Dream World

I dream of a world,
Where I am ME
A world where there are no masks,
No caste , no creed…
No hate, no disrespect;

Where every person values people as human..
A world where there is no discrimination,
Between fair or dark, rich or poor

A world where friends are family;
And family are friends
Where the ones you love ,
Are always near,

A world where there is no boundary,
No limit,
A world where money is only a object,
and not a status symbol,
where everyone is equal; irrespective of the qualification;

I dream of such a world;
Where there is no betrayal;
No enemies, no grudges
A world where only smiles and laughter galore;

A world which gives you an option,
Of holding your lovers hand,
And watch the sun set;
Or take a moon light walk;
Spend your lifetime with them ;
Loving eternally..

I dream of such a world!

My First train Journey..

Such an irony…I had never travelled in a train my entire life, until last month. It was a “TO DO” thing in my list for this year. And I am happy I did. It’s a nice feeling when; you do something which you planned. It is like an achievement. And the sense of relief you get is tremendous.

24th Sept , is an unforgettable day in my life for 2 reasons. This year it was a unique experience.
I had heard a lot about the train journey to Goa. We took the Vasco express on Friday, scheduled to depart at 9.50 PM. But the train arrived only at 9.50PM!

The first time I stepped into train, I could smell the air…it was not at all a nice feeling. We couldn’t do much once we found our seats, as there was already a family, who were asleep. I did not even realize and the train had started moving! Both the tickets had lower berth, but my friend got lucky and shifted to the upper one. Since it was a night journey, we just wrapped ourselves for a night’s sleep. It was a very unusual feeling...if the train halted at any station, I would wake up immediately. By the morning, the family had alighted at their destination, and I and my friend were the only occupants.

Early morning, it was a scene from a movie……..people making a beeline for the wash room..
It was and seemed very funny to me. But my friend warned, be careful.

Throughout the morning journey, it was a scenic view. Lush green landscapes, cool blue sky, not a hint of rain, and lots of tunnels! Every time we passed a tunnel (16 in all), the screams would soar.
Since this was my first time, everything that happened in a train amused me. The people, the place, the vendors shouting food / beverages, the stations, their names. Just an hour before reaching Goa, we passed a place called Dudh Saagar. The pass thru the falls for about 30 seconds or so and the scene is just amazing. Nature at its best. Most people at that point throng the train doors; to catch a glimpse...we were lucky enough to find some free space.

True to the movies, you do meet different kinds of people in the train. In our case too, we did.
Some who were most decent and some who were not, some who were very friendly and some disgusting to the core. And how can I forget the kids…cute, naughty and cranky… Luckily or unluckily we had to share our compartment with them.

Overall, the train journey was a pleasant one…lots of memories will now remain.
Not to forget, the return journey was also by train.

Boy and Girl

Boy and girl , lost in their worlds
Boy and Girl, don’t know how the story would unfurl;
Full of life and charming was the Boy,
His friends introduced him to the girl
At fifteen, she was bubbly with cheeks so taut that boy said “Wow! She’s hot”
Boy and Girl are now good friends
Laughter and mischief knows no ends.
One night, boy said to the girl “ Do you love me? Coz I totally do!”
Girl exclaimed “Of course, silly! How long it took you!”
And soon enough they were a thing.
Love was on in full swing,
Its been five years since the Boy and Girl met
The day they parted , let me recollect:
Girl said to boy “ You’re too much! Its always about you!”
Boy replied “ If you cant stand me……just go, do!”
Boy and Girl are twenty-six now.
Probably forgotten their break up somehow
Girl is an interior designer, making super homes.
Boy is in a call center answering lot of calls.
One evening, they both were at the supermarket
But walked past each other, like they’d never met.
Girl looked back a minute later, to see if he recognized her.
And there was boy, who once loved her to death, checking out some lady in red!

Potato Cutlets with Cheese filling

Was bored at home Saturday evening and this is what I tried making. (Since I couldn’t find anything similar on the net
I liked it, coz it was kinda of a typical evening snack and filling too.


Ingredients :

Serves 2-3

For Cutlets:
Potatoes : 3 Large, Boiled and mashed
Green Peas: ½ cup, par Boiled & Mashed
Green Chilly paste : Made of 3 chillies
Garlic Paste : ½ tbsp
Onion : 1 medium, Chopped
Jeera Powder ( Roasted) : ¼ tsp
Kitchen King masala : ½ tsp
Garam Masala : ¼ tsp
Amchoor Powder : ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying
Bread crumbs

For the filling :
Cheese: ½ cup, Grated ( I used Pizza cheese)
Chilly Flakes : ¼ tsp
Black pepper powder ; ½ tsp

Steps :
1. In a large bowl, mix together Potatoes, Peas, Onion, the chilli and the garlic paste.
2. Once mixed, add all the dry ingredients – Jeera powder, amchoor , Kitchen king and garam masala powder. Keep it aside.
3. In another bowl, mix together Cheese, chilly flakes and pepper powder. Doesn’t need salt, as the cheese is quite salty.
4. For the cutlet mixture, add salt mix again. Doesn’t matter if it is not smooth dough.
5. Take this cutlet mixture, enough for one. Flatten on your palm. Take a small portion of the cheese filling, (marble size) place in the middle of the cutlet mixture and cover.
6. Once rolled, flatten like a cutlet, roll over bread crumbs.
7. Heat a pan, with 2 tbsp of oil.
8. Place the cutlet and shallow fry till golden brown.
9. Serve hot , cut into 2 ( so that you can see the melted cheese), with tomato sauce or pudina chutney.
10. Enjoy !

God is one??

It’s a cherished wish, when you get a day off from work, and you don’t have anything to do.
It was an off for me on Krishna Janmashtami. The thought of this day, bought back some fond memories. Since I dint have any other plans apart from going to the bank, I told my mom, that we’d visit ISKCON temple. My mom was very happy. Firstly, coz I don’t believe in Idol worship & I am suggesting a visit to the temple. Secondly, ISKCON temple….i had some very bad experience there long time back and didn’t want to visit that place again.
It’s hardly a 10 min drive from my place to ISKCON, but took 30 mins (Thanks to Metro work). We reached the temple by 12 noon. As always for Janmashtami, the crowd is huge. The entrance was divided into three. General Entry, Green Pass holders and Red Pass holders.
Guess Red is for the highest paid patrons; Green is for short term / life time members. Since we are neither, I and mom entered the General entry. The crowd was not as in crazy numbers, as most of the celebrations were held the day before. But the reach to the main sacrosanct, was a serpentine route. Add to the chaos, there is a kind of a divide wall. Guess the Red / Green pass , is a pass through a shorter route.
I was in for more surprise. Once in the main hall, there are again 3 queues. The nearest passing the idol for Red pass, the second for green and the last ( as in most farther from the idol) for the general.
WOW ! I am of the opinion, god doesn’t discriminate. But why such a discrimination the people make , for just even seeing the god?
And, they don’t even let you complete your prayers….its a queue, so you have to keep moving.

I was telling my mom, such disparity. When God is one, he must be accessible to all. If such is a scenario here, imagine in Tirupathi. Does the lord say, he has paid more for the ticket, he should be let in first? Does he say, this person is from a higher caste, let him see me first? Does he discriminate this person is fair, this is dark?

Its only humans who do the inequity.
And I am sick of this human attitude.
I came back home, a bit amused, a bit sad, but a lot disgusted. Even visiting the temple is commercialized! And to what extent…
In the evening, mom was again like, it’s a Thursday, can we go to sai baba temple ? And I had a huge grin… which was inexplicable.