Muffins and Cakes

An oven that was gifted to me, sat in our kitchen, unused, for over 3 months.

I said it was because I fractured my hand, that I did not try my hand at baking yet.

Then I said it was because I was too busy to start baking.

Then I said I would first go for baking lessons before trying it at home on my own.

Finally, I decided that I need to do this and just get started, and accept that I was just scared to bake, because I was pretty sure I would fail at it.

But hey, I tried, and it was not such a big deal.
I can bake now.
It tastes just fine. Sometimes even better than that, it tastes really great.

Now I experiment with different kinds of cakes - I have already done a simple chocolate cake, some apple cinnamon muffins, and chocolate banana cakes.

I am still experimenting. Hope to bake way more in the coming days...

Sanskrit Lessons

For the past one year almost I have been learning the basics of Sanskrit, through a distance learning course.

I have finished 11 of the 13 modules for the course.

These are just baby steps in learning this great language, hopefully I will complete this basic course, and enroll for an advanced course at some point of time. 

The Love and The Evil that The Mind is capable of...

Recently watched a few movies that explored the beautiful vulnerabilities of relationships, the strength and the flaws, the sacrifices and the betrayals. You just cannot stop pondering about how amazing relationships are despite the greys, the evil intentions, the passion that destroys and the commitments that constrain.

The art auctioneer who gets smitten by an heiress who apparently suffers from a strange condition where she fears to appear in front of people - The Best Offer.

A Cuban piano player who follows the extremely successful therefore unattainable love of his life right through his life, to finally unite with her in their old age - Chico & Rita.

A happily married Carl Jung breaks the rules of doctor-patient relationships and indulges in an affair with Sabrina Spielrein who moves from patient to lover to pscyhoanalyst finally training under Sigmund Freud, whose ideas are opposed to those of Jung. - A Dangerous Method.

A depressed murders her husband while sleepwalking, which she claims is a side effect of the anti-depressant drug she was prescribed by her psychiatrist, who later realises that she never did take them, but that the whole act was an evil ploy. - Side Effects.

Sinister ploys, some... tales of romance, others... but all that the mind is capable of in the name of or under the pretext of love. 

Pallavi Anupallavi

In my days of watching Mani Ratnam movies back to back, I somehow had skipped his very first movie - Pallavi Anupallavi - a Kannada movie starring Anil Kapoor, Lakshmi and Kiran.

The fact that he has chosen a complex and mature theme that probably would have not gone down well with the traditional audiences, shows that he was a director who would change the way movies were. The title is perfectly apt for the the plot involving one uncomplicated relationship, and one complicated relationship that could have been avoided.

He has joined hands with some of the best in the industry - Ilaiyaraja, Balu Mahendra and B. Lenin, to produce a movie that is intense, deep, beautiful and at the same time extremely soothing, like a great song. 

Widows in the eyes of Bapsi Sidhwa/ Deepa Mehta

Read Bapsi Sidhwa's Water.
It takes you back to another era, and you wonder how different things were.

One of the few occasions where you notice that the book is based on the movie (in this case Water, by Deepa Mehta), and not the other way around. A simple and quick read but quite moving. This is the last in the Trilogy - Earth, Fire, Water. Somehow it seems like the entire premise would seem more appealing to non-Indians. A bunch of widows in an ashram ranging from 6 to 70, a eunuch, a society believing in traditions and rituals, the advent of Gandhi and the nationalist movement - all intriguing, especially to the foreign audiences.

A book that makes you ponder about the bygone era.

Of Myths and Alcohol

A 2 day workshop conducted by Devdutt Patnaik, renowned mythologist, for United Spirits Limited on Mythmaking and Branding.

The proposition itself sounded like a paradox to me. It just didnt seem to go together. Mythology and Selling Alcohol. Devdutt Patnaik and USL. Agency and Client. Mythologist and Marketers. Deconstruction of Communication Codes and Mythological Narratives as a backdrop.

