Winter Woes!!!

I am dreaming of a white Christmas…..well, in my case…more like a chilly Christmas, with a definite nip in the air!! But as usual, the winter is playing hookey and the only cold wave I get is the icy-glare from my mum when I start cribbing about dinner!

I remember my college years…..getting up at an unearthly hour to reach the first lecture on time. Glazed eyes, chapped lips and still stuck between the land of the living and the undead, we would traipse from one house to another and finally reach our dear college.

Luckily, our makeshift canteen was situated right next to the entrance. And because the Gods watching over nerve-wracked teens were kind and loving, we used to get first dibs on the piping hot samosas and the steaming cups of coffee!

You would think that after the first shot of caffeine in our blood, we would be raring to go….in pursuit of knowledge and all things academic.

Yep, raring to go ofcourse….but in the opposite direction!! Chilly mornings were perfect for incessant chattering and non-stop guff sessions.

In an attempt to recapture the past glory (never a good idea!!!!)…..I got up with the birds, tugged on a buttery soft sweater and decided to go for a good long walk. I was all for communing with nature…taking in the morning sights and enjoying the welcome laziness of a winter morning.

But as all my half-baked plans go…..this one too ended up nowhere. Forget a nip, there wasn’t even a snap or crackle in the wind!! Five minutes into my walk and I was already sweating bullets. The sweater (which was a bad idea to begin with) felt like a dead weight. Pretty soon, I would be lying face down in a pool of my own sweat mixed with a generous helping of humiliation!!

So I lugged myself back to the relative coolness of home and hearth. As for my winter cravings…I indulged in a bunch of holiday movies on HBO….snuggled up under a quilt with the a/c on full blast!!

Passage from "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia)"

A passage from "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia ~~~ C.S.Lewis)" triggered a sense of déjà vu.

Sometimes, somewhere a certain element acts a catalyst.....triggering a long forgotten but fond memory. It infuses you with a warm and comforting feeling. The mention of the word alone can wash away the cobwebs of the mind and cloak you in a blanket of security and comfort.

Just out of grasp, but never too far away......

The children hear Aslan's name for the first time and the following paragraph explains the varied emotions experienced by the four:

And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan
was anymore than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words
everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a
dream that someone says something which you don't understand but in the dream it
feels as if it has some enormous meaning - either a terrifying one which turns
the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into
words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and
are always wishing that you could get into that dream again. It was like that now. At
the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside.
Edmund felt a sense of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and
adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of
music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake
up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the
beginning of summer.

My life......in four panels!!!

I am not laughing at me.......I am laughing with me!!!

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Yeah right!!!

J.K.ROWLING - Entertainer of The Year

J.K.Rowling has been declared the Entertainer of the Year by Entertainment Weekly.....and rightly so.

I belong to the formidable legion of J.K.Rowling-fans. I don’t need to launch into an endless litany on her immense talent or her astounding success-story. Reams of newsprint, gazillion sites and a million blogs have already been dedicated to jus’ the thing.

She has been praised and maligned in equal measure. You can love her.....or hate her…but you sure as hell can’t ignore her!!

The original skeptic, I scoffed good-naturedly when a colleague recommended “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. It was a ‘children’s book’ for crying out loud……and there I was, a (debatable) adult.

But I overcame my pig-headedness and gave it a shot. Needless to say, I was hooked, booked and ready to be charted off to the world of magic and fantasy!!!

It was a good solid read and had it all…… the proverbial under-dog…..fantastic characters and astounding creatures…. ……a hidden magical world….and an immensely strong story line. The most bewitching form of escapism!

I fully intend giving my two-bit opinion on each of the Potter books….but not right now. I just felt that I had to start off my trip down Potter-lane by writing a bit ‘bout one of my front-running authors.

Snape's Worst Memory......

One more instalment of the Pottermania. Snape's worst moment when he sees the happy Potter family......beautifully captured.

I like the attention to small details like the fact that Prof.Snape is lurking around in dark and sinister Knockturn Alley...and don't miss Lupin's advert, offering private classes. A werewolf and unemployed to boot!! Brilliant!

Sir Jugalot - The Knight in Rusted Armour!!

One of dear old Juggie's alter-ego's : Sir Jugalot is an all time-favourite strip of mine!!

It belonged to the ol' - fashioned era of story-telling :- superbly drawn characters with fine attention to detail and a knock-your socks off funny story line. It was later adapted into a mini-series featuring the other "avatars" of Jughead Jones. To read more about this particular story click on the following link: "Jughead's Fantasy".

I couldn't lay my hands on the entire strip.....but did manage to come across one particular panel, featuring the endearing "villian" - MIGHTY MELVIN The Fire-Breathing Dragon.

The Good Life

I came across this song in a book. It is from the Greek Island of Crete, appropriately sung at a wedding. No great lyrics...no hidden meanings.....just a straight-forward, homely number.

Kaloperasi meaning "The Good Life"

Little by little the Lords sends the rain,
Then comes the quiet snow,
Cold in the mountains,
Snow on the hills.

But the man who has a well-roofed house,
Fruit in his storerooms,
Oil in his jars,
Wine in his barrels,
Wood in his yard,
A girl to kiss as he sits by the fire,
He doesn't care what the north wind brings,
Rain or Snow.

My situation......described to perfection!!

CULINARY CHRONICLES (Part 1) : No Rain on my Thanksgiving Parade!!

Come November, and I get bitten by the cooking bug! Suddenly I feel this insane need to slice and dice, sauté and simmer, grill and bake and (if things go horribly wrong) singe my eyebrows and turn the kitchen into a disaster-struck area!!

Thanksgiving.....the perfect time to get the ball rolling. I know it isn’t a part of the great Indian festive parade, but I like the concept of loud, noisy families coming together over a table creaking under the weight of a magnificent turkey, meltingly smooth mashed potatoes, ruby-red cranberry sauce and the wonderful assortment of pumpkin pies, cakes and other such finger-lickin’ goodies!!

Since I didn’t feel upto the task of tracking down the elusive turkey…I settled for the ubiquitous, ever faithful chicken.

My menu for the day:

~ Ham 'n' Cheese Stromboli

~ Apricot-Glazed Roast Chicken

~ Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan cheese

~ Green Leaf Lettuce, Pomegranate and Almond Salad

~ Warm Pumpkin Cake

After making an absolute nuisance of myself and speeding up my mum's aging process, I managed to whip up a pretty decent fare. I wish I could say the same for my photography skills!!

Browsing through the eye-catching and aesthically stunning visuals on Epicurious and Yahoo! Food left me with the grave misconception that I could achieve their lofty standards.

Needless to say.....I should be relegated to the big, black hole where all misguided wannabe photographers go after their pitiful attempts to "capture the moment"!!!

The entire clan is left twiddling their thumbs while I click a dozen odd snaps. The crisp lettuce is fast turning limp and the chicken looks up at me dolefully.....as if to say "Why god! Why me!?!!". My ex-photographer of an uncle shakes his head in supressed mirth and asks me whether I want the chicken to get into a hot-pink bikini and pout seductively for the camera. H-UH!!

That's family for you!!!

Photo-Session over, it’s time to dig in…no holds barred! And everyone does so……with gusto and scant regard for etiquette and patience. But as long as everyone is enjoying themselves……I feel GO-OD!!

This was the first session of the Culinary Chronicles. More...many more to come. Heralding in the New Year will be the new, improved....butter-ball version of yours truly!!!

Epicurious.com - Thanksgiving EYE-CANDY