Quotes ReLived…
The following is a list of simple sayings that we come across in our day to day life but there is a lot of truth attached to these sayings.
a)Free advices are of no value. Refrain from giving/taking them.
b)You reap what you sow. I am happy about this and I hope everyone reaps what they sow 
c)Fair players always win. Values take people far.And this is NO understatement .It IS meant to be taken seriously.
d)Good things in life don’t come easily.Things that come easily don’t last long.
e)Hard work ALWAYS pays off and pays off well. There are no exceptions to this rule. There is nothing called luck.
f)Have lot of acquaintances but chosen few friends.
g)Make hay while the sun shines. (Corporate Equivalent : Make money while the market is good. 
h)Never take things for granted….your name, your pay check, your work , the little appreciations that you get, and everything else…
i)Pride goes beyond fall but a pleasant demeanor always rewards.
j)More often than not,when you get down the ladder, you come across the very same people you came across on your way up.
k)There are places where faking ignorance helps. (You can interpret this whichever way you want).
l)Attach lot of importance to your time. Indulge in constructive discussions and most importantly, be open to differences..
m) Last but not the least, all that happens, happens for the good. There are no exceptions to this rule also.
While most of the above has been said by great people, there is another saying by a great person, which is : “Stop being self centred. When you only talk about yourself, you end up boring the rest”.
Author : Your’s Truly.
Current Mood : Joyful.
Reason: In the posts to come..For now all I can do is quote Paul Cohelo…”When you really want something to happen , the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true“. Life is beautiful and Kannan continues to be my lucky charm.
My Songs
Today I am posting the link to some of my many songs recorded by Kannan. The following link contains a set of songs that Kannan recorded today. This is like a starter and I am sure I have a long way to go. :-)
Why I love you..
It has been more than two months since I wrote anything.Like always,work has been the reason.But it is never too late.So here comes my next post..This I am posting after too much hesitation. Not because I am short of words or anything,but because I felt I should not be putting up all these personal things online.But later I thought what the heck.If I feel like it , I’l post it. 
I keep telling Kannan n number of times a day that I love him more than a certain limit. He in turn asks me “But why?? Why do you love me so much?”. I then start telling him a dozen reasons until he stops me. So somehow I never finished telling him all the reasons.Today I decided to let him why through this post So here it is :
I love you because you taught me to enjoy life. I love you because despite reminding me a dozen times how matured I should behave in front of people,you keep treating me like a kid,the very next second. You have totally spoilt my ways. I just have to set my eyes on anything I want . And by the time I know what is happening, it is already mine.
I love you because whenever I walk up to you with office problems cribbing about half a dozen people at my workplace half a dozen times ,instead of sympathizing with me,you offer me solutions to handle my problems.
I love you for having brought out the cook in me. I love you even more because you never took advantage of the fact that I cook well. 
Instead each time you saw me in the kitchen you came running to me and said we should go out and eat since you felt I got too tired, while the fact would have been that I would have just entered the kitchen
I love that you love to listen to all that I have to say after work , even though half the times, something else keeps going on in your mind.Each time you know you are caught,I love the way you react. I love the way you proudly repeat all that I would have told you, only to prove your point.
Whenever I keep awake till late in the night because of office work,I love to see you keep awake even when you don’t have to,just to make me feel I am not alone.This is even after I tell you to go and sleep.I love the way you strike a balance between professional and personal life.I love the way you manage your office work smartly. I love the fact that you hardly discuss your work at home,even though you have much more responsibilities at work than me. I love your talk.I love your walk.I love your style.I love your brain.I love you.
I love watching you silently when you read those geeky magazines. I love to see you come back to me after reading those magazines and sharing all those boring geeky stuff enthusiastically with me. I love that satisfied look on your face after you finish reading a chess book . I love the way you put your little brain to full use! Although it irritates me like hell when I see what you do to our study room,I confess that I love the way you have cluttered it up with wires , servers etc.Thanks to you, it is no more a study room, it is a lab now..I love your passion to try out everything new, learn new languages, experiment with new gadgets,etc.
