Sea Horse!!

I'm in love with this one :)

Back to doodling :)

My fallen hero

My grandfather was a quiet man. He had always found it difficult to express himself, and sometimes we had to find out from his expressions to know exactly what he was thinking, and even that was a vague guess. He was an extremely active person who loved to go on long walks, visit temples and read the Gita. As a kid, I remember how much I used to miss my grandpa when he went away on his long trips. He was an engineer, and used to spend a great deal of time away from us, in construction sites. While he was always kind and gentle to me and my sister, he was a strict disciplinarian to my father and his brothers. So much so, that his children had never been close to their own father. My father and his brothers were banned from playing cricket, cards, watching movies, having too many friends, traveling out of the station, and even staying in another friend or relative’s place. Money was a big issue back then, it was actually a wonder how my grandpa had raised four sons and provided for his wife as well. My grandpa had effectively; put deep fear into his sons’ minds without having to lift a finger. My father used to tell me, how grandpa never used to hit them or even raise his voice, he was always quite, and since he rarely spoke, every single word from his mouth was listened to with keen intent.

However, to me he was a silent and tender man, who used to always feed me the choicest items off his plate, had the largest collection of reader’s digest that I have ever seen, a dozen files of the worlds most amazing bridges, and a huge variety of coins and stamps. To me and my sister, he was a darling. While he never really let us get too close to him, he was always gentle and even tempered with us. Soon it was time for me to move away, as me and my sister were sent off to boarding school. There were no kisses and hugs when we parted, just a dignified goodbye, since my grandpa didn’t like us to make a fuss over him. No matter how much I wanted to kiss him and give him a tight hug, my father warned me against doing so.

An entire year passed, and we got the news that our grandpa had passed away. We came back to our house, and found everyone to be either teary eyed or in a grumpy mood. While we were sitting and mourning our losses, our uncle came and began to separate all his collections, or “junk” as he called the number of books and papers. As I began to sift through them, I came across a file market PRIVATE in bold red, and curiosity getting the better of me, I opened it anyway. I saw quite a few papers there, one was a letter, that spoke of him rescuing a laborer in a construction site and there was another of him taking up almost three jobs simultaneously to support his family. There was a letter from an old lady, who was thanking him for returning a piece of her jewelry that she had missed on a train. Even though it was obvious my grandpa had been poor, he had been a dignified and honorable man. All these small details had shocked my dad, my uncles and even my grandma. They knew him for the strict and grumpy old man he was, but nobody had thought how deep still waters actually run. My grandpa had supported and devoted his life completely to his family. As they all wondered, why they never knew about all this, I knew my grandpa; he loved us and showed it through his actions, and not through words. As I mentioned in the beginning, my grandfather was a silent man…

My bathroom mirror

Strange as it may seem, my bathroom mirror has actually shown me a lot of my problems, and that too first thing in the morning. We have been through a lot together, I saw my first chipped tooth there, my first white hair L, the annoying pimples that break out every now and then, and how can I forget the tumbled and frizzy hair first thing in the morning. But then again, it shows me a lot of amazing things too; it shows me the sparkle in my eyes just before I get to bed, the glow in my face right after a shower, it shows me how even my teeth are, and it even shows me just how wide my smile can be.

Maybe it’s weird to ponder so much over a bathroom mirror, but its true, you are going to see only what you want to see. I learn that every morning, I can either keep looking at my chipped tooth, or I can look at my even teeth. I can think of what a beautifully sunny day it is, or think how badly I’m going to tan today. While some may ponder over their bathroom mirror for other reasons, I mainly ponder over it to figure out how positive or negative I’m going to be today. Beauty really is in the eyes of the beholder!!

Indian style Spinach pasta

There are plenty of variations for this particular recipe, but this is the basic pasta recipe, that can be eaten without guilt. Here is what you need -

1.1 bunch plain spinach
2.Elbow macaroni or any pasta that you like (about 1 packet)
3.2 medium sized tomatoes - sliced thinly
4.2 medium sized onions - diced finely
5.3 large green chillies - slit
6.spices - salt, chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, cumin seeds.
7.Garlic - about 3 - 4 pods
8.Olive oil about 3 tsp

Procedure -
1.Cook the pasta according to the given instructions in the packet (add some salt and few drops of olive oil to the boiling water so that the pasta does not stick)
2.As the pasta cooks, chop the vegetables, pluck the leaves of the spinach, wash nicely and leave to dry (no need to chop them)
3.In a pan heat the olive oil and add the cumin seeds and garlic before the oil heats up completely.
4.Now add the onions and green chillies and wait til they turn transparent
5.Add the tomatoes and wait for them to cook, remove from heat onto a separate plate.
6.In the same pan, heat some more olive oil and once it heats up add the spinach.
7.Cover it for about 2 minutes, and you will see that it has wilted completly, after it has wilted and all the moisture is almost drained out, add the onion - tomato mix.
8.Add all the spices and mix it really well.
9.Now add the pasta, and mix it well, and close the pan with a lid, for about 2 minutes.
10.At the very end you can add some grated cheese and drizzle a little extra olive oil on top. And, voila! you Indian spinach pasta is ready

Now i know not all of us are Popeye, and we don't love spinach. However, with this recipe, since we add a lot of really flavorful spices you can barely taste the original taste of the spinach. Which makes it ideal for spinach haters. You get a lot of nutrients and fiber, and don't really get to taste it. You really don't need to cut up the spinach, as its going to wilt in the heat anyway, so you are saving an extra step! :)
There are so many variations to this recipe, you can add mushrooms, bell peppers,broccoli, beans, peas, carrots, and so many more.