7 September 2015

Unique cocktail in India

Landed in Delhi, checked into the hotel and then went to the lobby bar downstairs. Virtually no one was there. Which suited me fine since I was going to make a few phone calls and check office emails which are not very easy in an overflowing bar. But first, I made friends with the guy mixing drinks – Shubham is his name – and asked what would be an unique Indian cocktail he could fix for me. He made a few suggestions with jalapeños but I told him I have tried all those or variations thereof.

He said “Wait here” and went inside. I was not in a hurry to go anywhere – so I just sat there. In a few minutes, he came back with two plastic packets. Very curious, I asked him what do you have? “Imli paste and gur, sir!” That would be tamarind and jaggery.

In a few minutes he whipped up a cocktail that certainly lived up to my expectations of a nice Indian cocktail. I got to try that back at home. Although, I am probably going to try with vodka and gin instead of whiskey – which is what I just had…

image

Category: Vacations | 13 Comments on Unique cocktail in India
6 September 2015

Wait a minute…

West Point is where the U.S. Military Academy is. This is where the best and strongest of us all are trained to protect the country and its citizens. Yesterday, in the academy, thirty of these best and strongest were badly hurt… not in hand to hand combat or a live practice gone awry… but in a pillow fight!!! A pillow fight!!! How exactly do you get a concussion in a pillow fight?

Our enemies will be trembling in fear… once they figure out how to stop laughing !! 🙂

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/05/us/west-point-pillow-fight/

Category: Humor | 3 Comments on Wait a minute…
6 September 2015

One more time… India bound…

This morning, Facebook helpfully showed my posts from this day in previous years. Guess what I was doing last year on this day? I was headed out to India to check on my parents. And my in-laws who were visiting us (remember those FIL-MIL Mehfil posts? 🙂 ) were returning together with me. In a pure coincidence, exactly a year after, to the day, I am headed back again to see my parents.

This trip is going to be different… First and foremost, my dad is in a much better shape than what I saw him in three months back. That should be good. Second, however, I have a day’s worth of work in Delhi. This is uncommon for me to get distracted by work when I am in India to spend time with my parents. So, I will have one less day with my parents this time. Third, and this is a little painful, my brother will not accompany me for most of the trip. It is extremely rare for us not to be together every single day when I am in India. But this time he is stuck with his kids’ exams. Which means I won’t be seeing the nephews much either. Most of all, I will miss those road trips with my brother – he, with his steering wheel and me with my Google maps!!

There are some possibilities of creating intersection points still though. Some of the ones I am planning include visiting a classmate of mine from elementary school who used to be the class topper, a few more classmates from middle school that I have not seen in over thirty years, perhaps the mom of my best friend from high school days…

First I have to get past hours and hours and hours of flight to get to India though 🙂

Category: Vacations | 13 Comments on One more time… India bound…
5 September 2015

In defense of minimalism…

“Jeb mein chillarewaalo –
Woh to baarish mein khule aam maaza loot-tey hain
Aur mutthi mein rupaiyawaalo –
Woh zindagi bhar panaha dhoondtey rahein”

Translated…

“Those who had only coins in their pockets
Went out and enjoyed themselves getting wet in the rains
And those with a lot of notes (bills) in their fists
Kept running for shelters all their lives”

This is a reflection on how people of little means often truly enjoy the free bounties of this beautiful earth and those with a lot of belongings spend all their lives protecting and sheltering them – mostly to realize that they cannot take their much protected wealth in their eventual journey.

Category: Musings | 3 Comments on In defense of minimalism…
3 September 2015

The day after Chris Christie became President

[Yes, this is the third flight of the week and I am bored 🙂 But fresh from the bout of Top Five things that would happen the day after Donald Trump became the President, I figured I should turn my attention to Chris Christie too. Feel free to add to the list of what happened the day after Chris Christie became the President of USA]

Christie lost no time in calling up the Nobel Prize Commitee to find out when would he be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize which, per his understanding, is given to anybody who gets elected to be the US President 🙂 Eventually, a compromise was reached between White House staff and the Powers That Be to enter Chris Christie’s name in the Guinness Book of World Records under the section “What man made object on Earth is visible from the moon”. 🙂

In his first TV interview after being elected the President, Christie was asked why he believed Americans trusted him to solve the immigration problem more than anybody else. Christie pointed out that most of the illegal immigrants cross into the USA through well concealed tunnels underground. He credited USA citizenry for recognizing his superior level of experience in shutting down tunnels to strand people on either side compared to any other candidate.

In anticipation of a large White House contract (to track illegal immigrants), Fed Ex boosted their total capacity by announcing an imminent deal to buy UPS. The CEO of Fed Ex explained that, in line with the mood of the citizenry, the new company will be called FedUPS. The outgoing UPS CEO, recognizing that FedEx won the war over them, admitted “We never really quite found out what Brown could do for us”.

Category: Humor | 23 Comments on The day after Chris Christie became President
2 September 2015

After Trump won the Presidential Election

The Top Five likely events to occur the day after Trump wins the Presidential Elections. Please feel free to add your own 🙂

1. Trump tries to pacify Melania who is throwing a hissy fit over having to move to a smaller house 🙂

2. The military scrambling to repaint the plane to name it “Hair Force One” 🙂

3. To fulfill the manifesto promise to shut down the Department of Education, Department of Commerce and another one that he cannot remember either, Trump converts them to Trump casinos 🙂

4. Department of Justice starts drawing up a plan to deport each and every illegal immigrant. Juan by Juan. 🙂

5. In order to hear his acceptance speech that morning, the nation that just elected Trump as President, mistakenly tuned to the TV show “Orange is the new Black”. 🙂

[and remembering one famous line from Jon Stewart… the official handover from Obama to Trump was televised by MSNBC under the headlines “When Barry met Silly” 🙂 ]

Category: Humor | 18 Comments on After Trump won the Presidential Election