a gal in a relationship and why some work whilst others don't. Profound topic and a giggling duo obviously means no sane conclusions whatsoever.
Finally, we sit down right in front of an escalator in a green bench-type thingy.
My flatmate gets a call from her home at that point, and needless to say I am completely bored. So, I start to go through all my shopping. I try on the shoes and admire them for a long time.
 I remove the whiteboard from the packaging it came in and uncap the marker.
I wonder what to write under the tiny heart shaped box marked "memo". Hmmm... I could be staying in my dream house. I'll wake up early in the morning as my pet St. Bernard (I love dogs and the bigger they are the more adorable they seem to me) will lick my face and thump it's tail against me. And I'll get up with a smile, put on my designer tracks and shoes, switch on the coffee machine and take my dog out for a walk.  
Before I realise I am writing down "Walk the Dog" under the memo with a stupid smile on my lips. 
Just then a guy walks across us towards the elevator, and as he spots me with all the shopping bags unravelled at my feet, a shoe in my hand and writing "walk the dog" on a memo pad at mid-night, in a deserted shopping mall and he gives me a look that says "the girl is completely bonkers....run!". And he actually runs away.
At the same moment, my flatmate and I both realise how it all might have seemed to that stranger and start laughing and don't stop for a long long time. 

The chicken-whiteboard - 3.70 $
The expression on the guy's face? Priceless.

Soul and Music

Last Friday Singapore's own Suntec City Mall played host to the immensely talented Raahat Fateh Ali Khan.

I am a person who thrives on music. You can always hear me humming or singing and I am the kind who comes up with a song for every word or occasion. I seem to know the lyrics to all the Bollywood songs and famous ghazals and long story short - I love everything musical. So for me this was a much awaited event. 

I have watched Euphoria (An Indian band led by Palash Sen) and Sonu Nigam perform live. The moment I heard of this, I booked my tickets. I simply adored Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saahab. I am using the longer version of his name because I feel the need to shower him with all the respect I can muster. I really believe he was blessed by God himself. The way he sang, with so much power and so much passion, it was always a pleasure to listen, to watch him and to hum all the songs that later on featured in Bollywood. 

He gave the music for "Aur Pyar Ho Gaya"and I love all the songs from that movie.

I was actually sad and felt a genuine loss when he passed away.

Then came along Raahat Fateh Ali Khan as the forebearer of the glorious musical gharana of Pakistan. 

I remember the first time I heard him was for the song "Garaj Baras" from the movie "Paap". I heard his voice blaring through the speakers of my TV and I was happily stunned. What amazing talent!

And then went on the strings of all the beautiful songs that tugged on my heartstrings and had me crooning.

And when I sat through his concert, it was as promised - "Simply Raahat". It was so overwhelmingly emotional for me that I cried through half of the songs.

One moment I was clapping and dancing to "Mera Piya Ghar Aaya" and "Allah Hu" and the next moment I had tears streaming down my face with "Ajj Din Chadheya" and "Teri yaad".
His rendition of "Ore Piya" had me dancing and swaying and I had to stop myself from breaking free and dancing across the auditorium to the stage and kissing the man.

The man. The voice. The Music.

What they say is true - Music is the language of souls. 

When you encounter the sheer power of pure unadulterated music, you transcend all earthly barriers and in that moment you are one with nature, one with God. That's why Sufi music is so divine and so profound. And I felt it on Friday - goosebumps, tears and all.

Simply Raahat? Simply Divine....

Taxi No.9211

I had the best taxi ride home tonight and I feel I must blog about it because I know that if in future I do read my own blog and come across this, it will make me smile.
Ok, so there is this place called Murugan's Idli in Little India which has the best Dosa and Idlis in Singapore all served with an array of wonderful chutneys. Mmmmm lip-smackingy delicious.
My flatmate, this awesomely cute friend of mine from work and I go there every once in a while for dinner. I have been fasting for Ramzan this year and hence to break the fast we decided to go to our good old Murugan's.
As per our Murugan's ritual, we always end our dinner with a trip to Mustafa's (it's a huge market-mall place in Singapore where you can find anything and everything from all over the world and all in reasonably cheap prices). And my friend and I end up singing and dancing to famous bollywood numbers while holding hands. We have never been drunk in that situation, but I swear to God anybody who sees us is convinced that we must have had at least a bottle of wine each! I guess we just get drunk on the happiness. It's always so much fun!

