iPhone - An Addiction?

iPhone has been capturing the phone world since its arrival but is it the same phone which is conquering our lives as well? I think so.

More than a phone, with which you can call and get calls, it is a mailbox - a GPS -game station - an iPod - a Camera and the list goes on.

But are we really making a good use of the iPhone or it has just become another addiction like alcohol and smoke.

People are and still going crazier with every version. People who have iPhone have a different day routine now. Their day starts with the 'Good Morning' to the iPhone, mails checking and that continues every 10 to 20 min on an avg till it is the time to say 'Good Night'. And if you happen to get up in between the sleep, again one check on the iPhone to verify its working ;)

It is with you when you are at the dining table eating, or you are in the bathroom brushing.

Thankfully one place you cannot take it with you in the shower but that will be soon: another version of iPhone...something new has to come every time, otherwise no fun.

When phone becomes your wife: with whom you get up in the morning, sleep in the night, eat together, then this becomes the reality: "iPhone se nazar nahin hat ti, nazarein hum kya dekhen"

Like alcohol and smoke, iPhone is also an addiction and i am sure that sometime in near future, rehab centers for iPhone will start coming up.

At least I would need it very soon for Tarun.

Cheese Tomato

Cheese Tomato in a creamy tomato gravy always make my mouth watery. I have eaten many versions of Cheese Tomato but today I cooked my version and it came out to be pretty well. It has more of a tangy taste which we loved.

Ingredients:

• Indian Cottage Cheese ( Paneer) - 250 gms cut into rectangular size cubes


• Tomato puree - 1/2 cup


• Onions - 1 small


• Yoghurt - 1 cup whipped


• Garlic - 1 clove chopped


• Ginger - 1 inch piece grated


• Coriander powder - 2 tsp


• Red Chilli powder -1 tsp


• Garam Masala powder - 1/4 tsp


• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp


• Salt - to taste


• Oil/Butter - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in the pan and add the cumin seeds.


2. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and saute them for 5 mins.


3. Add the tomato puree and saute for another 5 mins.


4. Add all the spices except garam masala and saute till the oil separates from the mixture.


5. Remove from the heat and when it is a bit cool, blend the mixture in the blender.


6. Add the yoghurt in the mixture. Mix well and then place it on the stove again on a low heat.


7. Add the cubed paneer, garam masala and mix well.


8. Let the gravy simmer for another 10 mins.

Garnish with the coriander leaves/cilantro.
Cheese Tomato is ready and we enjoyed it throughly in dinner.
You can always change the amount of spices in a dish as per your taste.

Lemony Chicken

I decided to make Schezwan Noodles for a Sunday lunch but what to make along with it as a side was a question. Tarun wanted to have some chicken dish and thus tried my hands at Lemony Chicken.



Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast tenders - 4 pcs
  
• Thyme - 1 tbsp


• Garlic - 4 cloves chopped finely


• Ginger - 1 tbsp chopped finely


• Tomato Puree - 1 tbsp


• Green Bell Peppers - 1 medium size


• Black Pepper - 1 tsp


• Salt - to taste


• Oil - 1 tbsp
  
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Spring Onion - to garnish
  

Procedure:

1. Cut the chicken breast tenders into medium size pieces and pierce them with the fork


2. Marinate the chicken with the salt and the thyme and place it in the refrigerator for 30 mins.


3. Heat the pan and put the oil.


4. Once the oil is warm, add the garlic and ginger and saute for 3 mins.


5. Add the chicken in the pan and cook till it is almost cooked.


6. Add the tomato puree and the green bell peppers and mix well.


7. Cook till the chicken is fully cooked.


8. Add the Lemon juice and the Lemony Chicken is ready to serve.

Granish it with some lemon pieces and spring onion.

Writing after a long time - to coolfolks - A Tribute

This is the mail i sent to coolfolks ( my college friends and we communicate through this group in yahoo).
Hello All,

Writing in coolfolks after a long long time i guess, as in all bday wishes, guggu wishes on my behalf as well and thus i am saved :P to write the mails but my wishes are also in the mail sent by Guggu.

