The Apple

She hadn't eaten anything for two days and was feeling weak from hunger.  There were days when she did not get anything to eat or just one meal a day.  This was one of those many.  Her father was the apple seller and a drunkard. Her mother had died 2 years ago, she was just eight then.

Today she was sitting at the bazaar selling apples. Fruit prices had really increased and her father had invested the little money he had to buy apples to be sold.  Oh how red and delicious they looked .  If she could have one little apple... just one apple.  Her father had told her they were bought to be sold. He had counted them all and warned her not to eat any.  "I will sell them at more value" he had said.  It was afternoon and he had gone to get his daily dose of venom.  She hated it when he got drunk.  He had no friends and got into fights every evening. She would have to go hungry when he forgot to buy food.

She couldn't stand it any longer, the beating she would get seemed like a small price for one apple.  She picked up the one closest within her reach and took a bite... and another and another.  The fruit was finished before she knew it.  She wanted another she did not realise the taste of the first because she gobbled up most of it. She already had one might as well have a second she knew she was going to pay for it.  The took a bite off a second and paused for a moment... oh how sweet it was! She almost finished the second, she had savored every bite. 

Suddenly she felt a cane hit her arm.  She turned around and saw him standing, his eyes red and he had been drinking.  She cowered and tried to explain how hungry she was.  Before she could say a word there was a second blow.  The cane felt like a whip of fire burning every time it touched her.  It was raining fire.  After some minutes she felt nothing just her body was moving and she could see her father beating her... but she felt nothing. There was blow after blow and then it became dark and she could not see or feel.  She felt at peace thinking how sweet the apple was.  She was just a child, a hungry child...

Note: This is fiction based on a true story I read where two poor girls were beaten to death because they had eaten some fruit.  they were hungry for days but the seller did not think of it they were beaten mercilessly till they were no more.

Office Mug Noodles

I love food and everything about it. I need to have my food dabbas full of food at all times. I can get a little insecure when stored food levels reach below the re-order level or if there is nothing to munch on. I have food stocked up not just in my  room but also in office :) Of three drawers one drawer is dedicated only to food :D It has everything I need; from salt, pepper to soup, noodles, tea, fruit and biscuits :P 

Click to maximize :)

These are not the normal cup noodles that you get but the packet ones.  I'm not promoting Horlicks Foodles but these are some tasty + healthy noodles which are better than Maggi because they are made from Wheat and other mix of flour instead of the usual refined flour (so they say on the packet).  Usually you would need fire to cook these but there is a fireless way to cook them too.  I shared it with couple of girls in office and they quiet liked it.  So thought of posting it for the benefit of those workaholic gastronomes :)

 Step 1: Buy a packet of Horlicks Foodles :)

 

Step 2: Before opening the packet crush the noodles (crush them lightly, don't turn them into powder).  You need to do this because you will be making them in a mug.

Step 3: Empty half of the crushed noodles in the mug (for convenience I make only half a packet at a time).  Pour boiling hot water on it just enough to soak them.  If you put extra water it will be soupy. Also  make sure the water is extremely hot so the noodles can sort of cook.  If you use only warm water then you will just end up with wet noodles (its a waste!)

Step 4: Put a lid on the mug and let the noodles sit in the hot boiling water for full 5 minutes.

Step 5: The noodles must have turned nice and fluffy now its time to add the tastemaker / Masala.

Step 6: Stir the noodles well.Viola!Yummy and healthy noodles ready to eat :D

 This is perfect when you have back to back calls and don't find time to go get something to eat.  If you think this is too much of efforts you can always keep biscuits, etc handy :)

For the love of food I wish you never know hunger pangs and ever face food shortage.  Happy Eating!

Ramblings

When I started this blog I was all excited and thought 'Finally I can start writing again'  So initially I wrote more than a couple articles in a week then it reduced and at a point there was none in a month even!  Then I thought may be I was too ambitious and thought of writing at least one article per week. How difficult can it be? Not too hard but I happen to be either very buzy or a little lazy and I'm unable to  keep my promise to self.  

There are times when I get ideas or lots of stories that I could write but I stop due to the above stated two reasons  but I blame the writers block (writers block!? :P haha) I confirmed with a few other blogger friends and they (genuinely) face the writers block too :)

So I was thinking about my recent schedule and there is no time to write stories in the normal hours.  I would have to stretch and cut back on my sleep (which I so love!) to write something (which I also love).  Generally I'm inspired to write somewhere around the hours of 1-3 am (which is middle of the night) and I am suppose to wake up by 9 but have been waking up by 10/ 10.30 am.  I have come to realize I need 8 hours of sleep and my body refuses to wake up till then :P

After I wake up I just have enough time to quickly shower get dressed and run to work and its almost noon. I have all my meals in the office cafeteria since I'm living by myself and can't bother shopping for vegetable / groceries and worry about what to cook tomorrow.  I have been living on the cafe food for the last 5 years and I must say God has been kind and I have not found any weird stuff life a cockroach leg or lizard's tail - you get the idea - in my food (either that or I must have gobbled everything down without looking :P).  Then I start work in the afternoon ad finish by 10.30 / 11 in the night (I work UK hours) by the time I get home its 11.30 / 12 depending on when I left.  

