khushifairy

Creative Books

2013-08-28T15:29:00.000+05:00

Schedule for Happiness

2012-12-08T17:38:00.000+05:00

Tips for Eye Care

2012-11-21T19:42:00.003+05:00

With so many of us spending lots of time in front of the computer every day it comes to no surprise that research is showing a rise in visual problems. What can one do? First, it's important to find out how you can protect your eyes through eye health exams and by making a few minor changes in your computer viewing habits.

Here are some helpful Eye Care Tips

Positioning is everything

Correct positioning of your computer, keyboard and typing copy is essential. Your screen should be positioned about an arm's length from your eyes and 20 degrees below eye level. Consider foot and wrist rests for added comfort.

Lighting can make all the difference

Room lighting should be diffuse, not direct, to reduce glare and reflections from your screen. Look into an internal or external glare screen and be sure to set your colour, contrast and brightness levels to suit you.

A little extra help for your glasses

Anti-reflective coatings on the lenses of your glasses can be applied by your optometrist to reduce discomfort and to ease reduced vision from bright and/or flickering light sources such as VDTs and fluorescent lights. And don't forget, your doctor of optometry can talk to you about eyeglasses designed specifically for people who use computers a lot.

Take time out, our 20-20-20 rule

Step I :-
After every 20 minutes of looking into the computer screen, turn your
Head and try to look at any object placed at least 20 feet away. This
Changes the focal length of your eyes, a must-do for the tired eyes.

Step II :-
Try and blink your eyes for 20 times in succession, to moisten them.

Step III :-
Time permitting of course, one should walk 20 paces after every 20 minutes
Of sitting in one particular posture. Helps blood circulation for the entire body.

It's all in the blinking

Did you know that on average we blink 12 times per minute? But wait, did you know that when we're on the computer we only blink 5 times per minute? That can add up to dry eyes. Relieve the discomfort by using artificial tear drops or gels and remember to blink!

Palming

Sit straight at your workstation and rub your palms against each other till you feel them warm. The warmth of your palms helps soothe and relax tired eyes. Then, lightly cup your eyes with your palms and relax for 60 seconds. Count the seconds in your mind. Repeat this exercise two to three times whenever your eyes feel tired, or as often as you want. While palming, you can either rest your elbows on your desk or keep away from the desk and cup your eyes. Both ways are fine.

Splash water on your face

During breaks, splash water on your face while closing your eyes. This has an overall relaxing effect and helps you feel refreshed.

Use tea bags

Keep two used tea bags in the refrigerator before you leave for work. Once you are home, place the tea bags on your eyes for a few minutes as you relax. This not only soothes tired eyes, but also reduces puffiness.

Eat healthy

Incorporate Vitamins A, C, and E on a daily basis; eat citrus fruits, green leafy veggies, tomatoes, spinach, poultry and dairy products. Pack a box of chopped carrots, cucumber and fresh fruits and munch in-between meals at the office.

How to Handle Problemtic Child

2012-11-19T21:59:00.000+05:00

Is it difficult to cope with your child's ill temper?

Here are ways you can deal with it without using the stick.

PROBLEM CHILD: Ignorance is the best remedy for tantrums

Some children often have tantrums to prove that they're grownup and dislike being given directions by adults. You know your child has a full-blown temper when he/she cries excessively, screams and even at times hurt themselves. Curb your child's tantrum by handling it the right way.

STICK TO A PLAN
It is important that parents stick to certain ground rules. If your child knows earlier that certain things are not acceptable by you, they will never try crossing paths with you regarding the same. Also, always make sure you have a solid reason for your decision. Don't just state it in order to be authoritative.

DON'T MOCK, YELL OR HIT
Showing that you have authority by screaming at them or beating them up will just do no good. Some parents also replicate the behaviour of their child, thus giving them opportunity to throw more tantrums. Do not respond to their bad behaviour, they will know you are paying attention and will increase their tantrum.

