It's me....

Ramya's Recipe Series - Bottle gourd Kofta

2012-01-25T20:52:00.002+05:30

Bottle Gourd Kofta

Thanks to Aveek's mom!

Ingredients

For Kofta

Bottle gourd- 1 grated
Ajwain- 2 tea spoons
Jeera powder- 4 teaspoons
Chillies- 2 finely chopped
Besan- 4 teaspoons
Salt- To taste
Oil- For frying

For Gravy

Tomato- 4
Onions- 4
Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom- 2 each
Chillie powder- 3 teaspoons
Salt - To taste
Oil- 3-5 teaspoons

Procedure

For Kofta

Squeeze out all the water from the grated bottle gourd
Mix the rest of the ingredients and make into balls
Deep fry the balls and set aside

For Gravy

Cut the onion and tomatoes
Grind the tomatoes and onions separately
In a pan add oil and add the Cinnamon, clove and cardamom.
Add the onion paste and saute till golden brown
Add tomato paste and saute till the raw smell goes
Add salt and chilli powder.
Switch off the flame once the oil begins to separate.

Add the koftas to the gravy and enjoy.

Note

Green chillies can be avoided in the kofta if you don't prefer hot koftas
Instead of Cinnamon, clove and cardamom you can use garam masals powder(3 teaspoons), do not add chillie powder if you ar eusing garam masala powder.
If you like it spicy increase the garam masala powder.

Prakruti's Crow Story

2012-01-20T20:04:00.004+05:30

When my daughter is asked for a story, she tells the story of a crow.

A crow went up and sat on a tree.
It sang a song but fell down.
It got hurt on its head and went home.
Its mother applied medicine on its head and so, it recovered quickly.

This is probably her version of Aesop's fox and crow story.

Ramya's Recipe Series - Microwave Banana & Dry Fruits Bread - Eggless

2012-01-19T22:17:00.001+05:30

I will be starting with a dessert/snack first! This is an Eggless Banana Bread (with optional dry fruits). I learnt this from a cousin, with few of my own additions/improvements.

The main ingredients...

Maida - 2 cups
Powdered Sugar - 2/3rd cup
Oil - 1/4th cup
Baking Soda- 1/4th tea spoon
Over-ripe Bananas - 2

Optional Ingredients:

Dry Fruits: Powdered walnuts, Almonds, Cashew - 1/2 cup, Raisins- 15

Method

Pre-heat the microwave at 180C in the convection mode.
Sieve the maida, powdered sugar and baking soda. Mash the over ripe bananas and add them. Then add oil, powdered dry fruits,raisins and mix well.
Now, coat an aluminium tray with crystallized ghee. Add the mixture and bake in the microwave in the convection mode at 180C for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, allow the bread to cool. Slice it and enjoy

Tips

Use over ripe bananas, it gives the best taste.
Banana can be substituted with grated apple
Sugar can be reduced to 1/2 cup if you prefer less sweet bread
For diabetics, sugar can be substituted with equal quantity of Sugar-Free/ Equal powder. Also, use apple instead of banana.
Powdered dry fruits add taste and flavor.
Coating the tray with crystallized ghee gives best result. If that is not available, butter can be used.

Ramya's Recipe Series

2012-01-19T21:59:00.000+05:30

Ramya has been experimenting with different recipes and I have been the guinea pig. Generally, they have been good and I love the new stuff she makes. So, we thought she should start posting her recipes too. Her first post coming up soon....

Another short story for my 2 year old daughter - how her day passes...

2012-01-17T23:44:00.001+05:30

I started a series of short stories that I tell for our daughter before she goes to sleep.
She has started play-school since November 2011. So, one story that we tell her is how her day passes...
1. Mother wakes her up at 7.30AM, brushes her teeth and makes her drink milk.
2. Father gives her a bath, and hands her over to mother to put her into her school uniform.
3. Mother give her breakfast
4. Father drops her in school at 9AM by car.
5. Mother goes to school at 12PM by walk, picks her up and comes back either walking or by an auto.
6. Grandmother gives her lunch and puts her to her noon nap.
7. Father picks her up from Grandmother's house and brings her back to her house
8. She plays, eats dinner and goes to sleep!