I love you for having made me realize that I also love games.I love the way you introduced Xbox360 and NintendoWii to me. I love that look on your face when you realize it has been more than 4 hours and we are still playing! I love the fact that we have so many common interests. I love the way you shout at me when I am totally illogical, I love it even more when you come back to me in a minute and calm me down saying a sorry even if it is MY mistake. I love the fact that you are as lazy as I am…actually much lazier than I am..;) I love the fact that even then you could get hyper active if you want to , just like me. I love the way you respect elders. I love the way you treat kids. I totally love the way you keep reassuring me every now and then that you are there always for me. I love you for not having changed at all since the time we got to know each other. I love you for sending me all those instant messages n number of times a day to let me know how much you love me. I love the way you laugh it off when I tell you not to do that saying there would be people at my desk. I love the way you take care of me when I fall sick.I love the fact that even if I sneeze, it is falling sick for you.
I love the fact that you have so many interesting things to talk about.I totally love to see you be just the way you should be..
I love the way you make funny faces each time I go into a shell. I love the way you make me tell what is it that is bothering me.
I love the fact that you have achieved so much in life ,so early. And I am proud of the fact that this is not limited to your professional life alone. I love to see that despite all this, you are so down to earth,and have never allowed success to get to your head.I love the way you handle problems. I love the way you safely keep delegating all money matters to me.I love it that you are you , no matter what. And I love it that you would be there for me, no matter what.
I love you when you ask me “Why do you love me so much?”
Useful Trivia
I have a selfish reason behind naming this post something like this. Obviously it is to attract more visitors to my page. Considering the frequency at which I post, I dont know if I have regular visitors to my website.I remember to write only when some of my friends occasionally remind me that I like to write. .
The purpose of this post is to make the ones who are new to Bangalore,familiar with good restaurants here.I m sure many of you would agree with me if I say that it is difficult to find a nice place to dine here.I have been to quiet a few eat outs in B’lore ,and there are hardly any good ones. Either the ambience sucks or the food sucks or the prices suck! . I am extremely choosy about food,and have a taste for good food.So you can comfortably consider my recommendations.
Note : The restaurants below have been recommended purely keeping the taste in mind and nothing else..
a) Mast Kalandar : A meal at this place is very light but filling at the same time. Their great indian combo meal is simply superb! You get a mixed veg salad,2 rotis , a cup of pulao,tasty raitha,authentic shahi paneer, delicious chole masala,dal makhani,and one big gulab jamoon.It is reasonably priced and the ambience is okayish. A meal for two could cost you upto 400 bucks with taxes. Waiting time is slightly high.An intersting trivia about this place is that it was started by a group of IITians.
b)Beijing Bites and Bangalore Mandarin : Refer my previous posts for reviews on this.
c)Oye Amritsar: Located next to Amoeba Church street, this place is famous for it’s very authentic North Indian food. Their Makki di Roti and Sarson ka saag are my all time favourites.Dont forget to try the lassi here. They serve lassi in really tall tumblers and the lassii tastes really good after a full meal.
d)Krishna’s Kafe : This place needs no introduction. Atleast this is what I thought until I started realising that there are too many who havent heard of it. If you are in bangalore and love South Indian food it would be a sin not knowing of this restaurant. Unlimited authentic South Indian lunches are their speciality.The place is generally very crowded during the weekend.Itz very small, located adjacent Anand Sweets Koramangala and can be easily missed out. You have to be really alert when you are looking out for this place. I have been visting this place regularly since 4 years. I used to have my lunch and dinner here,during my PG days…that is,when I was working for Tavant Technologies,Koramangala. I can say that they have been doing hell of a job in terms of consistency. Today , Krishnas is exactly what i t used to be 4 years back.The prices have doubled though.A full meal costs around 95 bucks. But I can guarantee you that a meal here is worth it’s price.
