On a shopping spree…AGAIN :P

The last time I went shopping and got that gorgeous AND dress, I was determined I won’t shop until the placement thing gets over. But, then Delhi happened. And you know right, that New Delhi and street shopping are like identical twins. And one cannot just cannot leave the city without visiting Sarojini Market, Kamala Nagar Market, M Block Market, Janpath, CP etc etc. When you visit these markets, it is just impossible to not shop. So, taking advantage of the day being a sunday, and Crazy Shopper and another friend are also in Delhi, we decided to meet up and go for shopping.

We met at the Green Park Metro Station and then boarded the Vishwavidyalaya Metro. The best part was we got a place to sit. Since, our stop was around 8-9 stations away, we decided to catch up for the missing two weeks of being away from each other. Crazy Shopper had her partying and pubbing stories. Another friend had her office stories and I had my office plus the accommodation stories.

We reached Kamala Nagar Market and started looking at tops, t-shirts and what not. I got a grey colored Shrug, which was quite different and way smart looking for me to call it a shrug. I bought it. We went to a guy selling scarfs and from the sea of scarfs lying there, I got one. I got another Orange top with little hearts from this market. Kamala Nagar is a really good place for street shopping. They do not charge much, and hence save you from going through the bargaining exercise. They even have fresh pieces, and sizes and colors of everything they sell. So, this is not the bad, rugged or used shopping that many people assume street shopping to be. The market even has a number of good eataries and one famous place is Sethi’s cake shop at Mathri wali gali on Bunglaw Road. Please try the dry cake with Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream here.

Also, the market doesn’t really gets to life before 4-4:30 PM, so if you reach before this time, you will get bored.

Next, we went to Sarojini Nagar by Metro first and then auto. We got down at INA Metro station and the auto rickshaw’s there will take you to Sarojini Nagar for 30 Rs. Now, I know Sarojini Nagar by heart. I have shopped here, everytime I have been in Delhi. Stelatoes is a shop in the market, which has a sale running all through out the year on the first floor of the shop and you can buy anything for Rs. 200 and Rs. 250. I have got three footwears from this shop on my three visits to Delhi. Now, Sarojini Nagar is a place where you should surely know how to bargain. If you don’t then be accompanied by someone who does. The market remains crowded all through the day and it gets more and more crowded by the hour. I got one dress from here, one footwear and one white shrug (crochet).

So people here you go, the pictures

The no so nice but still bought Footwear Rs. 250

The Batman T- Shirt Rs. 150

The White crochet shrug. Rs. 150

The baby pink colored dress with a bow Rs. 250

The Polka Dots white dress with a belt all in Rs. 250

The Smart Grey Shurg Rs. 200

The light Blue colored Scarf Rs.

The Orange top with blue hearts Rs. 200

The semi formal polka dots peach colored shirt cum top Rs. 200

Bhindi Pyaaz :D

I came back from office only to find my friend’s roomie gone. She is out of station for some days. Me and the friend did not want to spend much time in the kitchen. So, we settled on pyaaz bhindi and parantha. 

It took me one hour to cut onions, bhindi (lady finger) and green chillies. It is so because I was talking to Momsy and Gappa on phone which proves that I am not much of a multi-tasker. I believed otherwise for some years.

When I went inside the kitchen, and tried locating where the oil is kept, the friend and I realized that it is over. So, at 9:30 in the night, we went out and bought Fortune Refined oil. We came back and I started cooking. I poured some oil in the pan, let it heat, next came hing, jeera and onions with green chillies. I was waiting for the onions to turn their patent pinkish creamish when Crazy Shopper called. She has reached New Delhi and was putting up with another friend in Greater Kailash. When the onions were all pink and pretty, I mixed bhindi in the pan and realized that the quantity of oil is not proportionate to the vegetable in the pan and then it struck me that Momsy always tells us that bhindi requires good amount of oil otherwise it doesn’t taste good. So, I poured more oil in the pan while cooking the vegetable

The real twist came when it was time to make rotis after the sabzi was done. As soon as we put the very first parantha over the tava (I have no idea of the english name) the gas went out. At 10:30 in the night, there was no way we could get a filled LPG cylinder. After laughing for 5-10 minutes like idiots, and realizing that no gas means no breakfast, no lunch and no dinner, the friend told me that she would get a filled cylinder tomorrow. I said I would accompany her.

We had bhindi pyaaz with bread And it was great

P.S- I know the recipes (apparently) that I post are no special or extraordinary. But I am just learning to cook and I am way way way too excited because I get to click the pictures and post them here. So, please bear with the easy to make, usual, and boring sabzi’s.