Well me and guggu remembered our college days a lot on Jul 4th. nothing specific of the day, just that USA independance day falls on that day.
We went to see fireworks to SFO downtown and they were really fun.
While coming back through BART (Metro as in delhi), saw few ABCD teenagers... .wondering what does ABCD means (American born Confused desi's)..... they were just talking, talking chatting, gossiping... ...as we used to do in our college days....still feel we our young and still collegeites. ..but when sa w them, felt we are a bit old.
Every teenager in that group almost resembled, one of our folks in our group....
One was that def Guggu, with a kada in one hand and height arnd same as guggu, marring style and flirting with gals.....talking talking talking..... and after a while, that guy's mom called....and he was like , yeah mom started already, will reach home soon....as that happens with Guggs now also....Mama' s boy for sure :)
Other was Monika for sure who was the most talkative in the gals group and standing with guys and gossiping... ...
One guy was very very quite and mirrored Gupta ji.....
The other guy resembled Cheems, not tall as cheems but standing with mirror guggu and just making Noise at the top of the BART and every other person in BART was watching him.....
One gal was Deepti quite tall, first half talking and the other half sat quitely.....
I couldnt find myself in that group but Tarun pointed to one gal who was sitting between two gals, sandwhiched, as jagah nahin thi as 3 gals were sitting on one seat, that was me....chhoti si kahin bhi fit hone wali....
so 3 guys and 3 gals, college going....both of us just lived another day of the college with them....it was soooooooooooooooooo fun listening to their gossips and talks......remindin g us of our pasts and the wonderful time all of us spent together.... .
College is associated with good as well as bad memories...personal ly i thought, i would never remember my college life as i didnt want to remember.... .but after college and so many yrs have gone by, sometimes, things come in such a beautiful way in front of u that u tend to remember the most wonderful time of our lives - College Days......

I might have forgotten (intenionally) the college life if Guggs and you beautiful people were not a part of my life during that time....

Thanks to all of you making my college days so wonderful and rememberable. ...

Love you all guys and gals. Happy Friendship day. (Friendship day is no where near but still want to wish you alllll)
Chhavs

Sometimes

Sometimes when i get up in the morning, everything looks so bright and joyful but few mornings are really lethargic and off the mark.
Sometimes i want to complete all the work which is pending and get ready, few days just goes by not doing anything, not even the basic things which you should be doing.
Sometimes the evenings are so pleasant, and few evenings are depressing.

Is it just the weather, or the people around you or you yourself who is the reason for all this.
Why this happens and i am sure this has happened to all of us in our life time.
Is it like when we are happy, every thing around us seems so joyful and when we are not happy, everything is so dull.
I think we all know the answer to this question but sometimes you would want to write few word to express yourself.

Avatar - a revolution in the world of cinema with an "OK" story - I am dissapointed

Avatar 2009, saw in 2010, after a month it was released. I wanted to see this movie as a 3D imax movie and i did just the same.
Before i watched this movie in the theater and even before the movie was released, i watched it (few scenes), but not the trailers in the theater, otherwise i wouldn't have mentioned it.
Very few people get a chance to be a part of the survey which selects which clips should be shown in the trailer of the movie. I was one of the "lucky" selected to give my feedback on what should be shown as a part of the trailer of Avatar. When i did this survey, i was not aware that this movie would be a box office hit and all weekends full for the next so many weeks. In the feedback, i said that i might/might not watch this movie. Scenes shown to me were not very impressive and i was also not very impressed with the blue aliens. I hated them.
After watching the movie, my feedback remains the same.
I watched it as a 3D imax movie. It was not a very pleasent experience to watch a 2 + hrs movie with the 3D googles on. Eyes were really tired after a while and by the end of it, i was totally exhausted.
I liked the movie for the kind of technology used and the special affects and thats it.
The story was off the mark with respect to what they have tried to show. I felt that in order to show the special affects, the story has just been forced in.
There were few scenes which were typical bollywood, reminded me of the "jhad phoos" magic which is done in India to remove the supposedly evil spirits. That was really funny and horrible at the same time.
I felt the story was slow and i got a chance to take a nap as well in between.
All in all, a one time watch but dont bother for a 3D experience. You and your eyes will be totally tired after the movie.
I feel the hype is more for the movie than the movie actually is.