PERSISTENCE IS THE KEY
Never feel sorry for not meeting the demands of your child. It is important to realize that it is about fulfilling your child's needs more than their wants. Trust us, your child will be thankful for this when they become matured.

EXPLAIN THE SITUATION LATER
Once your child is back to normal and has cooled down; make them understand that having tantrums is not a good behaviour, especially for children. Get your child to listen to what you have to say. Do talk to them in a calm manner and treat them with love and affection.

Most Extra-Ordinary Peoples

2012-11-18T23:51:00.000+05:00

10 World's Most Extra-Ordinary Peoples

Age doesn’t matter for the talent…

There are no barriers for success…

Love to Live and Live to Love…
Never look down upon any one unless you are reaching out to help

1. Kim Ung-Yong: Attended University at age 4, Ph.D at age 15; world’s highest IQ

This Korean super-genius was born in 1962 and might just be the smartest guy alive today (he’s recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the highest IQ of anyone on the planet). By the age of four he was already able to read in Japanese, Korean, German, and English. At his fifth birthday, he solved complicated differential and integral calculus problems. Later, on Japanese television, he demonstrated his proficiency in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, German, English, Japanese, and Korean. Kim was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ”; the book estimated the boy’s score at over 210.
Kim was a guest student of physics at Hanyang University from the age of 3 until he was 6. At the age of 7 he was invited to America by NASA. He finished his university studies, eventually getting a Ph.D. in physics at Colorado State University before he was 15. In 1974, during his university studies, he began his research work at NASA and continued this work until his return to Korea in 1978 where he decided to switch from physics to civil engineering and eventually received a doctorate in that field. Kim was offered the chance to study at the most prestigious universities in Korea , but instead chose to attend a provincial university. As of 2007 he also serves as adjunct faculty at Chungbuk National University .

2. Gregory Smith: Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize at age 12

Born in 1990, Gregory Smith could read at age two and had enrolled in university at 10. But “genius” is only one half of the Greg Smith story. When not voraciously learning, this young man travels the globe as a peace and children’s rights activist.
He is the founder of International Youth Advocates, an organization that promotes principles of peace and understanding among young people throughout the world. He has met with Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev and spoke in front of the UN. For these and other humanitarian and advocacy efforts, Smith has been nominated four times for a Nobel Peace Prize. His latest achievement? He just got his driver license.

3. Akrit Jaswal: The Seven Year-Old Surgeon

Akrit Jaswal is a young Indian who has been called “the world’s smartest boy” and it’s easy to see why. His IQ is 146 and is considered the smartest person his age in India —a country of more than a billion people.
Akrit came to public attention when in 2000 he performed his first medical procedure at his family home. He was seven. His patient — a local girl who could not afford a doctor — was eight. Her hand had been burnt in a fire, causing her fingers to close into a tight fist that wouldn’t open. Akrit had no formal medical training and no experience of surgery, yet he managed to free her fingers and she was able to use her hand again.
He focused his phenomenal intelligence on medicine and at the age of twelve he claimed to be on the verge of discovering a cure for cancer. He is now studying for a science degree at Chandigarh College and is the youngest student ever accepted by an Indian University .

4. Cleopatra Stratan: a 3 year old singer who earns 1000€ per song

Clepotra was born October 6, 2002 in Chisinau , Moldova and is the daughter of Moldovan-Romanian singer, Pavel Stratan. She is the youngest person ever to score commercial success as a singer, with her 2006 album La vârsta de trei ani (”At the age of 3″). She holds the record for being the youngest artist that performed live for two hours in front of a large audience, the highest paid young artist, the youngest artist to receive an MTV award and the youngest artist to score a #1 hit in a country (”Ghita” in Romanian Singles Chart).

