My Own Garlic Sauce!

The other day I was alone in the house groping around for food. Mummy had made some chapatis, but nothing to accompany it. I thought of ordering some vegetable dish or dal. But since I was tired of all the usual stuff, I decided to try something new. Something which consumed less resources and be tasty at the same time.

Crank! And there I was! I starting off with chopping of garlic flakes. Later, I added a half a teaspoon of oil in a pan, heated it and browned the chopped garlic. Now this was the most important step. Tomato ketchup was added slowly and from a distance, as it starts sputtering very badly due to the oil. A few stirs, and my garlic sauce was ready!

Yes, it was this easy. I really don't know how it came into my mind. But the taste was really good, although not like the original garlic sauce. Sounds tantalizing, doesn't it? A piece of advice - add as much less oil as you can, preferably about 1/4 teaspoon, just enough to moisten the pan. Secondly, add the ketchup gradually. You can also try some variations like using tomato chili sauce. Whatever you do, do it sensibly(so that you don't blame me in the end).

So, that's be a Visor's wise preparation, isn't it?

Our First Menu...

Finally, the cookery practicals began after a lot of hoopla. The menu, which was assigned to us, included Minestrone(starter); Irish Stew, Beetroot Salad, Buttered Rice(main course) and Caramel custard(dessert). Although the number of items seemed to be small, we took about three and a half hours to complete, and we were three of us. This was mainly due to improper planning and carelessness. Anyway, finally it turned out this way....



Minestrone was hopeless, with absolutely no taste except that of pepper. After all it's Italian. I personally like the buttered rice and Irish Stew. Although it had to be thickened using flour, it came out to be perfect. The salad had too much of mustard paste, and we got a kick when we had it. The custard was okay, although it had more of vanilla essence(!), but while unmoulding it, we messed up a bit.

On the whole, I would give our group 3/10 points. Not bad, for first timers...

Was I Suffering From Blogging Fatigue?

At last I'm writing a post. All these days, I was feeling too lazy to post, and participate in any of the discussions in forums, BlogCatalog, to be precise. Everyday, it was the same story - check the mail, log in to Blogger, take a peek at all of my blogs(for comments of course!), then log in to BC and DP forums, check out all the discussions, and close the windows. I found most of the topics either lame or too boring. Yeah, this can indeed be, what can be called as 'blogging fatigue'.

Recently, when I discussed this in BC forums, I realised that many of us undergo such a phase wherein we tend to ignore blogging and related activities. Initially, when we're new to blogging, we are so enthusiastic, that we end up posting more than twice a day. When the problem of traffic comes, we participate in discussions across forums, and leave comments in other blogs with a lot of vigour. As time passes, we normalize, and blogging becomes a part of our routine. Friends are made, the exposure increases and both the sides are contented.

The major deviation occurs when we find something more interesting, and are engrossed in it. Slowly, our mind clears itself of blogging. Then a stage sets in when we completely denounce blogging, but this stage may be short lived(I can't generalize it though). But after a while, it finally becomes a thing of the past, and slowly, as it had begun, the fatigue starts fading away.

When college started, I was so excited about it, that I almost gave up blogging. Instead of hanging out at BC forums, I began browsing more sites related to the hotel industry, tried out new recipes, and was actually mad about going to the college. The everyday travel, the friends, and the assignments weaned my mind away from the computer. Secondly, the BC forums were full of discussions related to the US presidential elections, which really irritated me. This was the scenario, until I realised that I have a couple of blogs that are waiting for my support. Recovering was tough, and I had to pull myself up. But finally it's done and I'm up and running.

Now that I've finally woken up from my stupor, you can find some really exciting posts in the coming weeks. So stay tuned...

My Daily Local Train Experiences....

As you guys know(I hope so), I have to go to Dadar, a suburb in Mumbai, to attend my college. As I stay away from Dadar, in another suburb, I have to travel by a local train. First let me tell you something about the Mumbai suburban local trains. The system is the world's largest, with the trains ferrying about 6-7 million people everyday(yes, everyday!). Without this system, Mumbai will sure be lame. Most of the office goers and students use this service as it is fastest and most affordable, and as these trains are electric, the question of fossil fuels and the price rise is totally ruled out. To know more check out this wikipedia entry.

Every morning as I leave for the college, I try and imagine the amount of rush in the trains. I aim for the 7:04 fast local for CST. I mostly manage to catch it. But sometimes, I miss it and I have to wait for the 7:34 fast local. I'm really impatient once I get inside the train, and so, I try and catch the fast locals. While returning, I catch the 5:37 fast for Badlapur, or 5:49 fast for Dombivli(all suburbs). Fortunately I have been lucky enough to catch these trains.

