Saturday, February 17, 2007

Reformists relegating religion

They have taken up this made-up issue and trying to reform society and retain the religious heritage by restraining indians from celebrating the day for lovers. Although I haven't understood about the fascination that you need a hyped up special day to tell someone what he/she means to you. The day's over glorification is partly because of the media and marketing in its shoddiest form. Although love has been the constant cultural occurence and let's not go that path to figure out if it is really so.
The point I came here to make is why such fatal fanaticism and fear and insecurity that it will sweep away the rich religion that we proudly possess. Sometimes I feel its more to do with making their presence felt. I also wonder if forcing such kind of ideology will be a long term result that handful are trying to achieve. Belief system is best in its form when it is self-dictated. We are already facing the brunt of another level of religious irrational zeal and it has not failed to reverberate time and again. We have more serious societal issues to concern ourselves with and darn wonder why aren't we channeling our energy towards real problems. Trust me there are quite a few.
Anyway,
Tough and funny and a little bit kind: that is as near to perfection as a human being can be. ~Mignon McLaughlin

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Brocolli Pav bhaji

My obsession with healthy food hasn't withered as yet and hence all the experiments of the sorts described below are just one of the regular things that I keep doing. Before I go ahead and give away my latest experiment just want to let you all know that I am done with 18 days of 30 days of Bikram Yoga. I am actually very excited about it and really want to finish it. First two days were hard and I was shocked with the heat and humidity..:) but I have made peace with it..:). I dont reach out for the water or the towel in desparation and postures are just improving.
So here is the recipe for healthy pav bhaji.

Ingredients:
Brocolli, beet root, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, onion, chillies, coriander, small quantity of pototoes, pav bhaji masala, salt, fresh lemon juice, olive oil. (Note there is no butter).
Take all the fresh (not frozen) vegetables except onion, tomatoes, chillies and coriander dice them and boil them. Once fully boiled mash them properly. Now in a separate pan take dash of olive oil and saute chopped onion, chillies once they look soft add pav bhaji masala and chopped tomatoes. Cook it for 5/7 minutes and add all the mashed veggies. Garnish it with coriander, onion and lemon and done..:).. Eat it with any kind of bread you like. I am not a big big fan of bread any more and have given up eating on regular basis for a long long time except for special occasions like these.