Short stories for my 2-year old daughter

2012-01-09T10:09:00.001+05:30

My 2 year old daughter keeps asking me for new stories every night before going to bed. I have used up most of the kid stories that I remember, and now have started inventing my own stories based on other stories that I read. She has been listening to my adaptations of Tintin, especially Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon.

My stories are really a set of statements, mostly less than 10 and simple. She really enjoys these stories and sometimes repeats to me/her mother. My latest story is inspired from Tom & Jerry, and the Lion & Mouse story.
1. Tom is chasing Jerry because he is hungry.
2. After running around for some time, Tom manages to catch Jerry.
3. Jerry begs to leave him, and offers a piece of cheese that he has at his home.
4. Tom agrees, and follows Jerry to his house.
5. Tom sees that Jerry has a small kid.
6. Tom is a nice cat, so he lets Jerry go and asks him to give the cheese to his kid rather.

My daughter really enjoys this story - especially since she likes cats and cheese :)

Laziness and Task Management

2012-01-08T00:45:00.003+05:30

Managing my tasks has been one of the most difficult tasks! After a lot of advice from family and friends, I have started maintaining a single list of all my tasks. When I was using a single laptop with MS Outlook, I used the inbuilt task list. Now that I no longer have Outlook on my laptop (I work for IBM, and we use Lotus Notes as our email tool), I was looking for a better tool (preferably on the web). I didn't like the Lotus Notes version of task management, primarily because launching Lotus Notes is a task in itself (with a start date and end date) :)
I was therefore trying out a variety of tools on the web.

Gmail Tasks
I started with Gmail Tasks. This was great because, it was integrated into Gmail. I liked it also because I didn't have to do much in terms of clicking; tasks and subtasks could be created using just the keyboard. However, I wanted slightly more detailed options - especially for reminders, start date, due date, and the UI was not so intuitive for that.
I then tried TaskAnt. I liked it, but, the UI was too detailed. Needed something more simplistic.
Next was TeuxDeux. This was just the opposite of TaskAnt. I really liked the minimalist interface. Just the way you use a diary - a day-by-day view of your tasks. You could move your tasks across dates with simple drag-drop operations. The problem was that it was too minimalistic: no reminders, no sync with GCal, etc.
I then tried TodoLy. This seemed to be good. Everything that I wanted: some detail, reminders, etc.. But, I had trouble synchronizing. It used to always revert to the default list of example tasks. This was not a great example for a good intuitive UI.
Finally, I found what I wanted: I Do It. This works great. Email/GCal integration, ability to categorize by projects, contexts and tags. Good reminder system, and synchronizes quite quickly. It also has a desktop version, and desktop shortcuts that help me quickly add tasks without loading the webpage. Hopefully will stick onto this for sometime

However, I was just researching about other tools today and I found another one: Producteev. Seems to be good, will start trying it out now. More research about this on the way.

New Year Resolutions & Douglas Adams

2012-01-01T00:22:00.000+05:30

I have been a great fan of Douglas Adams ever since I started reading his "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" six-book trilogy! I was such a crazy fan of the book that I had an index of my favourite parts of the book. I used to participate in online quizzes, conduct quizzes and post in online forums, and such... I have re-read the book an uncountable number of times - focusing specifically on the indexed pages. I recently listened to the audio versions of the book. Found some parts much more interesting than while reading. I also inspired quite a few friends to start reading his books. Whenever anybody asks me for book suggestions, that is the first book I suggest.

Recently, I listened to his posthumous book - "The Salmon of Doubt". This book is a collection of previously published and unpublished material, mostly content from interviews, introductions to his books, his views on technology, and god (he was a faithful atheist). I am now reading the paper book now.

One of the topics in this book is about his thoughts on celebrating the New Year (the New Millennium rather, since it was written in 1999). How, it is just another excuse to celebrate and has no other significant significance! Exactly, what are we celebrating it for, a change in the digits of the year?

