The Great Indian Railgaadi Tamasha!!!

It was shocking to see the drama unfold on Railway budget 2012. India is a democratic country: what does that mean?
Government formed by the people, of the people and for the people
“By the people” and “of the people” definitely suits India today, but “for the people” sucks
For once someone thought “for the people” and he got sacked the very next day because of “of the people” :)
If Indian railways (world's fourth largest railway network), which is home to more than 1.4 million employees, and connecting 65,000 kilometres and 7,500 stations meet the same fate as Air India or HMT, then it would be the biggest shame we Indians, would have to face in future,we will not have the government or opposition to be blamed, as that will be our biggest folly…folly of “BY THE PEOPLE”
We all realize this folly and yet, we do nothing about it…at such times, weird thoughts come to my mind, why don’t we all unanimously just stop paying taxes, until things are sorted!
The Indian railways requires better services and amenities and if that calls for increasing the fare by few paises and rupee, so be it…it’s definitely for the betterment of people!
It weird we all see the drama happening, how the government is in a super mess, with regions trying to show their power in center…And when we look at the opposition, they are in equal mess…situation in Karnataka is just one example…
In such cases what happens to an aam aadmi like you and me…what happens to “by the people”?
Whom do we vote next for betterment of INDIA and INDIAN PEOPLE???

P.S : Its hilarious, at one end, the eleventh planning commission says that Indian poverty line has dropped and at the other end, a minister is sacked due to a small increase in rail-fare...India as usual a land of contradictions!!!

Basic Brownie!!!

So I just completed my first project with "S" and it turned out be quite well, the client was very happy with the information we had sought on biomarkers...slept so peacefully yesterday
Since the call was at night, I had the evening to myself, thought of making quick brownies...they are so easy to make
Little "K" is not much into cakes, but one bite of brownie and he says "Mama, these are very nice"

So here's is the recipe for a basic chocolate brownie

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/4th cup butter
1/2th cup vegetable oil
One slab of dark chocolate
2 eggs
Cocoa-1/2 tsp
Pinch of cinnamon
Sugar : Granulated sugar is supposed to be good...I had taken normal sugar and powdered for only a sec
So result is not very fine sugar but coarsely ground
1 tsp of baking powder
Milk if required

I took the butter and half slab dark chocolate seperately and melted them in the microwave.
Take the eggs and seperate the white and yolk in seperate bowls
Beat each of them till the egg white turns white in color and fluffy...beat the yolks as well seperately
I dont have a blender and hence used an egg beater
This is the only time consuming process...it would take 15-20 mins
Butter the brownie cups
Once thats done preheat the oven in 180 degree celsius

Now sieve the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and cocoa together

Take a bowl, add the whites and yolk of eggs.
Add melted butter and melted dark chocolate and mix well
Add oil and then add the sieved dry ingredients and fold the mixture
Please do not mix hard, keep folding the mixture
If the batter is very thick, then add some milk but make sure that the batter is not very thin
Now pour the batter to brownie moulds. Make sure that you fill only half of the cup, as brownie would rise
Take the remaining dark chocolate and grate them on top of each brownie cup
Now take the cups and bake them for 25-27 mins
Keep checking after 21 mins. insert a toothpick and check if the batter is sticking on to it
Switch off the microwave when you see batter does not stick to the tooth pick
Keep the brownies inside the microwave for 15 mins and then take them out to cool
Brownies are ready to be served :)

If you dont have brownie moulds, then you can use normal baking vessel as well

Hope you enjoy making them as I did!!!

Happy Women's day???

Isnt this over hyped???
Even today in India female foeticide exists to a large extent
The lower class practice this after the girl is born and the highly educated and rich Indians travel to Dubai and Malaysia to check the gender and if its a girl, abortion is done immediately
SAD SAD SAD
Domestic violence, now that's not restricted to India...its a universal issue which is very common
Just read that Womens day is celebrated in Pakistan...what about the women who were attacked by acid in Pakistan???
Its also celebrated in Afghanistan..we all know how are majority of women treated in Afghanistan!!!

In India, as well its the same scene, we should remember that for every Kiran Mazumdar, there are 1000's of Shipra...i was touched by her story of ill treatment by her hubby and in-laws (http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/television/winner-of-masterchef-india-from-downtrodden-housewife-to-celebrity-chef#full)
For every Dr Kalpana Chawla there are 100's of baby falak
Statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau of India reveal one dowry death in India every 77 minutes and one case of cruelty by husband and relatives every nine minutes!!!

I believe that every day should be celebrated as Women's day and yes more power to women everyday coz we have a long way to go...we will reach there someday :)

Life returns in full swing

So after a weekend of being jobless, went yesterday to my new workplace...it was such a wonderful feeling
I mean they are just a handful of employees..just 5 of them...hahaha, I will be the sixth one, but they were at peace
I admire them so much, they would never know that..."S" company has always been my dream firm, even a GE could not change my view towards them
Its so funny, I had everything to me, had an awesome workstation, could travel by flight anyday, handsome paycheck,great office, also had a great cafeteria and food court...the scene is so different here, there are just handful of workstations, no cafeteria and one has make his/her own tea/coffee but the peace here is AWESOME, somehow life always teaches me that materialistic stuff never gives happiness in the long run!!!
Most importantly, the group is so genuine, that why I love them so much...its always nice to work with honest and good people..It was nice to meet old friends and it seemed that they were also happy doing what they like the most

So this is to my future with "S" :)