The thoughts have been visiting me since some time now. A quote let me express these thoughts in words…
“If you listen carefully enough, someone will tell you exactly the kind of person they are…sit back and listen!”
In this life journey, we meet different people, or rather variety of people…
some you like, others not
some like you, others not
few stays, many not
Focusing on people who don’t stay…
Well! I am aware that there is limited or no meaning to ponder over people who chose to leave… but sometimes it helps to understand the reason as to why they left…
their life changed and somehow it became infeasible for them to be with you
you could have done something to offend them
their priorities changed
or,
you were never part of them
And you failed to see this, or you did feel it but chose to ignore, giving them benefit of doubt or you so wanted it to not be true that you repeatedly only saw the most beautiful version of the relationship…
If you look back, you will realize that they have been telling you, in words or in (in)actions, the same thing… not once but many many times…
The key traits I realized:
they are those people who,
– fail to keep their words – at least in your case (after a rosy (artificial/fake) beginning)
– self centered (opportunistic), cannot see anything beyond themselves
– if you rebel, somehow they tend to shift all the reasons and consequences on you (shedding away all the responsibility)
– behave as if nothing has (mis)happened and expects you to accept it
– after all this, they have the audacity to look into your eyes and then you feel them moving away…
This is the point when you actually realize (should) that you were never part of them… they didn’t move away… instead you should…
And if you didn’t, it probably goes in this loop all over again (with you further making compromises or adjustments, refusing to believe that you are living a false dream)… until your limit of getting hurt (or whatever) is crossed so beyond acceptable range, that you finally gather the strength to move past them…
Sun light is coming through a window and bringing with it the shadows which outline the window and the leaves and the branches which form part of a tree, projected on the floor…
This marks the beginning of every new day and could be perceived as a mix of lively/bright and dull/gloomy moods or searing and blooming situations… which follow every one of us each day. Though disturbing could be the fact that there is not a day with pure liveliness or brightness, the flip side is that the true value of happiness comes out only from sadness, one experiences or observes. Also, what matters is how a situation is dealt with because what here is bright could also resemble scorching heat and dull actually represents a flourishing tree. Therefore, by ensuring a balance between the light and the shadow and maintaining a right attitude, the complete picture is no doubt beautiful…
Nowadays, whenever we meet anyone, we still talk about how Covid has changed the world, life of each and everyone. True!
It seems that 2 years of our lives are wiped clean.. gone! Well, I could use this reason to say that how I wanted to come back here and share my thoughts and next recipe with you but Covid kept me occupied. Ya! I got infected by Covid delta (or alpha, I don’t know, but the dangerous variant which took lives of many many people around me and across the world) in April 2021. Almost 2 years since then, I still feel sometimes the side effects of it or the main effects… don’t know again.
I have to be true to myself… it’s not just Covid, my own laziness and sudden change in the lifestyle kept me away from blogging. (though I cooked a lot, tried many new recipes during this time). Now here I am… motivated by the blue clear sky, birds cuckooing but otherwise serene afternoon. As I lie down on the cot on the terrace under the sky with my eyes closed to take a nap, I felt this urge of reliving some of the childhood memories when Mum, Granny, even my father and brother, all of us will come together to cook some snacking delicacies, just as we prepare for Holi season. I jumped out of my thoughts and walked to my parents to say, let’s cook…
It is a perfect opportunity to break my 2 year long inertia and share the recipe here 🙂
Before I do the same, let me just give a brief on my current status. I am staying with my parents, its been over an year (after I got Covid infected, I took time to cure myself to ensure that I am not infectious to others and then I decided to come to my hometown). I switched my job around the same time and was working from home. But 3 months back, I got laid off from my job (we know how the economy and job market has completely crashed in recent times).
While people around me are anxious that why I am not anxious about ‘no job’ situation; I am very relaxed. It is my first break since 13 years when I started my corporate journey, And I can’t deny, I am enjoying it and feel at peace 🙂 I have kept myself busy in preparing for and attending my friend’s and cousin’s weddings (shopped for fancy clothes and accessories ;)). Took my first ever week long trip to Varanasi (waoo… what a place, will probably share this experience in a separate post). Have been closing items on my ever pending todo list… what a feeling it is 😀 Not to miss, this is the reason that why and how I was taking that nap in mid of the afternoon on a weekday 😛
Without further ado, let me introduce you to the holi savoury & sweets prepared by us.
Potato chips
Potato papad
Besan sev
Besan peanuts
Namak paare – for recipe, refer to an older post here
Well a long list, can’t say that I cooked all of this, I assisted my mother wherever I could.
Homemade snacks with colours of Holi 🙂
After many many years, made potato chips & papad at home
Idli-sambhar bowl
Today let me share the recipe for Kanji. It is a healthy probiotic drink, which is tasty and much needed after consuming so much of Holi snacks 😀
It can be prepared using different ingredients like carrots, beetroot, dal vada.. We usually make it with carrots.
Carrot mint Kanji
Here is the step-wise process to prepare Kanji drink:
1. Rinse, peel and chop the red carrots vertically into broad sticks.
2. Boil the carrots and set aside (just 1 whistle in cooker is enough).
3. In a dry grinder, grind 1 tablespoon of black mustard to a fine powder (you can also use yellow mustard, flavour will be slightly different).
4. Boil 2 litres of water and let it cool at room temperature.
5. Pour water in a glass jar (wide mouth jar is preferred).
6. Add the carrots, ground mustard powder, regular salt, little red chilli powder, ground fresh mint and pinch of turmeric for color.
7. Stir this mixture well with a clean spoon.
8. Cover loosely with a lid and keep the jar in direct sunlight.
It will take 1-2 days of sunlight for the drink to ferment / becomes sour (taste in between to ensure that it is not over ferment). Remember to stir the mixture once or twice in a day using a clean spoon or by shaking the jar.
Keep the kanji drink in refrigerator to preserve it for a few days (less than a week). It is perfect to take after meals, helps digestion.
Caution: If you feel anytime that drink is more sour or fungus/foam is forming, do not consume it and instead discard it.
How delicious all these are is one thing, but how we as a family came together to relive earlier days is remarkable (though lot of fights and tears in between, which seems to be inevitable). I really used to miss this in the city life (not the fights but this experience of cooking :)). We don’t have time. We don’t have space in the house (how can that tiny balcony with limited scope of sun take the load of our taste :)). We ourselves don’t have the patience with all the city work load.
Now being on a break and in my hometown, I found the perfect opportunity to have this one more time 🙂
So all is not dull & gloomy… life is showing yet another colour as I get back to basics… Happy Holi to All!
For U My Friends 