Book review - Theodore Boone

I am not a voracious reader neither am I good at writing book reviews.This is just my take on the book that I finally managed to complete after a long time. I always have a problem. I start to read a book with all enthusiasm but I lose interest  very soon. Happened  so many times that I gave up on reading. Not that I  regret about  this! Books to me are loners companion.Incidentally me and S got a landmark voucher as a gift on our engagement and S was so happy to buy two bag full of books.
Theodore Boone was one. It was the latest Grisham released at that time.

About the book - I really had a tough time to cross the initial hitches but the book kept me hooked after a short while.Theodore Boone is obviously the story of this 13 year old young kid ( Do I have to give his name?) whose parents are lawyers and this runs in his blood. He is more interested in law than his school and has a dream to become a big  lawyer.Occasional law advices to school friends , his interest in digging into court matters and the advantage that he has being lawyers son lands him into the middle of the big murder trial.I do not want to spoil the fun by giving out the story.The story is very gripping until last couple of chapters.Lots of twists and turns.  The end isn't that great. I thought it was bit abrupt.I just read that its targeted at young adults (Can I call myself one ?? I am confused now ! ).

Boone is my first Grisham novel but I feel I should read all his novels. The only mistake  I made here is that I got carried away with the title " Theodore Boon - HALF THE MAN , TWICE THE LAWYER ". May be I had lot of expectations on the lead character, him being referred as twice the lawyer. I guess the part where Theo takes his problems to adults dint impress me much. It would have been good if he had solved the case on his own. Fifty more pages would have been a better fit.I guess its will be a slight disappointment for Grisham fans but for people like me who ve never read his writings ,  its a good start. It will definitely make you feel why I dint grab a Grisham before.

The book certainly dint stress too much  on the kids law prowess but  is definitely a one time read.

Let me continue with my reading spree.

Since you have read this there is a small exercise for you -

I would like each and everyone of you to suggest one book that you feel I should definitely read.

I will add this to my " To Read " lists.

Ciao

Sia

Back after Hiatus!

Back finally after hibernating for a week!I know I broke the "one post a day" chain :( I acknowledge the fact that I am not yet ready to take such challenges..
And I am gonna compensate for this by writing a post anytime I feel like..So it could be 3 or 4 someday and none many days ..
Keep reading and don't forget to drop in your comments.

Postivity Experiment _ Day 2

Busy busy Busy!! Felt like I had to finish 10 days for work in 8 hours :(
Anyways coming to the positivity experiment

Heres todays list of 5 things

1)I am thankful for the cup of coffee at cafe nadhini..Had a nice coffee after a longgg time..
2)Felt nice to see my inbox in the morning..No work was scheduled..(Things changed later tho !!)
3)Felt nice that i could find patanjali pharmacy finally..Have been looking for it since long..
4)Nice that I could reach home without getting drenced..I was just on time..
5)I am thankful that I could manage to write this post..Was scared that I would give up the challenge :(

Too tired more
Signing off
Sia

Days of Positivity!! - Day 1

Well it all started like this. I was in my usual slumber today . I had set the alarm for 7 AM but could barely open my eyes at 8 AM. GoK if the alarm ever rang or I turned it off. The ingrained habit of negativism ingrained in me started to show its ugly face right then .And events and the string of thoughts that followed over the course of the day is what has made take up this challenge.

9.30 AM - My hair is dripping with oil and I need a hair wash. Remember I am already half an hour late for 9 AM meeting :( and need to rush up. My sister calls up. She has been extremely busy these days and a little bit upset too.


With an irritable expression I pick up the phone and she goes " Its been a long time Viddu since we spoke well. The irritation turns into smile. And she asks me if I am free to talk. Certain things in life are priceless are unexplainable. We speak for 15 mins till I hear my mom shouting that we are wasting the telephone bill by gossiping.


A negative thought again - I suddenly think why does she have to feel like talking to me suddenly? Is she okay? Is she depressed or something? Does she need any help. C'mon it could have been as simple as missing me. But naah I had to go think all this.
10.30 AM - I am already late beyond excuses and I get into the auto. Waiting for autos in Hyderabad makes me think that people should slowly get back to their love for sons. Of late everyone around me is giving birth only to girl child so much such that when I got the news that a bus mate of mine has given birth to a son I was like "Oh Poor girl , She must be upset right!".In Hyd, 3 girls have to wait for hours (1/2 an hr, I mean) for 2 guys to come and take their positions in the front seat. The autos refuse take off otherwise. Losing track ??

Back to 10.50 AM - Am still in auto waiting for one guy to come .And there comes an uncle. Yea you read that right! Short, Dark and Fat uncle with a laptop bag. He is searching for a place to keep his bag and then finally asks me to keep it in the leg space. And the negative thought again - Is he a terrorist. Remember bombs are always kept in bags. I start frisking it with my legs if I can find something objectionable. You know what I mean. All the way through the journey I think of all possible things that could happen if it’s indeed a bomb and the person is a terrorist.