5. Aelita Andre: The 2-year-old artist who showed her paintings in a famous Gallery

The abstract paintings of emerging artist Aelita Andre have people in Australia ’s art world talking.. Aelita is two (the works were painted when she was even younger).
Aelita got an opportunity to show her paintings when Mark Jamieson, the director of Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne ’s Fitzroy, was asked by a photographer whose work he represented to consider the work of another artist. Jamieson liked what he saw and agreed to include it in a group show.
Jamieson then started to promote the show, printing glossy invitations and placing ads in the magazines Art Almanac and Art Collector, featuring the abstract work. Only then did he discover a crucial fact about the new artist: Aelita Andre is Kalashnikova’s daughter, and was just 22 months old. Jamieson was shocked and embarrassed but decided to proceed with the exhibition anyway.

6. Saul Aaron Kripke: Invited to apply for a teaching post at Harvard while still in high school

A rabbi’s son, Saul Aaron Kripke was born in New York and grew up in Omaha in 1940. By all accounts he was a true prodigy. In the fourth grade he discovered algebra, and by the end of grammar school he had mastered geometry and calculus and taken up philosophy. While still a teenager he wrote a series of papers that eventually transformed the study of modal logic. One of them earned a letter from the math department at Harvard, which hoped he would apply for a job until he wrote back and declined, explaining, “My mother said that I should finish high school and go to college first”. After finishing high school, the college he eventually chose was Harvard.
Kripke was awarded the Schock Prize, philosophy’s equivalent of the Nobel. Nowadays, he is thought to be the world’s greatest living philosopher.

7. Michael Kevin Kearney: earned his first degree at age 10 and became a reality show Millionaire.

24 year-old Michael Kearney became known as the world’s youngest college graduate at the age of 10. In 2008, Kearney earned $1,000,000 on the television game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Kearny was born in 1984 and is was known for setting several world records and teaching college at the age of 17.
He spoke his first words at four months. At the age of six months, he said to his pediatrician “I have a left ear infection” and learned to read at the age of ten months. When Michael was four, he was given diagnostic tests for the Johns Hopkins precocious math program and achieved a perfect score. He finished high school at age 6, enrolled at Santa Rosa Junior College graduating at 10 with an Associate of Science in Geology. He is listed in the Guinness Book as the world’s youngest university graduate at the age of 10, receiving a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. For a while, he also held the record for the world’s youngest postgraduate.
But in 2006, he became worldwide famous after reaching the finals on the Mark Burnett/AOL quiz/puzzle game Gold Rush, and became the first $1 million winner in the online reality game.

8. Fabiano Luigi Caruana: a chess prodigy who became the youngest Grandmaster at age 14

Fabulous Fabiano is a 16-year-old chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy with dual citizenship of Italy and the United States .
On 2007 Caruana became a Grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 20 days – the youngest Grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United States . In the April 2009 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2649, making him the world’s highest ranked player under the age of 18.

9. Willie Mosconi: played professional Billiards at age 6

William Joseph Mosconi, nicknamed “Mr. Pocket Billiards” was a American professional pocket billiards (pool) player from Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Willie’s father owned a pool hall where he wasn’t allowed to play, but Willie improvised by practicing with small potatoes from his mother’s kitchen and an old broomstick. His father soon realized that his son was a child prodigy began advertising challenge matches, and though Willie had to stand on a box in order to reach the table, he beat experienced players many years his senior.
In 1919, an exhibition match was arranged between six-year old Willie and the reigning World Champion, Ralph Greenleaf. The hall was packed, and though Greenleaf won that match, Willie played very well launching his career in professional billiards. In 1924, at the tender age of eleven, Willie was the juvenile straight pool champion and was regularly holding trick shot exhibitions.
Between the years of 1941 and 1957, he won the BCA World Championship of pool an unmatched fifteen times. Mosconi pioneered and employed numerous trick shots, set many records, and helped to popularize the game of billiards. He still holds the officially recognized straight pool high run record of 526 consecutive balls.