The worst part is actually boarding the train. I've heard somewhere, that you just have to stand in front of the door and you automatically get pushed into the train. But sometimes, just the opposite happens - you get pushed out of the train when you try to to board the train! And once when I was trying to alight, someone grabbed my shirt and pulled me behind. That was absolutely preposterous!! Yes, alighting can equally difficult at times(but not for me!). Sometimes, because of the crowd, I've to alight from a moving train, which may be dangerous sometimes, especially during the rains.

Inside the train, I have experienced the worst. I sort of studied the crowd presence for a week. But the next week, the scene completely changes. Generally, the crowd while going to the college is comparatively less on thursdays and fridays. But just last week, I bumped into an utterly huge crowd on both the days. I was totally taken aback that moment. The moral of the story? Simple. The crowds are unpredictable!

The easiest part(atleast till now) is the alighting. The train stops for about a minute or two. Half of the people get down when the train is slowing down, and the rest after the train stops. A tip for starters - Never stand in the middle, else your head will bang against the centre pole!

Humph! that's enough for the first dose. I'll be continuing this series as and when something unusual or crunchy crops up. Till then.. tra la la!!

So Who Is Visor After All?

Many of my friends, both real and virtual, ask me who or what is a Visor. I mean why I have nickname as Visor. Hehe, I'm not going to reveal my real identity. I'm just going to tell you what exactly 'Visor' is, and why I kept such a nick.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary defines a 'visor' as 'a screen protecting the eyes from light'. It also means something that helps in hiding. And I want to be hidden in the blogosphere. Not that I fear anyone, but I don't like blabbering about myself. Earlier, my nickname was Xtremer, which I later stopped using, as it sounded a bit awkward, I mean anyone would think I'm one of those techno freaks or from the adult entertainment industry(that 'X' makes a lot of difference!).

Visor is also one of the characters in Quake 3 Arena, a game which I simply love. And he is my favourite player too. So I decided to use the name as my nick. I noticed one more thing. If you do a google search on 'Xtremer', you'll get almost every piece of information about me through the forums like BlogCatalog, and other prominent ones. But when I search for 'Visor', most of the results on the first two-three pages include the meaning, uses and sale of visors. So there's no chance of anyone knowing any personal information about me.

One last thing. Some of them asked me how to pronounce 'visor'(silly thing). Well, it's pronounced like 'wiser'. That's it. I hope you get an idea about what exactly

Water - Here, There, Everywhere .... Except The Taps!

It's been raining heavily since the last three days here. This year, the rains have arrived a bit early, catching everyone by surprise. And that 'everyone' includes the BMC as well. The first two days of rains practically created a 26/7 like situation. Offices were being closed, most schools declared a holiday, and the mobiles became abuzz with the municipal commissioner's warning SMSes.

Water was to be seen everywhere - main roads, by-lanes, even houses and offices(through the cracks). Potholes, some even about half a feet deep, were filled with water too. But there was one place where there was no sign of water...... taps! Yeah, I forgot to mention, water even filled the water pumping stations all over the city. As a result, there was no water supply for about two days. Some people even say to each other, we get water through walls, not taps!

This condition is seen every year, which leaves the authorities red-faced. Every time they promise amendments, yet these so called measures fail. Municipal Commissioners come and go, but never has anyone left a mark whenever the rains struck.

Oh no, time for me to go and fill water......

New Method For Making A Quick Buck : Sell Admission/Examination Forms !!

Humph!! Everyone these days wants to become an engineer, or a doctor from the best institutes, including the IITs and AIIMS. Who doesn't dream big, huh? So, all the folks scramble to nearest centre and collect the forms for the entrance exams or direct admissions.

Now, if you think these forms are available for free, then think again. When a student seeks admission to an institute, he has to pass their entrance examination. This has become a trend these days, with even not-so-well-known institutes conducting an entrance test. So, a student, after his higher secondary studies, on an average appears for at least five to six entrance tests. But for each test, he has to fill up different forms, for which he has to pay a price.

Each form is available for at least Rs.800 or about twenty dollars, which is quite an exuberant price for the common man. Now take this : Every year about two million students in Mumbai alone appear for their higher secondary exams, out of which at least half of them appear for these entrance exams. And on an average, at least a lakh forms are sold. Which means the cash deposits of the institutes go northward big time.

There are some colleges having eleventh and twelfth grades as well. And admission forms for the same are available for about Rs.100. About the same number of students appear for the tenth standard board exams. So, for the second time, the cash registers ring.

Now, there are some colleges earn a bit more by selling the filled-up forms of disqualified students to various agencies, and thus, these agencies have lots and lots of private information. And of course, you know what that means.....

In recent times, the number of colleges that demand an entrance test for each course, has increased enormously. But the sad part is, these colleges turn out to be low grade and by their outward apperance, tend to attract students, who eventually are at the receiving end. Unfortunately, the government just isn't able to put a restriction to such practices. Usually, the universities assign grades for each of them, but sometimes, these institutes obtain them in a foolproof manner. Alas! There are some problems which only prayers and hope can solve.....