The finally cooked Bhindi Pyaaz And it tasted good

Bread Poha for Dinner :D

Yeah yeah I know most of you will read this and say, “Bas itna hi…bhuk nahi lagi baad mein??” Atleast Gappa said the same thing.
So, nahi bhuk nahi lagi baad mein. We even had salad.

Coming back to the Bread poha, I came back from office and didn’t feel like cooking roti and sabzi, the usuals you know. I told my friend’s roomie that lets make bread poha. Why?

Because it is easy, takes no time and is ready and doesn’t require lots of utensils to be utilised. Which means no washing utensils

We cut 2 onions and one tomato (it was the last one left) and 2 green chillies. I poured some oil and let it get hot. But then I realized the pan had some water and as soon as the pan was heated, the water and oil started making that tuck tuck tuck tuck noise. And I ran away from the kitchen and didn’t return until the oil water war was over.

Next, I put some powdered asafoetida (googled the name, normally people call it hing), cumin seed and onion in the pan. I let the onion get a little pinkish creamish in colour and then added tomato. I let them dance all over the pan for a minute or two and then added red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt and chaat masala for fun

I mixed everything nicely and neatly and let it cook for another 3-4 minutes. Next, bread was cut into small small square pieces with the border of the bread (I don’t know if it is known by some other name) removed. The bread pieces were added in the pan and mixed thoroughly, evenly without spilling.

Served hot with Guruji’s Rose Squash.

P.S- Do not question the combination.

P.S 1- Yes I know it is no unusual receipe to be blogged about, but then I had a Digi Cam, and I was too excited and hence the post.

It didn’t turn out to be very good. It tasted ok ok. And I also know that it looks scary by the face of it.

Onions frying after the water oil war

Me cooking

Adding the chaat masala

Presenting Bread Poha

After the spices were added to the onions

To interning and Cooking again…!!!

So here I am in New Delhi, interning again at the end of my fourth year. I so hope and pray that this be my last internship, and I don’t have to intern again after this. I am basically done with internships. After my first year, first vacation, I haven’t spend more than a week at home. I so want those blissful, no-work-to-do days back, at least for sometime. And, then there is Pink’s wedding coming up next in November. Yeah, that requires another post.

So coming back to the full of heat and go-to-work days, I am putting up with a friend in New Delhi. I met her on my first internship in New Delhi itself and we shared the same room in a paying guest house. We became friends then, I borrowed and read  Amitav Ghosh from her. I never knew then, that we would become such good friends. I am glad we are. She is the sober side of me. I really like her a lot.

So here at her flat, the friend and her roomie cook breakfast, lunch and dinner by themselves, When she offered me to shift with her, my first and foremost concern was how will I cook three times a day? I mean I just can’t do that. Cooking is not my cup of tea. Momsy was also worried that if I shift with the friend, I wouldn’t cook and who will take care of my food and what if I stay empty-stomach for the lack of culinary skills. But then, I thought I have never stayed at a flat like with friends and this might be my last internship and maybe it is the last time I am coming to New Delhi. So, I decided against my fears and shifted with her.

It has been 2 days and it is going pretty well. But, honestly I am really worried how the whole month would be? I will also come to know if  I am the order-food-daily types woman. Which I assume I am not.

The office is decent. The partners also seem to be good and friendly. I even have two co-interns to keep me company. The office timings are great. 10:00-10:15 in the morning and I have to stay till 7 PM. I guess it is okay since I am living just 1.5 kms away from my office. I was a total ass on the first day as without asking the office timings I reached the office at 9′O clock sharp in the morning. Then, waited for office people to come for one and a half hour. This all waiting for the office to open and waiting for the partner to give me work made me feel helpless. I do not like waiting. In fact I hate it. Tomorrow is Saturday and I can wear casuals. Isn’t that great?

I am hopeful that these two months turn out to be, if not great at least decent and normal.

 

 

5th Year…!!!

When I took admission in my college, I presumed that 5 years is a very long time. I will have a lot of time to read, write, learn, research, make new friends, fall in love. In a nutshell, I thought that I have ample of time to do all what I have wanted to do after I join college.

College during monsoons.

Year after year, trimester by trimester nothing seemed to change. It became the monotonous boring and dull college life I always dreaded. I used to go home in between but now I realise I always wanted to come back to my hostel, to my room. There was a bit of uneasiness at home because I knew I don’t have to live there anymore. My real home is my room. Room No. 58.