The first day of the workshop was quite interesting. The kind of stuff that I was interested in hearing. The kind of stuff he was most comfortable with. I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially because I have recently gotten interested in the broad topics he was talking about. Extremely knowledgeable, and even more amazingly simplistic in his explanation. He makes his thought flow seem so seamless that even a child could understand what he is talking about. It all made perfect sense.

After reading his books on Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Myth = Mithya and Jaya, I have now decided to read more of his books. 

The second day, as I had feared, and as is the case with other such eminent personalities who have tried to club such topics with branding, was a let down. There was not much that was helpful for any branding professional. There was not much that was giving us a direction to follow or any paths to explore.

Another issue that seems to happen in most such forums where a group exercise happens, is that the place is filled with north indians. Even though we were sitting in a South Indian city, working on a brand that is based out of South India, with a large part of its empire in South India, we still had to depend on North Indian stereotypes and references from Bollywood to understand the social context as well as the category context.
Well anyway, pretty used to it by now.

But I guess Myths are absolutely fascinating, and decoding and simplifying these myths are even more fascinating. The commercial application of the same, well, I guess that is a different story altogether. It falls under the broad term 'Maya'.

Kahlil Gibran verses : one of my all time favourites

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

A movie, a performance, a book...

A Memorable Movie: Memento

A movie that made me stay in the movie much beyond the actual screen time of the movie. Piecing together bits of the puzzle, questioning, answering, solving, requestioning, re-answering, re-solving, feeling intelligent and then feeling dumb all over again. At times questioning whether the movie was really that intelligent after all. But thoroughly enjoyed the process.

A Memorable Performance: Sakhi
An experimental bharatnatyam rendition which stitched together various stories about different kinds of friendship, from around the world, from different eras, from different styles. The dancers and the singers narrated the story as well as performed. They connected with the audience. People across ages could follow every single bit of the performance. A great Saturday morning.

A Memorable Book: The Moor's Last Sigh
A wonderful literary experience that makes you go back and forth, in and out, in time/ of characters and stories. At times flipping back to the initial family tree flowchart till you get thoroughly acquainted with the several characters. For once you dont feel like skimming through the words, because here every word and every phrase seems to deserve your undivided attention. Each sentence is art and each description is beauty.

12 was good. Looking forward to 13

Last year was different. Nice. Interesting. Changed my life, its tone, its pace.

One of my closest friends and I decided to vow to remain the closest companions for life. We had a simple small wedding and we have just about started our journey together.

I realised that personal and professional lives are not necessarily one single seamless whole, but could be compartmentalised for a better living at both places. I used to feel bad if I did not find likeminded people at work, who would understand me, accept me, like me, take care of me, share thoughts and plans with me and become important parts of my life. But now I feel it is better I keep them as two separate pieces. Of the same jigsaw puzzle. If someone comes along who can fit in both, its fine. But if not, I dont necessarily need to panic. So now I have colleagues at work, and friends in life, and life could be wholly beyond office, if need be.

I continue to find out about the story of Colours. I am still fascinated with colour symbolism, colour semiotics or whatever this vague field of interest is known as. I am currently figuring out Colour Symbolism in Buddhism.

Yet another pleasant surprise last year was that I can actually cook, not just to save my life, but also pretty regularly. I have been experimenting a lot in the kitchen. I have successfully gotten over my kitchen fright, and have managed to understand the simplicity in creating dishes.

I travelled to Spain and fell in love with art all over again. I could say there was almost an overdose of Dali, Gaudi, Picasso, Miro, Goya, Velazquez, Tapies and many more. I never imagined that I would go to Spain, especially in winter. Madrid and Barcelona, a very special chapter indeed.

Unlike most other times that I have joined the gym, this time I seem to be more regular. It has not been too long but still, I feel this is the most regular I have ever been so far.

12 was good. Looking forward to 13.