Once I get home I get online check what's happened in the FB world (that's the 1st site I check).  Thanks to the news feeds feature I get all updates in my home page :P.  A few notifications, comments, tags, posts, Birthday wishes, play with the FB Aquarium fishes - there was a time I was totally addicted to this fish aquarium game and reached a high level then something went wrong with it and I i stopped gaining points.  That put me off and I finally stopped playing. Next I log in to check my mails - Yahoo, Gmail and check updates from any other sites that I have registered on.  Chat with friends, message friends, forward jokes / mails, etc. Then I log in to blogger and check the Blog Stats :P Bet everybody who writes does this :D I just like to know if someone visited my site today - there's nothing wrong in that.  So when the number of people who visited is zero for a day that's when I feel I REALLY need to post something new.  I look at the time and realise its suddenly 2 AM!! I need to sleep now and I also wish to write.. kya karne ka? I have to sleep if its a week day else I can then think about writing something new.

I have a few ideas that I really want to write about but I'm a perfectionist and can't share half  written articles.  I know a lot is happening around and I should may be just write but I can't I'm too buzy to write :P

Well seems like I managed to crib (not really :P) and explain what happens most days.  This is the result of pushing myself to write something ... anything nonsensical (because just one person visited today :P hehe) because I want to write and what do you know its just 1.15 am and I have managed to write something alright! Reading it back I remember what a friend once told me.. I have a wavering mind and I think the title Chronicles of the Wandering Mind suits just fine :D

I'm expecting some very critical comments, tell me people how bad was this article :P

Anybody Out There?

What boredom does to people!? As the world is shrinking due to so many communication mediums that we have but at the same time its also making people indulge in this virtual world soo much that they can end up alone.  There are people who are online 24X7 due to work or personal 'commitments'.  This is definately true for some teenagers now a days who spend a lot of time connecting with friends and hardly talk to family in the same house.  They spend hours playing games on Facebook, virtually poking people, commenting on statuses and what not.  We have B'day reminders popping up and with wish them in that portal and forget to wish them when we meet in person! [It happenned to me :(]

Ages ago (don't intend to make anyone sound ancient) there was the concept of pen friends and I guess somewhere it must still exist.   People would write / exchange letters - Yes, handwritten letters would be posted in the red mailbox! Then there would be the long wait for a reply.  OK I'm not that old but while I was growing up I had read about pen friends and it did not make sense to me to write a letter to a random stranger in some other part of the world. 

Anybody remember the time when Yahoo Messenger was the cool thing? Chat rooms used to have real people you could chat to. Now its just lecherous predators out there with dummy IDs I think. In those days (I think now I sound old) I did make couple of good real friends and I'm still in touch with one friend from those days :P I know of a friend who met his wife in one of those chat rooms :) Did your first e-mail IDs have weird name which you thought was cool at the time and the accounts were in either Rediff, Yahoo or Hotmail?

Coming back to virtual social networking - It is letting geographically distant people connect but may be it is pulling us away from those who are physically around us. Friends sitting next to each other ping or e-mail each other.  Wishing someone on a social site is more important that actually talking to them. When we worry about our virtual pets because we have not seen them could be a warning bell that something is seriously wrong and we need to go get a REAL life. There is however, a growing number of people who are living in the virtual world more than the real world. I had read a report about the virtual world account holders and that maximum users are from the developed nations.  It is also true that the numbers people living alone is also growing in these countries.  It said that some individuals have even made money in the virtual world using virtual money.  Virtual worlds are becoming our extended dreams worlds where anything is possible, escape realities or to just indulge in a little narcissism.  Human beings are social animals and we need to be heard, spoken to and acknowledged. I guess people speak to strangers in a hope that may be they will find someone like themselves or may be they just need to be heard sometimes.

I was randomly googling and found what this person said described exactly why I write:

I choose to write because it's perfect for me. It's an escape, a place I can go to hide. It's a friend, when I feel out casted from everyone else. It's a journal, when the only story I can tell is my own. It's a book, when I need to be somewhere else. It's control, when I feel so out of control. It's healing, when everything seems pretty messed up. And it's fun, when life is just flat-out boring."

— Alysha Speer

Things To Do Before I Die

A thought crossed my mind today - What if I had only 1 year to live.  I tried to think about all those things I had always wanted to do and if I would ever be able to get everything on my checklist.  Here are a few things...

1. Go on a wonderful holiday with my family.
2. Meet the friends I don't have time to see now, the friends who I've met just once in my life so far and those friends I made on Facebook due to various reasons :)
3. See the places I always wanted to visit (Himalayas, Venice, Mexico and Combodia :P)
4. Signup to become an eye donor.
5. Change somebody's life for the better.
6. Apologise to those I might have hurt (if it was my fault)
7. See a Panda, Penguin and a Blue Whale.
8. Taste as many ice cream flavours as possible :P

I thought I would have at least 10 things that I could share.. oh well.

That would have to be one exciting year!  Somethings I might be able to complete and some might just stay on the list.  

Its been a wonderful so far and the journey is still on.  Life however is uncertain and we might just have to bid good bye without announcements.  It is a very short act and time is actually fleeting. 

We NEED to appreciate the good things in life and forget the things you can't change. There are times when things get real bad and we might think its the end of the world... well its not.  Just remember, no matter how bad things get there is always the possibility it could have been worse (even the worst situations have the ability to get worser :P ).  If you think you've hit rock bottom well.. there's just one way out of there - Up :)

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A lot of ramblings in this post of mine... Just happened to transfer some of the mess from the head to the blog :P