niveditha's blog: May 2012

Snacks-Tomato fillings

A quick and easy snack for you... Tomato fillings.

It really is a filling for your stomach. It can be prepared from the left over potato sabji or can be prepared freshly.

Ingredients:

Tomato - 4

Potato - 2 small (boiled and mashed)

Green Chillies - 2

Coriander

Salt

Procedure:

1. Cut the tomatoes into half. Remove the inner juices. Do not take very ripened tomatoes

2. Prepare the potato filling. It can be prepared in 2 ways. 1:Mash the boiled potato nicely and add salt, chopped green chillies, coriander etc. 2: Heat 1tbsp oil in a pan, add green chilles and fry for a min then add mashed potato and salt, mix well

3. Arrange the cut tomatoes in a plate and start filling the potato mix. Its ready!

[If you feel tomatoes are bit raw, u can keep the cut tomatoes on pan for a min. then fill the stuffing]

Superstitions - Do you follow them?

India is home to an umpteen number of superstitions. Some are followed blindly with no particular reason and some have scientific reason hidden in them. Repeated coincidences (good or bad) have also given birth to a few blind beliefs. However, they are followed since ages and are passed on from generation to generation.

I generally do not believe and follow superstitions blindly. But....yes, there are a few, which have become a part of life of the growing up years. I remember how we used to pester our parents and elders to get a convincing answer or the reason behind any superstition when we were advised to follow some blindly. Sometimes got an alternate reason and sometimes it was a "Just do as you are told, don't question".

Here I have listed some of the common superstitions followed in India. Some of them are heard, some seen and some from my own experience.

When little babies or small kids sleep for unusually long hours, some guests are expected
Cats and dogs crying in pain or otherwise is a bad omen
Seeing a procession
Twitching of the right eye is believed to be unfortunate whereas left eye is auspicious
Cutting hair on Tuesday is no-no. Even the barber shops are closed at some places!
Item like salt, needle, curd, money etc is not to go out of house at night.
If a cat crosses you on your way from left to right, it’s ok to proceed. If it crosses from right to left, go three steps backwards and then proceed.
If you slip or if anyone sneezes while going out, you should return, sit for a while, drink some water and then proceed.
Not resting under a 'Peepal' tree or crossing tamarind tree after sunset for the fear of spirits and ghosts
A girl born as a fifth child in a family will bring good luck and wealth.
Cawing of a crow outside your house indicates some guests to your place
Continuous hiccups tells somebody is remembering you. Even continuous yawning.
Walking below an open ladder brings bad luck. Just walk backwards and it will reverse the bad luck
Never cross across the worshiped pumpkins, coconuts or lemon
A whole lot of superstitions are associated with solar eclipse
Money is always given and received from right hand only
Sneezing in even numbers before leaving is good while in odd numbers is bad
If itching in the right hand, money is expected. Itching in the foot a quarrel is awaited
Falling of a lizard on a person is considered extremely bad and unlucky for the person on which it falls. And further ill predictions are made based on the part of the body on which the lizard falls.
If a pregnant lady eats twin banana, chances of giving birth to twins is more
Asking questions like "Where are you going?" to somebody on their way before leaving won't serve their purpose
Sneezing once when somebody is making a statement indicates what they are saying is true
Things are never exchanged standing on the threshold of the entrance of the house
A bride enters her new home putting her right foot first
Seeing an elephant during a journey is auspicious, as it it compared to Lord Ganesha
A frog brings good luck if it enters the house
Excessive laughing is said to bring tears that is some bad news
Wearing the cloth inside out unknowingly brings good luck
Never gift your friend a handkerchief, it indicates parting
Never hand over the green chillies to someone by hand. It awaits a quarrel

Celebrities' Superstitions

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar always wears his left pad first
Saurav Ganguly carries a photo of his Guru in his pocket while he is playing
Every car Shahrukh Khan owns has the number 555 on its number plate
Sanjay Dutt's lucky number is 9 and any number summing up to 9.(The number place of his cars have 4545 combination)
The K fixation for Ekta Kapoor, Karan Johar and RakeshRoshan

I feel with time these blind beliefs are sure to vanish. As we are growing up either we have found the scientific reason behind them ( if any) or have stopped following them because they no more are proving unlucky and inauspicious for us.

IPL5 Points Table - 14th May '12

It has happened again. Teams have lost matches in their home grounds last night. While Rain, Light and Gayle played spoilsport for Royal Challengers against Mumbai Indians, it was the last ball decider which went in favor of Chennai Super Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Now when the playoffs are so close can RCB make it to the top 4?

