The Cheating Business

It seems, that there is a pub in England, which has invented a machine called as the fibbing machine. This machine is nothing but a small telephone booth in the pub, which has predetermined noises, like the noises that are generally heard if a person is struck in traffic or is in an airport or some other such familiar noises.

All that a person has to do is, go into the booth, select the noise that he/she wants to be played in the background, call home and tell his/her spouse/parents/girl friend or boy friend that they are stuck in a traffic jam or that there is some problem in the airport or the railway station, etc.

This pub has become a big hit and is being patronized by a lot of people who want to buy extra time from people at home for whatever reasons.

No prizes for guessing who is using this machine the most. Yes, about 60% of the patrons are men.

The interesting thing is that a woman has invented this machine!! . The lady is the manager of the pub.

Gandhigiri in the US

A very interesting incident has happened out here. It is a really great example of life imitating the movies. This time, it is a very positive imitation I must say.

For the benefit of folks who are not here, the events leading up to this incident is as follows .

1. The US Department Of State issued a bulleting in mid June saying that the dates for Green Card processing have all become current . (Details about what a green card is and what is the process to get it are all not relevant here).

2. July 2nd was the day from which the applications would be accepted.

3. Most of the non-immigrant population out here put in a lot of effort to make sure that all the required for filing of this process would be comppleted by July 2nd and were all set for the D-Day .(People have waited for years for the dates to become current).

4. On July 2nd, the Department of State announced that there was some confusion and that they have already got enough applications for this year and therefore will not be accepting any applications at all now.

Once this happened , thousands of people were obviously disappointed. There were several forms of protest against this announcement . There were lawsuits that were being filed and protest letters that were written.

Some of our countrymen have decided to adopt one of the ideas from the movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai . They are sending flowers , thousands of them, to the head of the DOS and wishing him well :).

For those who are curious to know what the DOS is doing with these thousands flowers, they are sending them to the soldiers in an army medical hospital and wishing them well :).

Check this out !
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/44667/immigrants-refused-green-cards-take-to-gandhigiri.html

Recipe - Southekaayi Gojju (Cucumber Gojju) - Version1

This is a easy recipe to cook and takes hardly 10 minutes to prepare. This is one of the ways to prepare. I will publish the other ways to make the gojju in subsequent blogs.

By the way, I donot know what they call gojju in English. I will be really greatful if anybody can tell me!.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes.

Ingredients :
1. Kadle bele(Bengal Gram): 1 and ½ spoons
2. Menthya(Fenugreek): 1/2 spoon
3. Dhaniya: 1/2 spoon
4.Vonamenasina kaayi (Red Chillies): 5-6
5.Southekaayi (Cucumber): 1
6. Hunasehannu (Tamarind): 1 tablespoon.
7. Uppu (Salt):as per taste.
8. Bella (Jaggery/Brown Sugar): as per taste.
9. Ingu(Asafoetida): A little
10 Saasve(Mustard): 1 spoon.
11 Yenne(Oil): 1 spoon whichever oil you use for daily cooking.

How to Prepare:
1. Fry kadle bele, menthya, dhaniya, red chillies till light brown.Donot use oil.
2. Grind the above ingredients into a fine powder.
3. Cut cucumber into small pieces.
4. Mix salt, tamarind and Jaggery with water.
5. Add the powder and the cut cucumber to the water and mix well.
6. Use ingu, saasve for garnishing with a spoon of oil.

Servings : Eat with rice. Serves about 4 people.

PS1 : The names of ingredients is how they are called in Kannada , my mother tongue. Their English equivalents are given in brackets.

PS2 : The recipes that I am posting are those which I have tried personally and have out turned well. They are recipes that I am collecting from my mother, mother-in-law, aunts, uncles, friends, cousins and my husband.

PS3 : I think I have covered whatever needs to be covered. Please let me know if you would like to see any changes in the way the recipes are presented.

PS4 : Enjoy your cooking. I definitely am enjoying it immensely!

Recipe - Gasagase Payasa (Khus Khus Kheer)

Preparation Time : 15 minutes.