e)Mark Boulevard : Multi cuisine restaurant and a place to go for if you are looking for some great food with ultra great ambience. A meal for two could cost you around 800 bucks. So you can consider treating yourself here if it is your birthday or your wedding anniversary or a team lunch sponsored by your company.
f)Bombay Post : It would be very unfair if I dont write about ‘Bombay Post’. This restaurant is so good that your taste buds will literally crave to have more here. Bollywood is their theme. So you will find lot of posters of Hindi actresses and also get to hear good old hindi songs. Although Pindi chole is what most of the people say they like here, I felt it tasted similar to what it tastes like in the other restaurants.Personally I liked their ‘Kalonji ka baingan’ , paneer starters and their ‘aam ka panna’. Priced slightly on the higher side,a three course meal for two could cost you around 700-800 bucks. But this place is worth every bit of it and will keep you longing to come back again and again. There is an Indijoes restaurant in the same premises but please refrain from going to this place although they claim to be of the very same group as Bombay post’s.
g)Gramin : Located in Raheja Arcade Koramanga, Gramin specialises in North Indian food. I am a die hard fan of the ‘Arbi chatpata’ starter here. All their side dishes taste yum. Finish off your meal here with a jalreera, masala chaas or aam ka panna. Infact I suggest that you order Aam ka panna and Arbi chatpata and have them together. OMG..The very thought of it makes my mouth water..I am gonna call up hubby now and ask him about the feasibility of taking me there for dinner tonight.
There are some more restaurants which we are planning to try out sometime..The ones in the list are Mainland China,French Quarter,Casa picola,South Indies and Sunny’s. You can expect a review on these soon.
All said I would really like you to try out the food at all the above places and let me know if the review helped. Happy eating!
Read at your own risk.Not a goody goody post. :)
Artificial smiles,fake accents,rude humor,unnecessary attempt at manipulation,sarcasm at the wrong places and favoritism at the work place…have seen all of these.My urge to go the entrepreneur way is getting stonger and stronger by the day.Since the last few months I have been working like there is no tomorrow..At this point, moving into a new project is a break that I always wanted and a whole new experience .I am totally looking forward to the freshness.
An ideal work enironment according to me is one where no one cares about anything other than the end result.This means one should be able to work without the apprehensions of who all a mailing list should contain(or not contain), or why a certain person was never involved in a call, or anything that even remotely matches the above.While I consider myself lucky to have had the oppurtunity of working with some really great minds, I confess that I did/do come across some sick poeple also..some very pretentious people…the ones who are loud for the sake of it…the ones who keep bragging,the ones who are rude and dominate the innocent ones,the ones who try to fake an impression that they are polite when they are actually not,and the ones who are plain cheap..To me upholoding my dignity and self respect are THE most important things.I keep wondering why people cannot get more dignified/real/polite? I dont see why it has become so important in todays world to let down someone to prove ones worth.I wouldnt mind being acceptive of this,if you had stuff…but it gets irritating when you try flaunting what you dont have..now that according to me is what you call CHEAP.Only when you are not confident that you are right,you try getting politically right.Before I make this post more bitter,I better end it right away..:-) Reiterating that I urgently need to think of enterpreneurship where things would be more under my control..I am not too sure of my technical skills, not too sure of my functional skills either..but very sure of three things..my will power,my commitment levels,and my spouse’s support, besides the fact that when I put my heart and soul in something,I end up achieivng it, no matter what..It is like the alchemist theory,which says when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true.I am home finally after a day long work, and I cannot help saying, that home is bliss,and anyone having a spouse like mine is blessed.