Team	Played	Won	Lost	N/R	Tie	Points	Net R/R
Delhi Daredevils	13	9	4	0	0	18	+0.729
Mumbai Indians	14	9	5	0	0	18	-0.056
Kolkata Knight Riders	14	8	5	0	1	17	+0.390
Chennai Super Kings	15	8	6	0	1	17	+0.214
Royal Challengers Bangalore	14	7	6	0	1	15	-0.072
Rajasthan Royals	14	7	7	0	0	14	+0.335
Kings XI Punjab	13	7	6	0	0	14	-0.270
Pune Warriors	15	4	11	0	0	8	-0.477
Deccan Chargers	14	2	11	0	1	5	-0.680

Theme Party - Floral

Its time to host a refreshing and colorful theme party, for the spring has arrived!! The pretty flowers bloom all around and nature looks so beautiful with greenery, freshness and full of life.

So here goes the theme, Floral. Lots and lots of ways and options to arrange and organize this party.

Decoration : You can arrange the party indoor or outdoor as per your constraint. The entrance can be decorated with the strings of flowers in a traditional way or in a creative way.

Entrance decorated with flowers in traditional way

Entrance decorated with flowers in modern way

Decorate the entire area with flowers. Strings of flowers hanging, beautiful flower arrangement on the seating and dining tables, petals creatively arranged, rangoli with flowers and as far your imagination and creativity can go.

Use of fresh flowers and leaves would bring freshness and liveliness to the ambiance rather than the artificial ones

Dress Code : The ideal dress code would be any floral dress with floral accessories. Make a beautiful head gear for yourself with the flowers available at your end. Wrap the string of flowers on hand and waist and may be ankles.

A single flower can be worn as earrings and same can be used as pendant for your neck piece. And yes you are good to go!

Games :

1. Create a crossword with flower names and let your guests identify them. Print the crossword on sheets of paper and distribute. Keep the time limit

2. Form one liners (Flower which represents Love - ?) or ()Color of flower for Love, Friendship, Peace )

If you can of such lines.

3. Jumble the names of flowers -

4. Blindfold the person. Mix all kinds of flowers in a

Ask the guest to identify or group the flowers

5. Ask them to sing songs with any flower in the lyrics

6. Teach a quick and easy flower arrangement technique to the guests

7. Give information about the rarest of flowers found around the world

8. Let the guests create a creative poster (or on the table) with flower petals. Keep the time limit.

More Party Games

Adding Cheer to IPL - Cheer Leaders at IPL5

Cheerleaders have been an integral part of IPL. Some teams have opted for the desi beauties while rest have sticked on to the fair blondes. The job of a cheerleader is not that easy as you think . The job starts proir to the arrival of teams on the field and continues upto after they leave.

They have to perform at the end of each over (40 overs mind it!) And to celebrate each of 4s and 6s. (Imagine the state when Chris Gayle is on fire!) And do not forget the fall of wickets. No doubt they have been successful in providing entertainment to the packed stadia and pull larger and larger crowds with their presence and performance

Some of the cheerful moments of of these beauties

Pune Warriors Cheerleaders in traditional Costume

Kings XI Punjab beauties

Kolkata Knight Riders' cheerleaders in traditional attire

Mumbai Indians' cheerleaders performing

IPL5 Points Table - 9th May '12

Here is an interesting Points Table after an easy win by Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians last night.
RCB has jumped to position 4 after this comprehensive win. They have returned to their good form with all the departments doing good. A tough competition now to enter the playoffs

Latest Team Standings

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	N/R	Pts	Net RR
Kolkata Knight Riders	12	8	3	1	17	+0.600
Delhi Daredevils	11	8	3	0	16	+0.880
Mumbai Indians	12	7	5	0	14	-0.198
Royal Challengers Bangalore	12	6	5	1	13	-0.223
Rajasthan Royals	12	6	6	0	12	+0.265
Kings XI Punjab	12	6	6	0	12	-0.309
Chennai Super Kings	12	5	6	1	11	+0.013
Pune Warriors	13	4	9	0	8	-0.238
Deccan Chargers	12	2	9	1	5	-0.621

Rabindranath Tagore - A Tribute

Today is Guru Rabindranath Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary. A multi-faceted persona. A Noble Laureate, a visionary, poet, artist, philosopher, novelist, playwright, composer and the greatest literary personality India has ever seen. An icon of Indian culture.

He became the first non-European to receive the Noble Prize for Literature in 1913. In 1915 he was awarded knighthood by the British king George V, but he returned the knighthood after the Jalianwalabagh massacre in 1919.