10. Elaina Smith: youngest agony aunt aged 7

Her local radio station gave her the job after she rang and offered advice to a woman caller who had been dumped. Elaina’s tip — go bowling with pals and drink a mug of milk — was so good she got a weekly slot and now advises thousands of adult listeners. The littler adviser tackles problems ranging from how to dump boyfriends and how to cope with relationship breakdown to dealing with smelly brothers.
When one listener wrote to Elaina asking how to get a man, she replied: “Shake your booty on the dance floor and listen to High School Musical”. Another caller asked how to get her man back, Elaina told her: “He’s not worth the heartache. Life’s too short to be upset with a boy.”

10 Craziest Green Ideas

2012-11-17T22:34:00.000+05:00

Hotel offers free meal to guests who are willing to generate electricity

The Crown Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen , Denmark , is offering a free meal to any guest who is able to produce electricity for the hotel on an exercise bike attached to a generator. Guests will have to produce at least 10 watt hours of electricity - roughly 15 minutes of cycling for someone of average fitness. They will then be given meal vouchers worth $36 (26 euros).

Disco pub gets electricity produced by people dancing at specially modified dance floor

All the flashing strobes and pounding speakers at the dance club are massive consumers of electrical power. So Bar Surya, in London, re-outfitted its floor with springs that, when compressed by dancers, could produce electrical current that would be stored in batteries and used to offset some of the club's electrical burden. The club's owner, Andrew Charalambous, said the dance floor can now power 60 percent of the club's energy needs.

University constructs a green roof as a gathering place

Green design is an enormously popular trend in modern architecture, just take a look at this amazing green roof at the School of Art , Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore . This 5-story facility sweeps a wooded corner of the campus with an organic, vegetated form that blends landscape and structure, nature and high-tech and symbolizes the creativity it houses. The roofs serve as informal gathering spaces challenging linear ideas and stirring perception. The roofs create open space, insulate the building, cool the surrounding air and harvest rainwater for landscaping irrigation. Planted grasses mix with native greenery to colonize the building and bond it to the setting.

Designer creates a sink that uses wasted water to grow a plant

Made of polished stained concrete, the Zen Garden Sink has a channel that allows the water used while washing your hands to water a plant. Created by young Montreal designer Jean-Michel Gauvreau the sink comes in single or double basin model. The sink is designed in a way you won't get your plants all soapy. There is a main drain at the bottom of the basin for soapy grime. Your little plant friend just gets whatever you choose to dole out.

Designer creates a shower that forces you to leave when you've wasted too much water

20% of our total domestic energy usage is from hot water for showering and bathing. That's over 6 times the energy usage of domestic lighting. So designer Tommaso Colia came up with his eco-friendly shower design that will force you to get out when you take too long and waste much water. The eco_drop shower features beautiful concentric circles that will rise to force you to stop showering when you take too long, and accordingly save water.

Designer creates light-switch that changes colors to teach children how to save energy

Teaching the importance of energy conservation is the goal of this design from Tim Holley. He calls it Tio, and it's a ghost-shaped light switch that gives kids a visual reminder of how much energy they've used by leaving lights on. Tio starts out green and smiling. If the light is left on for more than four hours, he turns yellow and looks shocked. And if you dare to leave that light on for more than eight hours, sweet little Tio turns into a raging red hulk, complete with frowny mouth and angry eyes. But he won't just visually remind your kids about their energy habits; information from the light switch is sent to Tio's computer program so the entire family can see how they're doing. In a brilliant piece of visual positive reinforcement, Holley's program lets kids grow a â€œvirtual treeâ€ which gets bigger and healthier the more energy they save.

Environmental company creates a staple-free stapler to avoid staple pollution

Staples are supposed to be so bad to the environment that a company decided to create a staple-free stapler. This product promises to make collation eco-friendly. Instead of using those thin metal planet-killers, the staple-free stapler "cuts out tiny strips of paper and uses the strips to stitch up to five pieces of paper together." You can even order them customized with your corporate logo so you can, you know, brag about what your company is doing to stop the staple epidemic.