Another thing he talks about is about New Year Resolutions which I completely agree with. Every end of year/beginning of the new year, we write down our resolutions on a piece of paper (I tried writing on it on an online document editor - Yahoo Notebook, then Google Notebook, recently Google Docs) only to forget where we wrote it until it is time for the next new year resolutions!

Only one New Year Resolution for me this year: No new year resolutions this year!!

Happy New Year 2012!

Car Loan hypothecation cancellation/removal in Bangalore, India

2011-11-05T22:40:00.001+05:30

Submitted my car RC book for cancellation or removal of hypothecation at Indira Nagar RTO in Bangalore. (I had completed my car loan repayment in July).
1. Received NOC from financier, and 2 copies of Form 35.
2. Went to Room 13 with a copy of current car insurance and the NOC, the 2 Form 35 copies, the original RC book and a self-addressed envelope (with a Rs 12 stamp).
3. One officer (counter 9) verified the documents and sent it to another counter for data entry.
4. After data entry, I was asked to go to the Cash counter (Room 1) to pay Rs 300 as fees (Rs 100 for cancellation of hypothecation and Rs 200 for converting my paper RC to smart card).
5. Went back to counter 9 in room 13, the same officer verified everything and sent me to counter 6.
6. At counter 6 (Inward & Despatch), another officer verified everything, filed everything and gave me an acknowledgement that they have collected my original RC for cancellation of hypothecation and convert to smart card.
7. I will receive my new smart card RC in about a month.

Simple process, but took me 2 visits to the RTO. (I didn't know about the insurance and the envelope the first time).

Update: I received my new smart card by post in exactly a month!

India Passport Tatkaal renewal in Bangalore

2011-11-05T22:38:00.000+05:30

Tatkaal Passport Reissue Experience
Astonishingly simple passport reissue process in Bangalore. My passport was due for renewal mid-2012. But wanted to get it renewed by the Tatkaal mode early. Multiple changes in my passport details - Chennai->Bangalore, Single->Married, ECR->ECNR.
Phase 1: Online
1. Register at www.passportindia.gov.in
2. Fill the online form & Submit it.
3. Upload 4 relevant support documents (pdfs).
4. Apply for an appointment at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) through the same website. Appointments can be booked only 1.5 days in advance. For eg., appointments for a Thursday open up only on Tuesday evening at 6PM.
5. Print the Passport Application Receipt.
6. Carry the original and one photocopy of all support documents.
In my case, the support documents were:
a. Address Proof:
SBI Bank Passbook (with more than 1 year of entries).
HR Letter mentioning that I am an employee and have been staying at the given address.
b. ID Proof:
IBM ID card
c. Marriage Certificate
d. ECNR Proof: B. Tech Degree certificate

There were a lot of blogs/discussions on the web that some affidavits are required for Tatkaal passports, but I didn't have them, and was not asked to present them. I understand that these affidavits are required only for fresh Tatkaal applications and not for reissue.

Phase 2: In-Line - At the Passport Seva Kendra (Devarabeesanahalli, Bangalore), the experience was great!
1. I reached the PSK 30 minutes before my allotted time
2. 3 queues for normal applicants, 1 queue for minors, and 1 queue for Tatkaal. Was 4th at the Tatkaal queue. Very short wait.
3. Very efficient people at the counters. Asked me for following in order
- Application Receipt (i)
- Passport Original (ii) and photocopy (ii.a.)
- Company ID Original (iii) and photocopy (iii.a.)
- Company HR Letter stating address original (iv)
- Other address proof - SBI Bank Passbook with more than 1 year of entries original (v) and photocopy (v.a.)
4. He put all photocopies (ii.a., iii.a., v.a.), application receipt (i) and HR letter (iv) in a file and returned all other originals (ii, iii, v). Process initiated.
5. Waited at an airconditioned waiting lounge (clean toilets, coffee/tea, water) for around 30 minutes. This was when some pre-validation of my details was performed.
6. After pre-validation, went back to the tatkaal counter to get a Token. I was T-2 now! The actual verification & process starts.
7. Was called at counter A-21 (there are around 25 A counters). They verify the originals, scan the photocopies, scan my signature, take my photograph, take my finger prints. Paid Rs. 2500, received receipt.
8. Now onto counter B-5. (There were 10 B counters). An officer verifies my orinals, looks at my passport, says everything is fine, signs somewhere, puts some red marks everywhere on my photocopies.
9. Now onto counter C-3 (There were 5 C counters). Another officer verifies everything, asks me to sign somewhere else. Stamps "Cancelled" on my passport, says everything is done and I can go!
10. Finally, "Exit" counter. Showed my token, showed my fee receipt. They give me a printed letter saying application has been approved, with file number and all. All done! Received my new passport in 3 working days!! The only negative point at the end of all this, the post man (who delivered my passport) gave me a nice smile and waited for the usual...