Tonight, we were singing the songs " Main shayar to nahin..." (From the hindi movie Bobby), Do lafzon ki hai dil ki kahani ... (the great gambler) and whilst we were in the middle of a loud rendition of "Chura Liya hai tumne jo dil ko... " (yaadon ki baraat), we got our taxi.
We got into the cab and since we did not want to leave the song half sung (my excuse - the song might take offense) we kept singing after we got in.
Now co-incidentally, the taxi-uncle turned out to be an avid fan of old hindi movie songs! He promptly started playing "Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan..." ( From the movie - Pyar ka Mausam - he explained) and we showed the appropriate enthusiasm with our "ooh wows" and "ahh very nice!"
That was all the encouragement he needed. He went on to say how exquisitely beautiful he thought Asha Parekh was (I kinda agree that inspite of her overly-large derriere, she was quite the looker in those days) and how handsome Shashi Kapoor looked.
"Now both become fat and ugly neh?" said uncle.
And we nodded our heads wisely saying...hmm true.
It turns out he was a fan of Madhubala and Sharmila Tagore too. And he adored Dev Anand and Rajendra Kumar.
Then he asked if we knew any Lata Mangeshkar's songs and if we would sing it for him. He apparently had a singer as his passenger but she was Tamil so couldn't sing his favorite hindi songs. I obliged and sang my heart out.
He rewarded me by putting on the only other song he had on his tiny mobile phone - "Main Shayar to nahin"!
"What a co-incidence?!" I gushed. We were just singing that!
And uncle was very happy and he was even happier and amazed that I knew the entire song - yet again!
I sang along in the taxi and then continued to sing other songs for him that include
- O nanhe se farishte from the movie ek phool do mali
- Aaja tujhko pukare mere geet re o mere mitwa mere meet  from the movie Geet
- Kaun hai jo sapno mein aaya ... this was because he loved Rajendra Kumar as well!

He advised me to go karaoke singing more often and I asked him if he goes often because he really was an excellent singer. Being a chinese he sang out Asli Naqli song beautifully.
He said he and his wife used to frequent Karaoke bars, but now he doesn't drink beer and so he doesn't go karaokeing - "no beer, no fun lah.... . Now I only sing for my wife", he said and laughed.

Ahh the romantics, they always re-kindle the faith I have in love and all forms of romance.

Then he said that though Shah Rukh Khan and all are very nice, old movies are still the best. Indian actors are so real and so good that they made him cry.
And here I was thinking, wow, hollywood has such great talent. They have amazing actors, while Bollywood is good only for hamming and melodrama. Taxi-uncle opened my eyes to all the talent that we have had the honour and fortune of watching in those growing-up years.
Hats-off to all the hard work and skill that goes into making Bollywood what it is today!

So, many songs and non-stop exchange of words and thoughts later,  I was at home and thanking him profusely for such an entertaining ride and hoping if I will even get to ride in his taxi again.
I'm hoping I do, because it's a small world and according to the spirit of Bollywood - anything might happen!

Fleeting moments with strangers can also leave you warm inside and these moments make you feel alive and happy.
Wishing uncle many more years of music and love...

Of chiffons and silk and shiny shoes...

Which means I have been a bad bad girl and gone on a shopping spree. Bad Shmad, there's nothing like a short black dress that makes you seem a lot slimmer, to help lift up your spirits sky-high.
Or a pure 100% silk polka dotted trench-coat styled dress that makes you look like a fashionista when you walk right through your office doors in it and makes your day look up instantly. 
Then of course there's the rusty orange one-piece dress suit, with tiny roses with pearls lining the neckline that looked fantabulous in the shop mirror but which i haven't had the opportunity to try out as it is with the shop for alteration. Team it up with the short black shrug jacket with the ruffled up sleeves and baby, I am having breakfast at Tiffany's :)
And then there were these peep toed suede and croc-skin brown and grey shiny shoes from Charles and Keith with just the right heels - my excuse? I was anyways looking for a peep toed-low height pair for a long time now, so, well.


Now, my wardrobe is kind of overflowing with dresses that I have not even worn once! There is another reason for this, besides my being possessed by the shopping demon, and that is my sweetest new friend. She is my colleague and is the most generous and fun girlfriend i have had in a long time. She has this collection of clothes that kind of don't fit her too well and surprisingly end up fitting me perfectly, and she keeps donating them to me and it's now like having a big sister in town whose closet you can share. 
And there are a few of those dresses that make me feel like a princess, a light canary yellow chiffon and satin wisp of a dress and a black sequined number that would be perfect for a dinner or some light clubbing. 
All I need now are occasions and I am going to go berserk around town with all of my wardrobe backing me right up. What more does a girl need? Who needs one doting guy, when just a piece of clothing off her clothes-rack can help her get admiring glances from hundreds of men? 
Thus begins, the twisted tails of 'Mia and her Wardrobe'....