It is all about Chinese these days…
My taste for food has changed drastically over the last few days.And when this happens,hubby and I keep trying new restaurants like crazy.Both of us are highly appreciative of good food.While he in particular likes trying out food of different origins,I am not too much of a risk taker.My menu was pretty much limited to North Indian food until a few weeks back when hubby introduced me to Chinese.From then on there is this extreme craving for Chinese food.Hubby is kinda regretting having introduced me to this ,coz I have started compelling him to take me out for dinner almost once in every 5 days. My very first experience with Chinese food started with Beijing Bites.Good place! Located at Indiranagar,80 feet road adjacent to ‘Pongal’ restaurant,this place has truly good ambiance with prompt service.On weekends,it is better to get a table booked because it tends to get a lil crowded in the nights.The food tastes good,particularly their Thai variety.In fact the Thai there is better than their Chinese,and the price is quiet decent too.A vegetarian meal for two would cost you around 350 bucks.Yes,I am a vegetarian in the true sense of the term. The starters that you should look out for are Pan Fried Mushroom Chunkin style and Veg. Fried Dumpling.For the soups,Lemon Grass and TomYam are safe bets.For the main course,you could comfortably try Phad Khi Mao,Phad Thai or any of their rice items with a dash of coke.Stir Fried Broccoli,Mixed Veg. Hongkong Babycorn,Buddhas delight or Diced Vegetables In Choice Of Sauce will make good gravies. My personal favorites are Buddha’s delight and phad ki thai.Almost everything on their menu tastes good,but I have a mild feeling they tend to overuse MSG and corn flour.So when you go there,it would help to tell the waiters to reduce the MSG content in your food.
If you are looking for restaurants that are less crowded,and offer yummy food,with great ambiance but price a little on the higher side,you should try and visit Mandarin Bangalore,in Indiranagar.With an ultra good ambiance the restaurant boasts of authentic Chinese food.I have been regularly visiting this place and I found the restaurant to be highly consistent in terms of quality and service.The restaurant is very inviting.The waiters here are very polite,and food close to authentic Chinese.(I am happy it is not totally Chinese,because I wonder if I would be able to eat it myself. ).The menu has lot of options for vegetarians unlike many other chinese restaurants.You can comfortably try anything mentioned on their menu and I bet you will not be disappointed.They can try and do better on the starters’ front though,because the starters section lacks variety,although their baby corn starter is a must try.Stir Fried Chinese greens’ ,’Buddhas delight’ in their gravies section are absolute hits.Except for their baby cornm starter the remaining starters can be given a miss.An extravagant three cousre meal for two can cost you around 600 bucks,i.e. for the vegetarian category.But this place is truly a value for your money…one of those few restaurants that would make you want to come back again and again.:-) Definitely worth a try.
I generally have this tendency of reading reviews on hotels before I try out any.When I searched for a review on Mandarin I dint find any,but thought I would give it a try nevertheless.I am glad I did.Hope you too like the place:-)
In case you happen to visit any of these restaurants after reading my review,please drop me a line on how useful you found the review.Thank you! Happy eating!
Profile
Once again , I am back after a long time,the reasons for which you must have already guessed.Hubby isnt home yet,and I am too reluctant to take up any office work now.This means I have absolutely nothing to do at the moment .:-) So I am posting my Orkut profile here which people say makes an interesting read.However I am warning you before hand that you can hazard reading it at your own risk. So here it is :
About me:Self motivated , Self Obsessed , ambitious ,confident , Short tempered , restless, enthusiastic , and very hardworking! Thatz me in a nut shell. If you still haven’t formed an opinion about me , read on…I am a typical capricornian. I am a day dreamer and dream big. I almost know what I want from life and very well know how to get it…I am very possessive by nature , and my husband is my strength.My family is my most priced possession .A neatness freak that I am , cleaning and doing up my house are my favorite pass time activities. I am a total foodie…I can comfortably say I spend half my salary on food…:-) Ok…Thatz a bit of exaggeration! I cannot tolerate diplomacy beyond a certain level particularly where it is unnecessary. I love taking up additional responsibilities , both at home and at work…To me , nothing matters more than winning…
Political view:Not political
Humor: Dry/sarcastic, friendly
Fashion: Alternative, casual, contemporary, smart, trendy
Smoking:No
Drinking:No
Pets:I like pet(s)
Living:With partner, friends visit often
Hometown:Hyderabad
Passions 
assionate about perfection..passionate about being more than just ordinary…
Sports:Not a sports person….But I like playing X BOX 360, although it has been a while since I last played anything…Nintendo Wii is the latest craze.