Company creates a desktop printer that doesn't use ink nor paper

Who says printers only use paper to print documents? It's time for you to meet the PrePeat Printer then. Different from conventional printers, PrePeat adopts a thermal head to print on specially-made plastic sheets. These plastic sheets are not merely water-proof, but could be easily erased, just feed the sheets through the printer again, and a different temperature will erase everything or just write over it. Also claimed by the manufacturer, such one sheet could be used up to 1,000 times so that you'll reduce your expenses on paper for sure.

Designer creates an iPhone charger powered by a hand grip

Alphabets of Happiness

2012-11-17T19:22:00.000+05:00

A--Accept
Accept others for who they are and for the choices they've made even if you have difficulty understanding their beliefs, motives, or actions.

B--Break Away
Break away from everything that stands in the way of what you hope to accomplish with your life.

C--Create
Create a family of friends whom you can share your hopes, dreams, sorrows, and happiness with.

D--Decide
Decide that you'll be successful and happy come what may, and good things will find you. The roadblocks are only minor obstacles along the way.

E--Explore
Explore and experiment. The world has much to offer, and you have much to give. And every time you try something new, you'll learn more about yourself.

F--Forgive
Forgive and forget. Grudges only weigh you down and inspire unhappiness and grief. Soar above it, and remember that everyone makes mistakes.

G--Grow
Leave the childhood monsters behind. They can no longer hurt you or stand in your way.

H--Hope
Hope for the best and never forget that anything is possible as long as you remain dedicated to the task.

I--Ignore
Ignore the negative voice inside your head. Focus instead on your goals and remember your accomplishments. Your past success is only a small inkling of what the future holds.

J--Journey
Journey to new worlds, new possibilities, by remaining open-minded. Try to learn something new every day, and you'll grow.

K--Know
Know that no matter how bad things seem, they'll always get better. The warmth of spring always follows the harshest winter.

L--Love
Let love fill your heart instead of hate. When hate is in your heart, there's room for nothing else, but when love is in your heart, there's room for endless happiness.

M--Manage
Manage your time and your expenses wisely, and you'll suffer less stress and worry. Then you'll be able to focus on the important things in life.

N--Notice
Never ignore the poor, infirm, helpless, weak, or suffering. Offer your assistance when possible, and always your kindness and understanding.

O--Open
Open your eyes and take in all the beauty around you. Even during the worst of times, there's still much to be thankful for.

P--Play
Never forget to have fun along the way. Success means nothing without happiness.

Q--Question
Ask many questions, because you're here to learn.

R--Relax
Refuse to let worry and stress rule your life, and remember that things always have a way of working out in the end.

S--Share
Share your talent, skills, knowledge, and time with others. Everything that you invest in others will return to you many times over.

T--Try
Even when your dreams seem impossible to reach, try anyway. You'll be amazed by what you can accomplish.

U--Use
Use your gifts to your best ability. Talent that's wasted has no value. Talent that's used will bring unexpected rewards.

V--Value
Value the friends and family members who've supported and encouraged you, and be there for them as well.

W--Work
Work hard every day to be the best person you can be, but never feel guilty if you fall short of your goals. Every sunrise offers a second chance.

X--X-Ray
Look deep inside the hearts of those around you and you'll see the goodness and beauty within.

Y--Yield
Yield to commitment. If you stay on track and remain dedicated, you'll find success at the end of the road.

Z--Zoom
Zoom to a happy place when bad memories or sorrow rears its ugly head. Let nothing interfere with your goals. Instead, focus on your abilities, your dreams, and a brighter tomorrow.

Funny - Canadian Government

2012-11-07T16:16:00.000+05:00

An Alberta cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects It to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has

been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel Spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, Miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and Says,
"You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the Cowboy.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"
"You're a member of parliament for the Canadian Government", says the cowboy.
"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"
"No guessing required." answered the cowboy.