Then there was also this tiny bit of home-stuff shopping that I am very happy about. I bought a pair of pen stands made of clay - a man-gnome and a woman-gnome, a pair of square painted blocks to brighten up my wall, a pair of potted plants - one of which is an amazing dark magenta colored Gloxinia, a sign that now hangs outside my door and proclaims that it is a 'Girl's Room' that you are about to enter, and a frilly red pillow for my work. 
All I need to do now is go get my new bed delivered to my home(thanks to the landlord succumbing to my wishes of having a double bed instead of a single one) and I am all set to the bliss of happy-home life.

The Corporate Challenge 2011

My first so-called marathon experience. Ok, so it's not really a marathon, because the distance we ran and walked in-between (it was Hot and Humid and plus the crowd...and a whole lot of other reasons!) was just 5.7 kms.

Everything aside, it was a fantastic evening. For the first time since I came here, not only our entire team, but also the entire office was empty by 5:00 PM. All the serious runners, got changed into the black and green JPMC t-shirts and were out by 4:30 pm. We started at around 5:30 pm and got into the bus that took us all the way from Capital Tower office to the esplanade bridge. The sight that welcomed us was amazing! Blue and silver balloons floating up and the bridge itself flanked by banners and posters was enough to inspire the laziest person to run, just to be a part of it.

The roads were partly cordoned off for the run, and there were people running to warm up and some of them walking down towards the starting point. The colors and the t-shirts were all awesome, all these companies getting together to run for a greener tomorrow! (that was the tagline.)
The CISCO t-shirts were the most vibrant and colorful of the lot, plain white but sprinkled with rainbow colors, and not surprisingly, they did end up winning the best t-shirt design contest at the end of the show.

I wasn't feeling too well, so I had decided to walk, but just being there fueled me with so much energy and excitement that I ran and kept running till i reached the finish line at the F1 pit. I made it in a not-so-bad time - 52.04 mins including the water breaks. So yayy me!

The after party at the hospitality tent was nice, not as happening as i had thought it would be, but food was very welcome after the tiring run and so were the drinks. The white wine as quite nice and a couple of pints of beer later, as I chatted and laughed with my colleagues and new found friends, I had the peaceful air around me of a day well spent, looking forward to the lazy long weekend that was to follow.
I would recommend it to everyone. At least once in your life, you have to participate in a marathon. It's fun, liberating and above all it's an experience like no other.

Teenage Creativity

I wrote this hindi poem when I was 14, in a classroom. It was a free period and we were supposed to revise for our upcoming exams, and I wrote this instead... :)

आज अचानक से ज़हन में एक चिंगारी सी उठी,

नस-नस में बहने लगा गर्म खून,

न जाने कितने मौसम बीत गए इस आलम में

की याद  ही नहीं कबसे जम सी गयी थी ये ज़िन्दगी|

हाँ, पहले भी कभी बहती थी ये लाल नदी,

गर्म-सर्द साँसें जाती थी और लौट के आती थी,

पर कभी नहीं छुआ मेरी आत्मा को इस तरह

जाने या बात ऐसी आज एक लम्हे में हो गयी|

आई अहन से ये लहर और झकझोर दिया 

रूह थर्रा उठी, लबों पे आकर रुकी एक अनसुनी पुकार,

जाने किसकी थी वो अजनबी पर पहचानी सी दास्ताँ

जाने खो गया था किसका अस्तित्व उस भूली बिसरी शाम|

बह रही थी जो ज़िन्दगी समय की तीव्र बहाव पर,

आज अचानक ठहर गयी वो मानवता की पुकार पर|

एहसास एक अनजाना सा जागा मन की गहराईयों से,

एक अनछुआ अजनबी था वो कब्रों के इस शहर में,

खली मेरी आँखें उसने और कानों में चुपके से कहा,

जाग - इंसान है तू...

~Soumya

(1998...dont remember the exact date :))

The Music of Mere Words

“Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotion know what it means to want to escape from these” - a wonderful quote from Emily Dickenson.

I chanced upon few stray pages of a diary that I used to keep as a young adolescent. I had written a couple of poems in Hindi.

Here goes: 

महफ़िल थी सजी आज यहाँ

फिर किसे ढूंढ रही थी नज़रें?

मैंने कहा, सब कुछ तो है यहाँ,

तन्हाई ने आवाज़ दी - वो यहाँ नहीं ...

जिसकी खुशबु बस्ती है दूर पहाड़ों में

और उतरती है वो घटाओं संग,

बरसती है मन के इस वीरान नगरी पर

बनके पहली फुहार की सौंधी खुशबु|

बस जाता है हर वीराना

उठती है एक चंचल सी लहर,

आग के लपते बन जाते हैं शीतल ओस

मालूम होता है अमृत सा हर ज़हर|

आज तुने कही वो बात जो कचोट रहा है मन,

मीरा ने तो हस के विष पिया, मैं कहाँ की जोगन?