Activities:Reading reviews, Blogging, thinking about future, and regular introspection.
Books:Not a regular reader..Dont have any special favorites…
Music:I always thought that I liked only fast numbers…until I discovered the effect of other songs on me. Rang de basanti, Chaand Sifarish, Yaa ali, Kaho na Kaho are my favorites. I can never get bored of these songs…I totally adore Shreya Ghosal, and keep wishing I had a voice like her…Dhoom 2′s title song is one song that I listen to for something like 10 times a day…I simply love that song..I play it in my I POD on my way to the office, on my way back home, and during the time in between these…which means, in the office too…I play it at a verrrrrrry high volume … The song works! It keeps my spirits high… The more I listen to it, the more I start liking it…I do regret not having got a formal training in music..will be taking that up as a hobby soon..and might change it to a profession later…just joking..:)
TV shows : I love watching talk shows, reality shows, and talent hunts . These days it is ‘Fear Factor’.Used to regularly watch Big boss and Indian Idol.Movies : Lots of them…the most favourite being ‘Padayappa’ in Tamil and ‘Laadla’,'Damini’, ,and ‘Tejasvini’ in Hindi…If you notice, all these movies have a common thing in them …a strong female protagonist…..Also like movies with rebellious central characters, like Vaastav, Shool, etc.
Cuisines: Simply love eating out …Totally love North Indian food…You name a restaurant in Bangalore and I would have tried it…Talking of Indian restaurants…Not very fond of non-Indian food, not even Chinese! Used to regularly eat at ‘Radha Hometel’, and ‘Mast Kalandhar’. But all these are passe now.Mark Boulevard is the latest favourite!
Job Description roviding enhancements , trying out new technologies. Currently I am involved in coding for one of our software modules to make it adaptable for other nations.The work I am into involves good set of challenges , and it is pretty interesting , at least thus far! (Read,overworked,underpaid. )
Career skills: Java, J2EE.
Career interests: I dont want to fill this with lies…Therefore here is a straightforward answer …Interested in a career that makes use of the above mentioned career skills and means good money…Money comes first though..:)
Ideal Match: Dont even get me started on this..The one and only ‘Kannan’.I can write an essay on this , but wouldn’t want to do it here. I have written enough and would write more on this in my website , the url of which can be made available on request.
First thing you will notice about me: Height
Eye color: black
Hair color:black
Looks: average
Best feature: hair
Turn ons: intelligence, sarcasm
Turn offs: Quiet a few things…Copying other’s mannerisms , feeling jealous of others’ popularity, unfair competetion , high brow attitude , loose talk…and many more..
Five things I cant live without: Nothing is a necessity for me , apart from the basics ….I am talking about things here , and not people.
In my bedroom you will find: A cot , two wardrobes , two laptops , two small teddies ,a doll,a tablet pc , a landline phone , a magazine rack , and loooots of books…Actually just to accommodate these books whose number has already crossed thousand, I have a separate study room that has already turned into a mini library..:) .. I still maintain that I don’t read much , but Kannan does…:-)
Unlocker
This small memory resident program will pop-up whenever you encounter a file that is locked by a process or another program which prevents you from deleting or moving it. Once you install and use this you will start to consider it a must have program.