His works consist of poetry, novels, essays, music, paintings, travelogues, dramas, short stories and thousands of songs.
Guru Rabindranath Tagore

Where the Mind is Without Fear - Rabindranath Tagore

His compositions were chosen by two nations as their National Anthems. India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla. Many of his novels and shorties have been adapted into cinema.

Some of his famous works

Dramas Valmiki Pratibha (1881) Visarjan (1890) Chandalika Raktakaravi Chitrangada Raja Mayar Khela	Poetry Gitanjali Manasi Sonar Tori Balaka Purobi Dui Bigha Jomi Abhilash
Novels Chaturanga Gora(1910) Shesher Kobita Ghare Baire Char Odhay Noukadubi Chokher Bali Iurop Jatrir Patro Manusher Dhormo	Short Stories Bhikharini(1877) Golpaguchchho Cabuliwallah(1892) Kshudita Pashan(1895) Atithi(1895) Nastanirh Strir Patra Haimanti Musalmani Didi Darpaharan Jibito o Mrito

Selected Poems from Gitanjali

Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Flower
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it
droop and drop into the dust.
I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of
pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am
aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower
in thy service and pluck it while there is time.

Song Unsung
The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.
The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set;
only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.
The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by.
I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice;
only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.
The livelong day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor;
but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house.
I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet.

Boat
I must launch out my boat.
The languid hours pass by on the
shore---Alas for me!
The spring has done its flowering and taken leave.
And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.
The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane
the yellow leaves flutter and fall.
What emptiness do you gaze upon!
Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air
with the notes of the far-away song
floating from the other shore?

Some of the famous quotations of Rabindranath Tagore

Music fills the infinite between two souls
You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
Trees are Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.
The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence
In Art, man reveals himself and not his objects.
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf
He who is too busy doing good finds no time to be good.
Those who own much have much to fear”
When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing
Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation.
Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.
The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence
Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
To be outspoken is easy when you do not wait to speak the complete truth.
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
Facts are many, but the truth is one.
By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower
Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it.”
Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough
The flower which is single need not envy the thorns that are numerous.
Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance
"Let me light my lamp", says the star, "And never debate if it will help to remove the darkness
Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them

You can checkout rest of the poems of Gitanjali here.
He will continue to be a great source of inspiration not only for the literary giants and writers and poets but also for the common man

Did you like Sachin's new look?

All have noticed Sachin's new look these days. This '70's style straight hair has definitely evoked mixed reactions from style experts, his fans and the common man.

What do you think?

Is the look refreshing?

Is he looking young?

Is he looking old?

IPL5 Points Table - 4th May '12

The champions of IPL2, the Deccan Chargers are successfully holding their bottom position intact this season ;)

They were beaten comfortably by Dhoni's men in a rather disappointing match last night. Cameron White's brilliant 77 off 53 balls went in vain. Top 4 Teams will qualify for the play-offs

Latest Team Standings:

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	N/R	Pts	Net RR
Delhi Daredevils	10	8	2	0	16	+1.037
Kolkata Knight Riders	10	6	3	1	13	+0.632
Mumbai Indians	10	6	4	0	12	-0.162
Chennai Super Kings	11	5	5	1	11	+0.025
Kings XI Punjab	10	5	5	0	10	-0.280
Royal Challengers Bangalore	10	4	5	1	9	-0.446
Rajasthan Royals	10	4	6	0	8	-0.061
Pune Warriors	11	4	7	0	8	-0.115
Deccan Chargers	10	2	7	1	5	-0.540

Theme Party - Casino Night

The 'Theme Parties' series continues....here is one theme where you and your guests are sure to have ball of a time.

The theme is 'Casino Night'. Its all about games, winning, losing, trying your luck and enjoying. All in all its going to be a fun and entertaining evening.

Decoration : The decoration is the most important part here. You virtually have to turn the party hall into a Casino. Make proper use of club lights to give the look of a real Casino. The entrance of the hall can be made something like below.

Creatively arrange cards and chips on the tables. You can even stick the cards together and hang them on the walls.

Dress Code : Its Casino Night and you can wear what you wish. Still if you want your guests to be in specific dress code, you can give them Black dress code or something of your choice.

Music : Music actually sets the mood and brings vibe. You can even play some classic tunes or the latest remixes depending on the the crowd you are inviting.

Games : The evening is ruled by games. Everyone loves to gamble. Bring in variations and some creativity to the traditional games played in the clubs. Let the fake money be available to the guests to play and enjoy without any hassle.

Some of the favored games at the Casinos are the Card games, Wheel of Fortune, Poker, Roulette, Black Jack, Slots, Bingo etc.

More Party Games