दर-बदर फिरती हूँ तलाश में,

कहीं तो मिले एक कतरा ज़िन्दगी - इसी आस में

आस जो तोड़ी है तुने, वो कैसे जोड़ पाऊंगी?

पर चीज़ वो तेरी है, उसे जीवन भर अपनाऊंगी|

~Soumya

(December 2004)

One nation and the frenzy!

What does it mean to be an Indian? And what does it mean to an Indian when 11 fellow country-men lift the cup proclaiming the entire nation world champions?
It means that every Indian, in every part of the world, whether he or she follows cricket or not, sat through the entire 9 odd hours match screaming, praying fervently, jumping up and down with joy at every point their team scored.
They tweeted like crazy and facebook saw a traffic like never before as every status got updated with every wicket taken and all the extra runs scored. People united across the globe and celebrated with tears of joy and dance with music and fireworks and food and drinks. They congratulated each other, called everyone up, sent messages all over the world.
"We" got the cup home after 28 long years, they said.
At times like these, do we get to know just how connected we are. Different cultures, different religions but underneath it all beats an Indian heart that rejoices when eleven worthy sportsmen lift a cup. It takes a single golden cup to awaken the Indian spirit in all of us.
Suddenly the very same people who criticized the team captain MS Dhoni, started swearing by his abilities. People who had doubt etched over the frowns in their faces suddenly broke into a smile that said - I knew it all along that we could do it.

It took eleven sportsmen to bring our country together in celebration. What will it take to keep the nation together? What will it take to prevent it from breaking apart ever again? What will it take to keep the euphoria going?

Another championship? Or just the realization and morals of today's youth that keeps it thinking and deliberating. I don't have the answer yet. But I hope to be a witness to it, whenever that happens, be it another 28 yrs down the line or sooner.

I am woman, hear me roar

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore

So...going through my previous blog was enough to make me realize that 2010 was a crappy old year (Get the wordplay? Happy New year - Crappy Old year? No? Ok fine, forget it!)

Apart from those happy and ecstatic moments that were few and far between, most of it was pure hell. I was miserable, I was jobless (although I was still earning my meagre salary) and I was heartbroken. Let me tell you, being heartbroken and getting over a relationship-gone-bad at the ripe old age of 27 sucks! Big Time!!

And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

What did I do?

2011 came knocking, and I threw the door wide open and greeted it with a wide smile (those who know me and are thinking it must have been one of those totally plastic smiles - I don't care what you think ..hmmpph...at least i made an effort. So there!) and took it's arm and walked towards the sunrise.

A new job, a new city, a new beautiful home and now as I sit typing on my new shiny macbook pro, I say to myself - "Not too shabby, gurrll!" and I realize it is a new year. A beginning of another chapter. Be it good or bad, I am the author and I am the one writing it.

You can bend but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

For the past 5 and a half years, I have wondered what it would be like to really like my job. To feel good about getting up and going to work daily. I had a fair idea of what I wanted to do, but things looked difficult. There were easy options of settling for mediocrity and keep doing what I have been doing for all these years. I did not settle. I said no to the easy-way-outs.

Now I like what I do. I am like a new born calf treading unsteadily but slowly and surely getting steadier. I am enjoying the change and loving it. I'm not saying that it will last and I accept the possibility that it might get boring and monotonous over the years, but you see, when it does this time, I won't be unsure or doubtful. And until that moment, I hope to make the most of it.

Those people who never appreciated me or understood my worth for those past 5 yrs that I have slogged for them, can suck it!

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long, long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Yes, I have a long long way to go ahead. As I have started writing again, I can feel the tiny fingers of newborn hope wrapping themselves around my heart. I will travel more - lots of countries await. Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia feature in this years 'destinations - here i come' list.

Maybe learn a few languages, get enough experience to get another higher-paying job, get certified and who knows, maybe get another degree.

Eventually, I might even start dating and might finally get to meet 'the one' and end up happily married in a few years down the line. For now, just the fact that I can imagine the possibilities is good enough to make me feel contented.

Oh, yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained

Pain is something I can face. I know, because I have faced it and have emerged stronger. I have been in agony, emotional hell, and physical pain. And I am a survivor. I have been in denial, I have suppressed my emotions until they ate away my core, I have weeped and smiled through tears.

Even now, a few words right on target have me weeping, gut-wrenching sobs that refuse to ebb. But I always manage to steel myself, hard and cold and ultimately all in one piece, at least on the outside.

I laugh with people at work, make jokes, call up and talk to friends and family and those precious few people in the world who care, and every day and every passing moment I know that I can face anything. I'm a survivor, I'm a woman. Pain is something I'm designed to handle. Agony only serves to polish me into the diamond that can cut the densest and hardest thing on earth.

If I have to
I can face anything
I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman

I just wish at times that I didn't have to.

2011, would you be kind to me please?