Whenever I saw my seniors crying or getting sentimental about leaving college. I used to think “why do they make such a big deal out of it?” I mean before joining the college, didn’t these people know that it is going to end someday. But now I realize that after 5 years we actually breathe this place. It is inside us. The things it taught, the incidents that made us what we are today and the hope that this place provides that no matter whatever happens, no matter how tough the going gets, it will always embrace us and cajole us and it will always be there for us.

The college is located at such a pretty place, one can never have enough of it. I mean who has got an entire reserved forest just behind one’s college. And a serene lake to top that. Lush green trees on both sides of the road, beautiful

The lake. It is just a 10 minute walk from the campus.

chirping birds, fishes in the lake, sunsets, sunrise, the caution board stating that a tiger is wandering in the area, enter at your own risk, the hot tea cups near the lake, the peaceful morning walks, rain that makes you feel all romantic even if you broke up recently….only this place has the magic to make you fall in love with even grasshoppers and a whole lot of insect families

Just one more year is left for my college life. I don’t know how am I going to live at a different place, with a different bunch of people. To start all over is never bad, but then who doesn’t want the journey to continue, to go on. I have no clue about my destination after these 5 years, whatever it maybe good or bad, but I am very sure that the journey was definitely worth the risk of dropping a year after school, of making new friends, of confiding in strangers, of falling in love and of possessing the feeling that I belong to this place. This place I call my college, this place I am in love with, this place which changed my perspective over a lot of things, this place….I will miss.

Campus at night

A Closer look at the lake.

It joins the library from the academic block. The Skywalk.

Library from the inside

Academic Block

Library

Shop your heart out…. ;)

I came back from New Delhi with stipend in my bank account and hope in my heart that the winter sale is still on in Bhopal. I wanted to buy smart formals and some casual stuff for daily college wear and I wanted to shop while the sale is going. To my budget’s delight, the sale was on and I got to check out stuff. We entered Shoppers Stop and learnt that it is the last day of Sale there. Crazy Shopper and me squealed in delight and thanked our stars that we decided to go on shopping on that very day and not afterwards. So, I looked for dresses. I don’t know why particularly dresses, I wanted one but then I didn’t really want one. What I really wanted to spend my money on were formals. But, I wasn’t looking for them. On the other hand, Crazy Shopper, as crazy for shopping she is, was looking for clothes for everybody, herself, a junior she wants to gift something, another friend of ours and me and of course herself.

So we try all that we get our hands on. I try a pretty pretty cream colored formal top, but then it is one size larger then what fits me. Rejected. I try another woolen material grey colored cute party wear top, but then it is out of my budget (yeah on sale!). Rejected. I try one animal print casual top, it doesn’t look good on me. I don’t know why, I can never carry animal prints. Rejected. I try a dress with checks print, it looks very formal but very dull and boring at the same time. Rejected. Finally I tried a black semi-formal knee length dress, it fits perfectly fine, is within my budget and looks gorgeous. But, then Crazy Shopper had reservations about it and she said the dress is common. I got all confused, one because it was an AND dress and second, it was for just Rs. 600. It had 70% off. I wore the dress, pleaded Crazy Shopper that I wouldn’t get another dress for Rs. 600 and that it was worth going through, Shit-she-too-has-the-same-dress-as-I-do scene. So, we agreed on it. I then started looking for formal shirts.

I tried some shirts, but then the same issues of size and price popped up everytime I managed to like something. Then, Crazy Shopper went to some section and got a grey checks print shirt which fitted perfectly and was not expensive. I got that one too. Next, we went to Wills. I believe and agree with Crazy Shopper that Wills has the finest range of formals for women. Remember, Deepika Padukone’s office wear in the movie Karthik Calling Karthik, yeah that whole range was available at Wills. I loved what she wore in the movie. So, I really liked this trouser at Wills. It was different, pattern wise and color wise as well. They had 30 waise size. I thought I can manage that, it shouldn’t be that loose. But, then who was I kidding. It was only loose and nothing else. I want this, I want this, I sulked, danced and did what not in front of Crazy Shopper while she silently watched me in the trial room, making herself comfortable on the only chair and waited for me to shut my mouth up. Then, she said no. I sulked some more and then  gave away. Asking the store owner to look further if they can find size 28. He said he doesn’t have. I made a face and walked out of the store.