Ingredients :
1.Gasagase(Khus Khus) :4 spoons
2.Akki (Rice) :2 spoons
3.Badami(Shelled Almonds) :5-6 numbers
4.Elakki(Cardamom) :a little
5.Jaggery(recommended) or Sugar : As per your taste(Depends on how sweet you want the kheer to be).
6. Thuppa (Ghee) : 1 table spoon.
7. Godambi (Cashew Nuts) : 5-6.
8. ONa Drakshi (Dry grapes/ Raisins) : about 10 grams.
9. Hasi kobbari(Dessicated Coconut) : 3-4 spoons.
10. Haalu(Milk) : 1 glass.
11. Kesari(Saffron) : a little.
12. Paccha Karpura(Edible camphor) : very little.

How to Prepare:
1. Soak Khus Khus , rice,badami and elakki in water for about 2 hours.
2. Grind the soaked khus khus, rice, badami, elakki and dessicated coconut into a fine paste.
3. Boil the paste in water along with jaggery or sugar and edible camphor.
4. After about 1 boil , add milk and boil again.
5. Fry the godambi, drakshi in ghee and add to the boiled kheer.
6. Add a little saffron.

Servings : 4 - 6 glasses.

PS1: : Use either jaggery or sugar not both. The kheer however tastes best if you use jaggery.

PS2 : Jaggery is also called as brown sugar.

PS3 : Saffron and Paccha Karpura are optional.

PS4 : The names of ingredients is how they are called in Kannada , my mother tongue. Their English equivalents are given in brackets.

PS5 : The recipes that I am posting are those which I have tried personally and have turned well. They are recipes that I am collecting from my mother ,mother-in-law, aunts , uncles, friends, cousins and my husband.

PS6 : I think I have covered whatever needs to be covered. Please let me know if you would like to see any changes in the way the recipes are presented.

PS7 : Enjoy your cooking. I definitely am enjoying it immensely!

Paris Hilton

I am totally new in this country, and want to know learn more about this country, its history, culture etc. What do you think is the best and the fastest medium to learn about these? It is of course the TV. That’s what I did too . I went and switched on the TV.

What did I see? A major disaster had struck! And what was that disaster? Paris Hilton had been charged for DUI (Driving Under Influence) and would be sent to prison!!!!

Every time I switched to ANY channel at ANY time of the day, I got to hear something about her.

On the news channels, I got to know things like what Paris ate, what was her hairstyle, what did she do, how did she spend her time, what did she wear, what did she say? Did she laugh? Did she cry? Were her nails chipped? Was the food healthy enough? Did she lose weight in the prison? How much are the prison authorities spending to ensure her safety in the prison? etc. etc etc.

That was only news that happened here as long as Paris was in the prison.

I don't want to listen the P word anymore. I switch onto some other channel, and I saw jokes being made about her.

Switch onto some OTHER channels and hours were spent debating if it was right that she was sent to the prison or not!

Apparently, Paris Hilton is more important and newsworthy than the president, more important than the war crisis with Iraq that the US is into right now, more important than even the presidential campaign that is currently underway.

So, in the first few weeks until she was released from her prison, if you had asked me what I know about the US during those weeks, I would have said PARIS HILTON ! Cos that was only what I got to see :).

If you guys out there don't know what I'm talking about and have become curious, Don't ask me!

ONE

About 8 months ago, if anybody had come to me and said that I will be in the US now, I would have laughed at their face and called them names .

A lot of my friends who were already here kept on trying to convince me to come here and try the country out. I, somehow had a very closed mind and always held this option as a closed one.

I remember back in the college days, when one of my very good friends who wanted to come here (at that time atleast) asked me also to apply along with her. I had admantly refused then.

I also remember another of my friends who took the trouble of calling me from the US to India and asked me to send her my resume atleast .
Now , I am here and sitting at home and thinking about how all these things happened to me .

All it took was about 30 minutes of time that I spent with a stranger then(now an integral part of my life!) one evening in MG Road 9 months ago !! :) .

So people do you believe in destiny ?