Jeera Rice
Variety is the spice of life. I find this very true , particularly when it comes to food. I am a total foodie , and love trying out different kinds of food.However I never attempted cooking for several years. This is because , for the first few years , I comfortably came up with ‘studies’ as an excuse. I could hardly be spotted with anything other than a book in hand. A ladle in hand is something which people could not even imagine me in , leave alone see. My mom chose to overlook this despite continuous nagging from my relatives and friends. She used to tell them that the initial years of life should be religiously spent in education and nothing else. She would also add that I can choose to do nothing only until I get married..So she never felt the need to hone my cooking skills , and allowed me to have my way throughout. I do agree to having been a pampered child , and a spoil t brat..It took me a few years to get back to normal , and this happened while I was away from home for work reasons. Some years later I got married . My hubby turned out to be so considerate that he never allowed me to get into the kitchen. He felt I work too hard in the office and so should use the home time to talk to him and relax , instead of sweating it out in the kitchen. So we decided to hire a cook , and that is the way it has been working so far. However during the weekends I do feel the urge to make something for myself and hubby. So I indulge in cooking now and then. The outcome has been pretty encouraging thus far , thanks to my mom , and my granny who make themselves readily available on the phone to clear away all the silly doubts that I manage to come up with. Now amongst a few dishes that I regularly make there are some that turn out very well consistently. They are Jeera rice -Dal fry combi , Aloo Bath-Raitha , and Baingan Bharta. Today I am confident enough to the extent that I never go wrong with these dishes , and can make them with my eyes closed. Ok, now datz a bit of exaggeration , I agree!
Here is the recipe for Jeera rice , in case you wish to try :
Ingredients:
1. One glass rice (Equivalent to one and a half tumbler)
2. Four table spoons ghee
3. Half tea spoon jeera
4. Three tea spoons shajeera.
5. Three or four cloves
6. One tejpatta cut into 2-3 pieces.
7. One cinamon stick (size of a finger)
Preparation time : Half an Hour
Serves : 2 Adults.
Procedure :
1)In a kadai, heat the ghee and add Jeera . On spluttering , add cloves , cinnamon , and tejpatta , and Shajeera to it.
2)Fry it for some time. Then add the rice , and fry it along with the other ingredients. Do this for around 10 minutes , on a medium flame.
3) Transfer the contents of the kadai , to a pressure cooker and cook, like the way you normally cook rice. Thatz it! Jeera rice should be ready. (Do not try to substitute ghee with oil.)
Jeera rice can be eaten with Dal fry. It is very easy to get the recipe for dal fry on the net. (Cannot say the same for Jeera rice though..:)) . Happy cooking!
How is it to work in The Corporate World?
I stumbled upon the following in some blog. I immediately felt like posting the content here. Here it is :
Let me explain it in the form of a story. This story has an OLD version and a NEW version.
Old Version:-
There was once a washer man who had a donkey and a dog. One night when the whole world was sleeping, a thief broke into the house, the washer man was fast asleep but the donkey and the dog were awake. The dog decided not to bark since the master did not take good care of him and wanted to teach him a lesson. The donkey got worried and said to the dog that if he doesn’t bark, the donkey will have to do something himself. The dog did not change his mind and the donkey started braying loudly. Hearing the donkey bray, the thief ran away, the master woke up and started beating the donkey for braying in the middle of the night for no reason.
New Version:-
The washer man was a well educated man from a premier management institute. He had the ‘fundas’ of looking at the bigger picture and thinking out of the box. He was convinced that there must be some reason for the donkey to bray in the night. He walked outside a little and did some fact finding, applied a bottom up approach, figured out from the ground realities that there was a thief who broke in and the donkey only wanted to alert him about it. Looking at the donkey’s extra initiative and going beyond the call of the duty, he rewarded him with lot of hay and other perks and became his favorite pet. The dog’s life didn’t change much, except that now the donkey was more motivated in doing the dogs duties as well. In the annual appraisal the dog managed a “ meets requirement” Soon the dog realized that the donkey is taking care of his duties and he can enjoy his life sleeping and lazing around. The donkey was rated as “star performer”. The donkey had to live up to his already high performance standards. Soon he was over burdened with work and always under pressure and now is looking for a job rotation…
Moral of the story:- “One must not engage in duties other than his own”
If you have worked in a corporate environment, I am sure you have guessed the characters of the new story.
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