Then, to make up for the loss of  the trousers I went to Metro. I knew only shoes can lighten up my mood. I hate the fact that at Metro you find either on sale or shitty stuff on sale. I wanted to buy formal black stilettos. Is that too much to ask for? Yes, it is. The stilettos I tried were all pretty good. But then, to spend 3,000 on one pair, umm I thought it would be a little too much. I am still a student. I will do that after I get a job. So, after going through all the footwear and trying whatever I thought I will buy someday, Crazy Shopper and I left the store.

Next, we went to Sepia. Now, on thing about this store is that not many people buy clothes from here (I am assuming, as they had their whole stock on sale and my O my what a sale that was). Crazy Shopper and I looked into the entire stock, yes each and every top and kept on selecting the ones we wanted to try and maybe buy. She selected some 8-10 tops, I too did the same. She went inside the trial room and I waited outside for her. She kept changing tops one after the other, showing me, we both discussing the color, fitting and where can we wear it. Price was not an issue here. Thank god for that. I repeated the same exercise. Trying, discussing and rejecting. Finally, I bought three tops and Crazy Shopper nothing. I must say that the people working in the store were very patient with both of us. We actually turned their stock upside down. But then, it was about investing money. We couldn’t help it.

So after I don’t know how many stores, clothes and footwears later and not to forget an entire day, we came back with one dress, one shirt and three tops. No no, actually it took us two days. Here is the picture of the dress, shirt and tops.

The Black AND Dress

The Top from Sepia

Another one from Sepia

The Semi-Formal plus casual Top from Sepia

The only formal thing I got. The Grey Shirt.

What to write about??

I have been searching for a decent topic to write upon for a week now. I couldn’t find any. I log into my wordpress account, read other blogs and log out. Until tonight, I realized I created the blog to write whatever is going on in my mind, life and heart. I need not think about ‘decent’ stuff to pen it down. I can write ridiculous stuff if that unloads me from stress.  So here is a list of events going on and around me for sometime now.

Pink got engaged earlier this year to her boyfriend. She will get married on 25th November, 2013. I am very happy for her. But, somewhere I don’t want her to be married. What will I do without her? She is with me from L.K.G. And now suddenly she is off to live with someone else. And I haven’t even met her boyfriend. Just saw his pictures on facebook. He has a big joint family. I know Pink doesn’t mind because she herself has been living in a joint family and she believes that such issues are not really big if you want to live with the guy whom you are in love with. I will do a detailed post on her shopping, and other paraphernalia later.

Rash and I have stopped talking to each other. The way he made it sound, I am quite sure he was serious and meant it. My relationship with him pushes me to think about how after a certain point of time, you change for the people you once believed you are never going to live without. Why and how do you decide that you do not want that person to be in your life anymore? Where do you get that self-control from everytime you feel like talking, sharing, crying or just joking? I have no clue. Guess, I am strong enough to do that. I will never be that strong.

Crazy Shopper is one chuppa rustum. I sometimes just love the way she handles herself emotionally. I can never do that. If something happens, I turn into a total cry baby. I have no clue what made her take those decisions, but I want to let her know that whatever happens I will always be with her, supporting her, loving her, caring for her and never judging her. That’s what friends are for? Hai na !!

I want to study. I just can’t. I hate the fact that even my 4th year is going to end in another 2 months. Time flies. No, it actually competes with light in matters of speed. I never believed that I will make life long friends in college. But I am lucky to have found some. I eat with them, sleep with them, cry in front of them and share with them. My existence in college is surrounded and settled around them. God knows what would I do without them. Phew!!

I want to go to sunburn. I have never been to crazy places before. I have never ever been inside a pub (okay only once!!). But, I want to do crazy stuff now. I have always been too alert and cautious. I want to leave my comfort zone and experiment with different things in life. For example, I don’t drink. Forget getting high. Not that it is something very smart to do, but I don’t think never doing it is also very smart. I think I need to loosen up a bit. But, yes all this only after placements end positively for me.

I love the poems written by Pseudomonaz. I wish even I could write like her. They touch the right places and memories.

The way Gappa and her boyfriend have carried it through. I can never imagine having so adorable a relationship. *Anti-jinx*.

I guess I have figured out what I want to do after I pass out of the college. I know plans might not work the way you want to, but then what is the harm in keeping a frame of to do list in your mind. I want to adopt a girl child before I turn 29. I don’t know why the figure. And yes, it might be even before I get married. Which in India, is going to kill the chances of marriage altogether. I don’t really care. I know my family would support me as thy have always been there. However, I think the adoption laws have again been amended. I am not really sure what the law now says, but it has restricted single people opting for adoptions.

Okay enough of ranting and nonsensical talks for the day. Bear with me