"You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a herd of sheep. Now give me back my dog."

Some Inspirational Thoughts

2012-07-27T12:03:00.000+05:00

Rajesh Khana kay Liaay Aanso

2012-07-24T08:43:00.004+05:00

Pakistani (BIKKAY HUWAY) Media se Sawal.

Rajesh Khana ki Mout per Aanso, Magar Burma me Muslims k Qatal per Khamoshi

KIUN???

Beautiful World

2012-05-31T20:33:00.002+05:00

Capilano Suspension Bridge,British Columbia

Hubei, China

Santorini, Greece

Greece

Benteng Chittorgarh, India

Marble Caves, Chile

Alesund, Norway

Skaftafeli, Iceland

Palm Island, Dubai

Fifa Stadium, Qatar

The Pearl Waterfall, China

Mount Roraima, Venezuela

Boracay Island, Philippines

The Moses Bridge, Netherlands

Jordan, Petra

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Poseidon Undersea Resort, Fiji

Ubud Hanging Gardens, Indonesia

Monticello Dam, California

Gipslend Lake, Australia

Sameba Cathedral, Tbilisi

Songjiang Hotel, China

Tianmen Mountain, China

Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Meteora, Greece

For Food Lovers

2011-12-09T16:26:00.001+05:00

You Can Do It

2011-12-01T16:28:00.001+05:00

I found this at Paula's blog, and found very useful. :)

Wish of a Million Dollar

2011-11-18T13:04:00.001+05:00

Great Quotes

2011-11-12T00:34:00.001+05:00

Eid Mubarak

2011-11-11T03:15:00.001+05:00

Losses and Achievements

2011-11-11T03:00:00.001+05:00

LOSSES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Woman 26 to 73

2011-11-10T23:33:00.001+05:00

Fresh Flowers

2011-10-11T01:32:00.003+05:00

Brother and Sister - A Beautiful Relation

2011-10-10T23:53:00.000+05:00

STORY OF A BROTHER AND SISTER

My First Pizza Baking

2011-06-13T22:13:00.000+05:00

“You can never make anything,” this was my sister who had started shouting at me while I was surfing on the internet.

I was startled at this unexpected situation, controlling my emotions asked: “what happened?”

She continued: “you have no sense of responsibility! Look at your room, how careless and untidy you are.” I looked around my room . . . it was not untidy exactly, infact it seemed more artistic and creative. I always hated those typical neat and tidy rooms, where everything is decorated on its fixed place. After all, KHUSHIFAIRY ought to have some distinction from other traditional rooms, eh? But my sister could never understand. I gave an expression of you-can-never-reach-to-my-level saying: “duh.”

She started again but in a calmer tone now: “Listen khushi! You know I am very busy these days with my tests, so you should show some responsibility.” She stood facing me, expecting some better response.

“Oh sis! I am not in a mood to take any lectures from you.” I felt I had made it but this time something different happened.

She came nearer very smoothly expressing as she-already-knew-this, and said: “poor khushi! Can never grow up, make up all herself. She can never handle the house errands, she is totally irresponsible and useless.” DDAH, DAAH, DAHHHH . . . this was really annoying, I blurted: “hey hey, excuse me! How did u say that? I can do everything . . .”

“Then what is the problem in proving it?” she interrupted.

“What do you want to see?” I had now started to accept the challenge. She was geared up: “why don’t you cook something today? Let us see what and how you do it?”

“Not a big deal, what would you like to eat?”

“Ummmmm . . . Pizza.”

Stars started twinkling over my head, I had never cooked any simple meal and here she is demanding a PIZZA, and from ME? My mind started fading away all its thoughts, PIZZA . . . PIZZA. Had I ever thought about its baking whenever I had eaten it. Was it really ME who was listening to all this crap.

I returned hearing her: “Haaah, I knew that, you can never make anything.”

I was not to remain silent now, “so you are challenging me, eh?”

“Yeah. . . sort of.”