11.30 AM - I come to office and think about my sad state of mind. And I open my dear friend Google to find some good ways to overcome negativity. And I type "ways to overcmoe neagtivity" in the search bar. Next moment I am thinking is there anything seriously wrong with my brain? I am typing words wrong. And there is a pattern to it. 'mo' instead of 'om' , 'ea' instead of 'ae'.What the hell is wrong with me.

And the rest of the day was spent in “How to overcome negative thoughts", and "How to put Law of Attraction" in practice.

For those who do not know about Law of Attraction please read "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. It’s a phenomenal book and a wonderful tool to achieve what you want to do in life. And after lots of goggling and reading blogs, I came across "the Positivity experiment."

It’s called 7 days of positivity. I got this idea from Preethi s Blog.

All we have to do is write down 5 positive things which made us happy and are grateful about. It could be anything simple. There are so many people who have tried this and claim this to be irrefutable.

“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” - - Anais Nin

All we need to do is just write those 5 things which made our day. And I am gonna try this here. For people who would want to try but do not have a blog please feel free to use my Comments section. Who knows the very thought that this experiment helped you might be one of the reasons which made me happy someday.

Starting from today for 7 days this blog is going to be my Gratitude Journal.
So here's the list of 5 things that made me happy today.

1) I was so happy that my roomie woke me up with a cup of tea just because I told her I had a meeting today .That shows that she cares and I liked that. We have known each other for hardly 3-4 months.

2) Call that I got from my sister. I just loved the way she said " Viddu , its been a very long time since I spoke to you properly..I have been wanting to talk to you for one week but dint have balance to give you a missed call."
I just felt like going home and give a warm hug and tell her that I am there for her always. I am grateful for the family I have got.

3) I am so happy that I could try some homemade beauty remedies to make my face glow and make my hair silky. It has worked wonders. ::)

4) I am sooooo grateful to God for the lovely life partner I've got .He always has time for me even if he is very busy...He is always the first I share my work with and is definitely the best critic too. I sent him a copy of my resume with very little hopes that he would go through it when he is in office and there I get a reply saying “You have done a lot of work which can be projected nicely. I think we ll sit down together on Friday and finalize it. U just work on the spelling part now." And that brought a smile to my face.

5) Finally I am so excited about this idea of taking up the challenge and for some reason I am so sure that its gonna work for me. ( Did focusing on 4 positive points bring the difference :P ?? May be YES! )..

So are you game for this? Just click on the comments button and write 5 things that made your day.

I am feeling happy already!!
Stay Happy, Stay Positive
Sia

... or may be Pav Bhaji

I have been extremely busy since morning planning things out. Had to go out for lunch and that took away 2 hours..And I can't think of anthing to post about.But I dont want to break the one post per day pledge.So thought of writing about my recent Pav Bhaji experiment and share the recipe.Pav Bhaji has been my all time favorite ever since i remember eating chats.Its filling and hygenic too.Before we go to the recipe lets get into some facts.
Pav in marathi means bread and bhaji means curry so its just bread with curry.Bhaji mainly consists of potato with onions and tomato.For Angrezi people the defination goes like this- Pav bhaji is a spicy vegetable stew that you sop up with pillowy bread.( I dint write this :)  )

The origin of pav bhaji is traced to the heyday of the textile mills in Mumbai. The mill workers used to have lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to physical labor after lunch. A vendor created this dish using items or parts of other dishes available on the menu. Roti or rice was replaced with pav and the curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were amalgamated into just one spicy concoction-the 'bhaji'. Initially, it remained the food of the mill-workers. With time the dish found its way into restaurants and spread over Central Mumbai and other parts of the city via the Udipi restaurants. Such is popularity of this dish, that it is common to find it on the menu of most Indian restaurants serving fast food in Asia (especially Singapore, Hong Kong), America, UK (London), Switzerland and elsewhere. (Source Wikipedia).

Not to forget one can eat pav bhaji for lunch and dinner both. And if you have left overs it can carried forward to next day's breakfast.Ideal for working women :)

Coming to some of the good places to have pav bhaji

Hyderabad -Gokul Chat in Koti is supposed to serve good cgats.And the Maharaja Chat Bhandar in Madhapur.Although the place much hyped I dont see the quality.

Bangalore - Pav Bhajis at Shiv Sagar are the best any day.They have joints in both Forum and Garuda Mall (if I remember).
Few other places worth going are -Internet review says  Pav-bhaji at Anand Bhavan @CMH Road and Papdiwalla’s, Gandhi Bazaar ( Loads of butter though)

Chennai - Though I have never had a chance to check out too many pav vhaji joints Gangotree is my favorite.This place is in Gopalapuram and rocks for its chats.
Mansukhs in T Nagar is also famous for pav bhaji.Never been there.If anyone goes let me know too.
Also Supriya chats in Adyar and Mylapore - Again havent gone here.
Shirdi at Cathedral road, it is very close to Stella Maris college..Had been there 2 years back.Serves very good pav bhaji The interiors of the place is too good but  as long as we get yummy food who cares right?

