तुम्हारी तलाश

जब तुम्हारी तलाश हद से गुज़र जाती है
तब मुझे अपनी गुमशुदगी नज़र आती है

घेर लेती है रात सियाह तसव्वुर बन कर
चांदनी कांच के टूटे हुए ख्वाबों सी बिखर जाती है

मेरा नादान सा दिल और ज़माने भर का मलाल
ओढ़ कर याद तुम्हारी, ये फिकर आती है

जलते पेड़ों में हवाओं के आशियाने थे
देखिये आग ये बुझती है कि बिखर जाती है  

people of newyork

कुछेक हफ़्तों से तुम्हारे ख्वाबों के साथ उठता हूँ
अलसाई आखों में बड़े हसीन लगते हैं
एक नयी कहानी लिए हर रोज़
कभी तुम्हारी हँसी, फ़ोक म्यूजिक के साथ पिरोये हुए
कभी लिए सवाल पूछती आँखें
की कौन सी किताब पढ़ रहे हो आजकल
मैं नींद में होता हूँ जवाब नहीं देता
डरता हूँ कि कहीं किताबों के चक्कर में
ख्वाब न टूट जाएँ
और ये जो दो चार पल मिले हैं तुम्हारे साथ
ये फिर ग़ुम न हो जाएँ
पर फिर भी तुम कहाँ रूकती हो
कल तुम्हारा हाथ पकड़ के रोकना चाहा
तो अलार्म घडी नीचे गिर कर टूट गयी
पूरे कमरे में वक़्त फैला पड़ा है
शाम को जब ऑफिस से आकर
अकेला हो जाऊंगा तब समेटूंगा
फिर पुरानी तस्वीरों के साथ
तुम्हारी दी हुई किताब में रख दूंगा
वहाँ सेफ रहेगा यादों के साथ और फिर
तस्वीरों के पीछे लिखी कहानियां भी तो वहीँ रखीं हैं
शायद इसी बहाने उन पर वक्त की एक और परत चढ़ जाये 

These stars were like flowers with soft petals made of light spread across the floors of the heavens, very unlike of those popular images with five sharp corners. The imagination of men arranged them in articulate shapes out of randomly scattered stars as an evidence to the human propensity of finding patterns when there are none.

Completely unknown to these exciting patterns I was finding my own. They were not as distinct or clear but more like clusters of objects or scenes from a story half forgotten or when I fell asleep in the middle of it.
Then one day my eyes were diagnosed and glasses were put in between my eyes and stars. The flowers shrunk to dim points of light, I never saw the sharp edges though. At least not when I was young.

15 years later I am at the roof of my house which is closer to the sky but I only see city smog illuminated by the city lights rising upwards like fire and among this sea of smog fire there is an island where stars are twinkling helplessly trying to defend themselves. Somewhere deep I know they are  fighting a losing battle. A battle against earthly stars made of LED's, a battle for human imagination and sense of wonder. While the art of looking up is being lost on human race.

I wonder if the stars manifested themselves in to various shapes so even if some of them disappear we will remember them to complete the shapes.

wishlist cook book

Vegetable biryani 

Veg

Layered spicy vegetables, basmati rice and cashew nuts are just the ticket in this traditional vegetarian Indian dish.

Ingredients

• 1 small carrot, peeled, cut into small cubes
• 1 medium potato, peeled, cut into small cube
• ¼ green pepper, diced
• ¼ red pepper, diced
• 25g/1oz French beans, finely chopped
• 50g/2oz frozen peas
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• ½ tsp finely chopped green chillies
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 225g/8oz cooked basmati rice
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 roasted cashew nuts, chopped
• ½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• yoghurt, to serve

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/235F/Gas 3.
2. Cook the carrot, potato, peppers, French beans and peas in a pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes, or until tender. Drain and return to the pan.
3. Add the tomato purée, green chillies, garam masala and turmeric to the vegetables and mix until well combined.
4. Place half of the rice at the bottom of an ovenproof dish, spread the vegetable mixture on top, and then place the rest of the rice on top, spreading it evenly.
5. Sprinkle the top layer of rice with the chopped onions, cashew nuts, cumin seeds and red chilli powder. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Serve with yoghurt.
   
   
   
   
   

   Chickpea curry

    

   Veg

   

   Healthy, cheap and filling: this tasty chickpea curry is perfect for a weekday dinner.

   Ingredients

   • 1 tbsp oil
   • 1 onion, chopped
   • 1 garlic clove, crushed
   • ¼ tsp salt
   • ½ tsp cumin powder
   • ¼ tsp coriander powder
   • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
   • ¼ tsp red chilli powder
   • 1 fresh tomato, chopped
   • 1 x 400g/14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
   • 5cm/2in piece root ginger, grated
   • pinch of garam masala
   • Pitta breads or plain basmati rice, to serve

   Preparation method

   1. Heat a deep saucepan or a medium sized wok and add the oil or butter followed by the onions and garlic.
   2. Fry the mixture till the onions are caramelised. Then add the salt, cumin, coriander, turmeric and red chilli powders. Mix for a minute and tip in the tomato. Cook the sauce until it begins to thicken.
   3. Add ¼ cup of water and stir. Then tip in the chickpeas and mix. Mash a few of the chickpeas while cooking. Cover and simmer for five minutes. Then add the ginger and the garam masala. Cook for another minute.
   4. Serve with pitta breads or plain basmati rice.

Economic Development vs. Morality

The question about disbelief in judicial system in case of Modi was if we have this disbelief because of political influence then Modi has faced 7 years of his trial under two Congress governments. And specially after 2009 election it was very clear that he is going to be one of the major BJP candidates for the post of the Prime minister of India in next elections. Even knowing so and having political influence of its own as central government if Congress can not prove the case against Modi then either he is not guilty of anything more than negligence or Congress wanted to use this issue as the Achilles' heel in the next election . Even without mentioning 1984 or 1993 it renders it really difficult to believe that Congress is a better choice for ruling party on moral terms.

The Professor pointed out that judicial process is a system and someone else added that in this system it is impossible to prove anything against Modi. Now be careful about this statement as it is not about Modi it is about our own lack of faith in ourselves as a system. We, as a society aiming for justice, do not believe that  we are functioning at the most basic levels of our duty. There can only be two explanations first of which would be external pressure, which is addressed in the first part of this discussion. Second would be our own convictions, like a judge being pro-Hindu or pro-Modi, but wouldn't be the same as we blaming Modi for everything without having proper knowledge about the evidences, and punishing him in the coming elections.
Just keep your eye open for the biases in the articles/documentaries on which you are making up your mind.




The story was pretty much same with the first video. Instead of  portraying the problem fairly the video seemed like provocation to use violent means. One needs to realize in such situations we are against our own people. We don't want to antagonize them, we certainly do not want to force or terrorize them but at the same time we do not want to encourage or romanticize them being against national interests. We want to include them in this development.   

soup noodles :)

Another cooking adventure which turned out quite good.  

Christmas

So I am using my ignored blog as a medium to show off my moderate cooking skills. An empty house and dodgy internet connection pushed me to scary realms of enough boredom and courage that I decided to experiment with my cooking and this post is about this awesome result. 

So here are pics of the steaming curry, curry with rice and me enjoying my food while watching television.