At that time I wanted to cry loudly throwing away all the tension I had just received, but I controlled my self and switched off the computer, pushed back my chair and stood up facing her like a soldier who was going on a mission from where his return was not sure.

“OK, then see you at the dinner.” She grinned. “So we are gonna have pizza made by khushi, the great CHEF. . . Waww! Good Luck!!!“ She had left the room.

Ahh man, what the heck was this? Why did I accept her challenge, who is making pizza for the dinner?

I came up with a great idea and felt contended. Why not order for PIZZA home delivery! The plan sound cool and safe, but her evil face appeared in my mind, grinning with all her yellow teeth at me and widely opened eyes, repeating her words “…we are gonna have pizza made by khushi the great CHEF. . . huhuhuhuhuh, hahahahahahahah . . .”

No khushi no, I have to make it by my self, and I will. Yes. I went to the kitchen, a place I had hardly been to, it was quite strange to be in there having no idea what all those cupboards had in them. An extremely tough time was ahead. I saw some cooking books at the shelf and picked one with most attractive cover and pictures in it. Next what, I was going to follow a pizza recipe. I got one for pepperoni pizza, but the ingredients, they were so difficult to pronounce even. Now I had to search for the things. I opened the cabinets and found few items there, thanks to my sister that she had written names on each jar, other wise I would have suffered a lot.

Few things were missing and I realized I had to visit the market for them. I listed and headed off towards the local market. I bought pepperoni slices, ketchup, oregano, mushrooms, and came across a ready made pizza base. An evil thought came into my mind, what if I take these dough, nobody will see me and nobody will know it . . . but then my conscience fluctuated, NO KHUSHI NO, THIS IS NOT YOU, YOU CAN’T CHEAT ‘EM. I returned back home.

I set everything on the slab, and phew . . . what was that time I accepted her challenge, WHY?

Anyway, I started with the pizza dough. Following the recipe, I tried my best to knead the dough, mixing the white flour, yeast (aah, how awful it had smelt!), olive oil, warm water, salt and sugar altogether. Next came the making of pizza sauce. At first, it seemed the most difficult stage, but thank God I enjoyed the most while making it. I made a very spicy tomato sauce, and after tasting it I gained some confidence. Hey khushi, you are not that bad at cooking. Then I moved for the toppings, I chopped the capsicum, pepperoni slices, mushrooms, and shredded the cheese.

Further, I rolled the dough and made 3 family sized pizza bases. Then spread the sauce on it. There was a pleasant feeling that I am baking pizza, I – khushifairy – oh my GOD! it was so unrealistic for me to work for 2 – 3 hours in the kitchen and also not cooking something but baking a pizza. Then I spread the topping and sprinkled some oregano on the top and it was just ready to go to the oven.

Being very much careful, I placed it in the gas oven, started my stopwatch, and went to my room, very very excited, could not hide my feelings, so I started calling all my friends and telling them proudly and confidently that I am making pepperoni pizzas. Few of my friends were badly shocked, and few weren’t believing, then one of my close friend – who was also in a great trauma – asked me to capture some pictures of it and share it on my blog for proof. That was really a nice idea, because this was my first time to make something, a big victory of mine.

After some time I checked my pizza, it was almost baked, so I arranged the dinner table, and arranged the plates with drink. I rushed to my sister’s room, knocked and eager to hear: “com’in,” I entered with a look of victory and success, I asked her to come down for the dinner. She saw me from head to toe very slowly, then I realized that how funny I was looking, my hair had gone white because of flour, and some flour was sticking on my hair, there was some sauce at the bottom of my face, I didn’t knew when it got there (probably while I tasted it), and the worst were my clothes, my baby pink shirt had turned grey, with red patches of sauce on it.

After looking at myself I lifted my head to her and smiled very innocently, she started laughing and explained: “dear, there is something called an apron in the kitchen, you should have used it“. She blurted out laughing again.