Mumbai - Nothing can beat Mumbai when it comes to Pav Bhaji. Mumbai can boast of some amazing places for pav bhaji.
Sardar Pav Bhaji at Tardeo Circle is loaded with butter (Watch put for calories poeple).
Achija Pav Bhaji on Tilak Road, Ghatkopar
Amar Juice Center near Cooper Hospital, in Juhu Scheme,
DP's Fast Food at Matunga is again a good place
Satguru pav bhaji in chembur station.
Canon Pav Bhaji is also well appreciated.
I have eaten some good stuff at Juhu Beach lomng time ago

Delhi - Not had too much pav bhaji here.Chole Bhature is my favorite when it comes to delhi closely followed by Ragda Pattis. But internet survey says Arjun Pav Bhaji in Model Town is good.

Nagpur - Nagpur is a heaven on earth. The pav bhaji s here are just mind blowing and the very reason why I am such a big fan of the dish.The ground opposite to Yashwanth Stadium has close to 50 stalls .Just drop in to any of those and you are bound to experience one of the best pav bhaji s in the India.


Guys these are facts collected from my own Pav bhaji experiences , a few from friends and some from the internet.The data might not be accurate and I would have iseed out some good places. Comments are always welcome.

Being a Pav Bhaji fan all these years I can make some good ones too.So here s the recipe.


Ingredients:(For 2)

1 small head of cauliflower
3 medium potatoes
1 carrot and 250 gms beans
1 large onion (finely chopped)
1 tomato (finely chopped)
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp pav bhaji masala ( can add more if needed)(MDH preferred)
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
1 cups tomato puree ( or tomato sauce)
1/2 cup peas
1 tbsp. butter

Method
Boil potatoes, peel the skin and mash it.
Boil other vegetables in pressure cooker and mash them.
Heat oil in a deep saucepan and add the chopped onions and tomatoes.
Add ginger-garlic paste and saute some more.
Add turmeric powder, chili powder to taste and salt to taste. Keep sauting.
Add the mashed vegetables and tomato puree.
Add the garam masala.
Then add the pav bhaji masala.
Add water as required .
Keep sauting till you see it spurting.
Simmer for 20-25 minutes to really get the flavors.
Add some butter, lemon and coriander leaves for garnishing.



Put some butter in the tava and warm all the pavs.Be a little lavish in putting butter.

There are other variants for this .

One can make masala pav by adding some masala on the pav before heating them.
Cheese pav bhaji is the one where you put loads of shredded cheese on the bhaji.

Sunday Tribune reports that 2 pavs and 1 cuip of bhaji is about 716 calories. :) Who cares!! Its just about running an extra mile in the treadmill.
I guess this is enough to kindle the hunger in you. Now that you know so much about Pav Bhaji why not rush to nearest shop in the area and have hot pav bhajis.



Happy Eating !!
Sia

Confessions of a Bride-To-Be

I often believe that to make something a habit one should do it for 21 days. Never tried it but sounds convincing enough to believe.I am thinking of posting something everyday for 7 days.Lets see if the saying really make any sense.
In a way its good that I have started this blog because oflate the only thing I google about is

"Make-up tips for the D Day"
"How to drape a saree well"
How to make brinjal rasavangi"
"How to stay calm on the wedding day"
"Places to buy wedding saree in Chennai"
"Best bangle shop in Charminar"


I just needed some distraction from this.The thoughts of marriage halls, caterers, beautician,saree has been clouding my mind.Wedding this and wedding that! Its wedding preps all the way :)

The D Day is not so far and people say I am glowing.Though I am not sure if its from joy or sweat.:P..Wedding jitters are inevitable.No matter how fairytale your wedding is its natural for a person to get cold feet.

Heres a so-called poem on these lines.A sad attempt at poetry but I am still a novice ...
 
I know I am old enugh to marry
But somehow the thought of it is so scary
I ve given my word to him
A word that - come what may , I will be there for him.

I'm not afraid of the commitments
For those I am sure I will keep them
At the altar beside him I shall stand
Knowing that he shall forever hold my hand.


I hope to be the same person I am
For things will change over the time
With  habits like that of a kid
And sudden interest to play cupid.

What makes me ponder is a series of questions
The thoughts, responsibilities and the conflicting emotions.
The roles I would have to play
A daughter, a wife and a lot more on the way.

I hope he will love me the way he has all these years

And this is the biggest of all my fears.
I just hope my little sacrifices will be appreciated

Thoughts like these keeps the mind inundated.

All these thoughts and all these hopes
Makes my mind sway.

But deep down inside I know for the fact

I am the one who is waiting for D Day :)

Ciao

Sia

Just a quick Hi

Introducing myself is quite a tough task as I am a new person everyday.Not the way you think. I mean my thoughts my ambitions change everyday and that reflects on my personality for that day ;).. Today I might want to be a writer but tomorrow I could just be a housewife.Sky high ambitions and the ideas to make them work is what makes the most part of my day.
By now I am sure most of you would have got why the blog's url and the title is christened this way.

Blog,blogger and blogging!! None of these is new to me yet it took me so long to create a new blog.Have been thinking of blogging since 2007 when I wrote my last post but as the saying goes "Time has to come" and it finally did at 5 PM today (August 9, 2010).Call it procastination or call it laziness I just dont care cos I AM what I AM. And I like myself this way ;)