Update:
Police verification: This was not as simple as everything else.
1. My residence was supposedly in the "Hennur" police station, even though my post office is "Banaswadi". So, ensure to mention the right police station in the application form.
2. Since I had mentioned the wrong police station, it took some extra time for the police verification form to arrive at the right police station - in my case - Hennur
3. I received a call one day and was asked to come to the police station (nobody visited home to verify my address).
4. When I went there, I was asked to write a letter requesting speedy approval of my verification.
5. I was also asked some questions by the constable responsible for passport verification.
6. After some time, I was taken to the inspector's room where the inspector asked me some basic questions. Finally, he signed somewhere in the form and asked me to leave.

I thought everything was done, but no! After a couple of weeks, another constable calls me and says he will visit my residence to verify if I really stayed there. This guy was really nice. Came home, filled some form, asked me to sign. Said thank you and left.

Google Video as a video sharing site is out

2011-04-17T20:19:00.001+05:30

Google Video has stopped allowing users to upload videos and soon, it will stop letting play uploaded content. I was expecting this a long time back (almost since Google bought over YouTube).
Anyway, there is no easy way to migrate videos from Google Video to YouTube. Download them one by one and upload them onto YouTube one by one. I have just uploaded some 3-4 videos, and not too difficult to migrate them.
However, I am worried about the Rhythmica videos!! So many of them on Google Video!! I have to let the right people know!!

Update (2012-01-16): I now use Google Docs extensively for all my document storage and sharing!

Yahoo Briefcase closing down

2009-02-03T16:19:00.004+05:30

Yahoo Briefcase is finally closing down when I was hoping they would improve it to Web 2.0 standards and compete with the upcoming Microsoft Live Mesh or Google GDrive. I had been using it in my early days with the internet when that was the only place for safekeeping as well as sharing with friends. Used it for sharing my BTech Project code with my project partners. Used it for keeping backup of some of my important mail attachments.

Ever since Gmail came, I have not needed the Briefcase, Gmail was the one place where I stored everything. Sharing with friends was uncomfortable, but with unlimited space, you didn't care about how many times you mail the same files :).

I have not attempted using Microsoft Live Mesh yet. But tried eSnips for some time, but it was still not Web2.0 standard. Let's see if GDrive matches my expectations....

Mindless driving

2008-05-12T00:19:00.003+05:30

I get reminded of the story about the Monkey's Heart everytime somebody does something crazy on the road. Though in this scenario, instead of the heart, it is the mind that is hidden away safely. Bus, taxi and autorickshaw drivers keep their brains hidden somewhere and imagine (?) themselves to be the sole owners the road and nobody else.
Two incidents today:
This is what I presume goes on in the head (?) of a
1. bus driver:
OK. I am on the right most lane. Looks like there is a bus stop there... OK. Should I stop the bus or not. OK.. Let me stop. OK.. No point stopping on the right most lane. So, let me switch lanes. Who cares about rear-view mirrors. OK.. There is something called a brake pedal. OK.. let's press it.. OK.. Nobody in the stand, so no use stopping. OK.. Lift up the brake pedal, push down the accelerator, turn right and shift to the rightmost lane.
2. taxi driver:
Hey, I drive a Scorpio, very powerful, and very responsive steering. It is nice to wriggle through the road (Snake style, reminded of a friend at IISc who does paambu cycling) at high speed. Who cares about other motorists on the road...