Anyhow, I walked back to kitchen and saw that APRON hanging behind the door, I asked my self, am I blind? Why had not I seen this before. Duh, but the beautiful aroma of the delicious pizza diverted my attention. I took out the pizza, WOW! how delicious it had smelt. I pushed it in the serving plate and took it to the table, jumping with excitement, infact screaming. At that moment I wanted to fly, I was so happy about the remarkable pizza made by me. Both my brother and sister were impressed and quite stunned at my condition. I did not care, I just placed the second pizza in the oven, and started to enjoy the first one. They praised a lot, and I myself was really enjoying the taste, yummmmyyy. . . It was a beautiful feeling that I made those pizzas all by myself. They asked me to bake pizza again some other day, and I answered: "oh, sure no problem for me..."

That night I was thinking that it was really not that difficult to do some house chores and especially cooking, indeed it was a great fun. And one must try out such lovely activities. As I had done (or was made to. . .) Since that day, it enlivens me each time I recall MY FIRST PIZZA BAKING.

My First Chocolate Cake Success

2011-06-13T22:06:00.000+05:00

Earth Wallpapers

2011-06-07T16:19:00.000+05:00

Worlds largest University for Women

2011-05-29T16:22:00.001+05:00

RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah inaugurated Sunday the SR20-billion Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University (PNU), 25 km east of the Saudi capital, amid cheers of over 2,000 students and faculty members. With a capacity to enroll about 50,000 students, the PNU is the largest women-only university in the world and part of an ambitious education plan of the Saudi government.

Giant storm grips Saturn

2011-05-21T03:27:00.000+05:00

European and American astronomers have teamed up to study a rare storm on Saturn in more detail than ever before possible.

The ringed planet’s gaseous surface normally looks placid. But once every 30 Earth years or so - one Saturn year - as spring washes over its northern half, something stirs deep below the clouds, scientists say, leading to a great planet-wide disturbance.

There’s now “a gigantic, violent and complex eruption of bright cloud material, which has spread to encircle the entire planet,” said Leigh Fletcher of the University of Oxford, U.K., lead author of a study on the events to appear May 19 in the research journal Science.

An instrument on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, orbiting the giant planet, first detected the storm last December. Astronomers analyzed it in further detail with an infrared camera on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal, Chile. Amateur astronomers have also joined the hunt. Only the sixth such storm spotted since 1876, it’s also the first to be observed by an orbiting craft and to be studied in the thermal infrared light, which reveals temperature variations in the storm.

Previous studies “have only been able to use reflected sunlight, but now, by observing thermal infrared light for the first time, we can reveal hidden regions of the atmosphere and measure the really substantial changes in temperatures and winds,” Fletcher said.

The storm may have originated deep down in the water clouds where a thunderstorm-like process triggered a huge “convective plume,” scientists say: just as hot air rises above a heater, a mass of gas would have headed up and punched through Saturn’s usually calm upper atmosphere. The huge disturbances interact with the circulating winds moving east and west and cause wild temperature swings high up in the skies.

“Our new observations show that the storm had a major effect on the atmosphere, transporting energy and material over great distances, modifying the atmospheric winds - creating meandering jet streams and forming giant vortices - and disrupting Saturn’s slow seasonal evolution,” adds Glenn Orton of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., another of the researchers.

Some unexpected features seen through the Very Large Telescope have been dubbed “stratospheric beacons”—warm spots in the stratosphere, 250 to 300 km (155 to 190 miles) above lower atmosphere cloud tops, that show how far upward the storm’s effects extend. Saturn’s stratosphere is normally around minus 130 degrees Celsius (minus 200 Fahrenheit) at this season but the beacons are measured to be 15-20 degrees Celsius warmer.

That means that though they’re invisible in to the unaided eye, they can outshine the rest of the planet in the thermal infrared light, astronomers say. They had never been detected before, so researchers aren’t sure how common they are. “We are continuing to observe this once-in-a-generation event,” Fletcher said.