What happens to the other people who keep their brains with them till then??? Get scared, angry, and ultimately lose their mind (?).

Last few days at IISc :(

2008-04-11T16:49:00.001+05:30

Have been starting to think about what I will miss most once I leave IISc. Very few (and mostly involving music), but whatever I will miss, I guess it will be huge. And I can continue to have some things even after I leave.

Rhythmica... First year in IISc, i wasn't very involved with Rhythmica. But, when I became the Music Club Convener, got really involved. Didn't participate much, but kept hanging in the music room while others were practicing. Have had a really nice time there. Even though I can't participate in its programmes, I definitely want to continue hanging out in the music room, which I can, if I have time off my job.
Food at A-mess. Again, first year wasn't significant. 2^nd year was quite significant, once I started hanging out with the Rhythmica guys.
Department lab/sem hall... Exams/presentations mean spending nights at the sem hall or the lab. The sem hall belongs to the 1^st years. So my first year, I spent most of my pre-exam/pre-presentation nights at the sem hall. pre-exam/pre-presentation nights during the 2^nd year were mostly spent at the lab.
The few times I went out with my class mates. I couldn't spend so much time with them in the second year, but had fun...

To be contd...

2008-02-23T23:46:00.000+05:30

I joined LinkedIn!!

Going back home:-)

2006-08-29T18:46:00.000+05:30

Before...
It is the first time I am going back home after staying at IISc (almost a month).
3 days at home. How do I plan to spend the time?
1. Meet the people most important in my life (have been missing them badly).
2. Cousin sister's marriage (actual reason I am going home).
3. Get some stuff that I left behind the first time, because of lack of space.
4. Finish and submit some work assigned by a professor before Sunday.
5. Catch up with old friends in Chennai.
Miss out on badminton for 3 days :(
Not sure if 3 days will be enough for all this and more. Have been really looking forward for (or should it be 'to'?) this trip.
Let's see how it all works out.

Had typed the above text before I started... But couldn't post. Just returned to Bangalore today. And here is what happened at Chennai...

...After
Actually, have done all of the above, but nothing satisfactorily.
Couldn't spend enough time with the people most important to me.
Couldn't help in the marriage arrangements and I felt really bad about that. But was really happy that my sister was getting married and gave her some brotherly talk:-)
Completed the assignment, but agin not satisfactorily.
Catch up with old friends. What? Joking???
It is probably the most unsatisfying 3 days in my life. And the reason? The assignment and what else? 2 days for the assignment. Crazy:-)

At IISc....

2006-08-04T19:22:00.000+05:30

I have been at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore since last Sunday (30 July 2006). More than a week here. What have I been doing?
1. Attending lots of lectures organized by our seniors here (The top finance and consulting companies in the world)
2. Touring the huge IISc campus.
3. Playing Snooker/chess at the Gymkhana
4. Attending a Salsa workshop (great fun, will probably join Salsa classes)
5. Trying a leg at the DJ Night. Flopped miserably... And left the place early :(
6. Getting to know the 19 MBA and 6 research people at the Management department. Having fun.
6. Started classes since today
Found Statistics too huge for me...
MIS was OK..

I have a bad feeling that the academics is going to be tough. Particularly the parts concerning Mathematics.

Lets see. Hoping that the next couple of years are the best.

Excitement

2006-07-24T02:34:00.000+05:30

I have started getting really excited about going to IISc in 6 days.
About staying in a hostel for the first time in my life.
About finding new friends.
About doing new things - playing tennis, and dancing.
About not having my own comp with me.
About not having my bike with me.
And finally, about STUDYING :-)

[ Sent from my mobile phone using the Blogger widget from www.bluepulse.com ]

Recovered (OK, Almost...)

2006-07-20T03:37:00.000+05:30

Have recovered almost completely from my post-surgery and discomfort. Have started taking solid food since yesterday and stopped the pain killers. Still some nagging pain(killing me) in my jaws, which is not letting me sleep now. Hope it goes. And Hopefully, the last word about the problems with my teeth (on this blog).

[ Sent from my mobile phone using the Blogger widget from www.bluepulse.com ]

Got 5 teeth removed

2006-07-12T22:22:00.000+05:30

I have lost 5 of my teeth. How scary. How am I going to survive with fewer teeth? I hope it doesn't matter. I dont remember using them ever. I couldn't have used 3 'cos they were underneath. I told my grandpa that I got 5 teeth removed. And he responded that he got all his teeth removed and now has the teeth set.
3 days for my jaws to heal. Ll be having a liquid diet till then. Hope I get completely recovered within 10 days.:-)

[ Sent from my mobile phone using the Blogger widget from www.bluepulse.com ]

Getting 5 teeth removed

2006-07-11T22:51:00.000+05:30

I am at the Chennai Kaliappa hospital to get 5 of my impacted teeth removed (have 4 more which I will probably get removed after 2 or 3 years). The surgery is at 6 tomorrow morning. Will be under General Anesthesia when my dentist will pull out 2 normal teeth and dig out 3 under-gum teeth. Was scared till evening, but now I am fine. Hope everything works out fine. Paying 1900 for the single A/C room here. Costlier than a 5 star hotel room. All for comfort and luxury.:-)

[ Sent from my mobile phone using the Blogger widget from www.bluepulse.com ]

Relieved from work - Part I

2006-07-05T01:41:00.000+05:30

I was relieved from work at HCL Technologies on June 30, 2006. I had
had an amazing time there for almost 2 years. And all being in a
single project, a maintenance-cum-development project. The team grew
and shrunk all the time, but at any point of time there were 20
people. I have learnt from each person in the team. Different
characteristics - punctuality(Mano), sincerity(Vinu), process(Mohan),
fun(Sebin), and lots of other stuff. My cabin mates were Jossey, Maha,
and Mano. My leads-Mohan, Vijay, Vinu and Srinivasa Rao.
I didn't get too friendly with anyone. The closest I got were Jossey
and Sachin(Marathi).
I gained a lot of respect from the team members. People came for my violin concert, my brother's marriage.

I was also appreciated for my technical abilities. People clarified doubts in Java/Swing from me. My PM sent 2 people(my PL and me) out of a team of 30 for the Sun Tech Days 2006. Towards the end of my tenure, I started interviewing(tech) experienced people to work at HCL.

Dinner

2006-04-22T18:16:00.000+05:30

I always thought dinner was the meal we have during the late evening. But I guess I was wrong. I read this article at wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.com/wiki/dinner . Interesting. :-)

Why blog?

2006-04-19T23:38:00.000+05:30

Some reasons why I started blogging:
1. Because every one does,
2. It seems to be interesting,
3. It is interesting to read other people's blogs; want to know if people will find what I write interesting or not,
4. Got myself a new mobile phone through which I can type and send mails, and blogger gives a way to post blogs through mails,
5. Time pass,
6. An outlet for my feelings.
I am not sure if these are in the right order. Will know soon I guess.

Slam book.:-)

2006-04-18T02:21:00.000+05:30

I was reading my slam book tonight. Started at 1130. Now it is 2.15. Was totally amazed by how people respected me. About how i have been in each of their lives. Dont know if anytime in future, i will be able to do such things. At Sunil's marriage, couldn't talk properly with everyone. Feeling bad for not talking with mani, sumanth, krishna.
What i plan to do for the next few days, is, try to send 1 mail to each 1 in my slam book. Thank them for helping me in whatever they did.
i dont have that kind of attachment to people at work. Never got too close to anybody. Just a few people, Chandramouly, Selvakumar, Jossey, Rajesh, Bobby. But not close enough.
This is my first serious blog. Planning to blog more frequently. Lets see.:-)