I have shied away from writing about politics, the corruption, the politico's termed as gods for a reason. There is no point.
What's the point of now "OMG" at the status of the common wealth games? So what it was decided 8 years ago for India to host it? So what if the tenders, the budget, the location was all public knowledge. So what only a few weeks before the game, did people realize...OMG... we are not ready to host the Common Wealth Games.
The games which could have catapulted the host country's image! India's vibrant colors as a tourist location, as a flavorful country, as a modern yet cultured place, as an almost developed country would have been showcased across the world. The tri-color would have symbolized progress, vision, history and above all the achievement.
When I talk with my colleagues from around the world, I always tend to hear something along the lines of: India is an amazing country. I really want to see the land of snake charmers and the land of the tech gods. But, It's just way too dirty and way too complicated for a simple vacation. It's just not worth it.
And I assure you, I am not making it up.
I am an Indian, and a proud one. But I also know, no country is perfect. My dreams of seeing India hosting the F-1 race or the Olympics or any international level games of quality seem very distant. The Common Wealth Game could have showcased India for what it wants to be, for what it can be and for what it’s capable of. Look at how China and more recently Africa learned and earned from hosting the games! Sadly.... only the not-so-good, the-corrupt, the short terms visionary's got showcased.
Am I doing something to brings about change? No. Am I trying, No... Yes, I am one of the million other people who are on the sidelines saying "Tch Tch". I may go as far as saying. Better Luck Next Time... But after this shame, do you think, we the Indian people think we are ready for it? Can we handle it? Can we actually implement a long term plan which will benefit the country and eventually us? Instead of… let me fill my own pockets and as for long term. What long term?
There will be more scandals, the TRP's will increase not because of the games but for the scandal. There will be some politician who will resign. There will be some morcha, some slogans, some heart burn.
Even to the optimist in me... it seems like a day that never will come. The day where we are on the forefront, considered a hot tourist location, a smart country, a flexible country, a country where the good has started outweighing the bad!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
A simple request
There are few people whose blog I read regularly. IHM or Indian Home Maker being on the forefront. She blogs about women in general, of how Indian women have to live by norms of society. Of how she is unknowingly controlled by other forces of how she is made to choose a path which might not be her preference. I follow IHM regularly and get amazed at the simplicity of her words, the kindness in the wisdom and above all the ability to speak the facts as is with no fluff, no diplomacy but just straight talk.
I am blessed to be born and raised in a family which did not differentiate between girls and boys. My husband is a primary advocate of women's right. There are times when he would just tell me point blank...get out of your conceived notions of how women should be, just be yourself. So yes, I am blessed and I don’t discount the strength that my parents, my in-laws or my better half have given me to be myself no matter what.
IHM talks about the girls who don’t get the freedom to be themselves. She raises awareness and she talks and breaks norms and does it not for herself but for people to see two sides of the coin. For people to realize that by controlling all you are doing is hurting. She has inspired hundreds of people in the blogging world and in the real world to be strong and be okay with speaking your mind.
Today she posted about her own personal crisis... and all she is asking is for prayers, for her daughter who is suddenly sick with Dengue fever and is battling life and death in ICU. For her daughter who is blessed to have a mother like IHM. For a parent there is no bigger pain than seeing a child suffer. I can only imagine how hard it was for her to post about it. All I am asking my readers today, whether you now, read, follow IHM or no.. Please pray for her daughter's well being.
A simple request...Please pray.
I am blessed to be born and raised in a family which did not differentiate between girls and boys. My husband is a primary advocate of women's right. There are times when he would just tell me point blank...get out of your conceived notions of how women should be, just be yourself. So yes, I am blessed and I don’t discount the strength that my parents, my in-laws or my better half have given me to be myself no matter what.
IHM talks about the girls who don’t get the freedom to be themselves. She raises awareness and she talks and breaks norms and does it not for herself but for people to see two sides of the coin. For people to realize that by controlling all you are doing is hurting. She has inspired hundreds of people in the blogging world and in the real world to be strong and be okay with speaking your mind.
Today she posted about her own personal crisis... and all she is asking is for prayers, for her daughter who is suddenly sick with Dengue fever and is battling life and death in ICU. For her daughter who is blessed to have a mother like IHM. For a parent there is no bigger pain than seeing a child suffer. I can only imagine how hard it was for her to post about it. All I am asking my readers today, whether you now, read, follow IHM or no.. Please pray for her daughter's well being.
A simple request...Please pray.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A non-post.
I am going through a writer's blogger's block if you will. I should be maintaining my two blogs and writing cute stories and angst posts. I should be really starting to work on my posts for Smartly Chicago or The Chicago Moms or other sites I contribute to. I should be commenting, writing, reading. But right now - I have a block. I am suddenly out of content.
I walk home and I have thoughts flowing freely… but when I sit down to type, I just can’t. I want to think, to form sentences, to let the thoughts flow, to write, I keep opening my notepad, type a few words, but nothing seems to flow. No idea, no cute funny stories, no point which has to be made, no arguments, judgments or even stories. Nothing. Nada.
what happened?
It’s not like life is at a full stop. There is lots happening, lots of people who cut me off, lots of people whom I cut off, lot of introspection and lots of cute relatable incidents that I could generally write about. But I just can’t do it.
It’s not like I don’t have time, I mean I do have the same amount of time I had before. Then why?
I guess, I should just breathe. I could count to ten, be myself and stop judging my own writing. I should remind myself that I write because I enjoy it and may be someone else can relate to it as well. I should blog, be honest and just go with the flow.
But for today, for now, I’ll just have an ice breaker-
Hi, I am Garima and hope you come back for more interesting reads than this non-post. But for today, for now…. Please excuse my downtime.
I will have my caffeine shot and get back for more at: It's a Start!
I walk home and I have thoughts flowing freely… but when I sit down to type, I just can’t. I want to think, to form sentences, to let the thoughts flow, to write, I keep opening my notepad, type a few words, but nothing seems to flow. No idea, no cute funny stories, no point which has to be made, no arguments, judgments or even stories. Nothing. Nada.
what happened?
It’s not like life is at a full stop. There is lots happening, lots of people who cut me off, lots of people whom I cut off, lot of introspection and lots of cute relatable incidents that I could generally write about. But I just can’t do it.
It’s not like I don’t have time, I mean I do have the same amount of time I had before. Then why?
I guess, I should just breathe. I could count to ten, be myself and stop judging my own writing. I should remind myself that I write because I enjoy it and may be someone else can relate to it as well. I should blog, be honest and just go with the flow.
But for today, for now, I’ll just have an ice breaker-
Hi, I am Garima and hope you come back for more interesting reads than this non-post. But for today, for now…. Please excuse my downtime.
I will have my caffeine shot and get back for more at: It's a Start!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Apple Cobbler.... Yummy in my Tummy!
So I have wanted to write about food... quick fixes and the likes for a while. But somehow the right outlet is not coming, so for now, I will just write here. Yes, it is very unlike my regular blog content, but this is one recipe a sweet tooth like me had to share… Especially since it look less than 10 minutes to put together!
This was completely inspired by Chris’s post of the Peach Cobbler...
The major switch is using fresh fruit instead of packed (read: super sweet, super glorified) fruit. And since SD had recently gone for our groceries (Aaah!! thank you XOXO), we had more apples than peaches. Hence, here is my revised recipe for:
Apple Cobbler! (In MWave less than 10 min. preparation + Baking Time)
Need:
Fresh Apples (Since this was a trial, I only used two)
4 Tspoon sugar (Proportion is for 1 apple = 2 Tsp sugar)
Box of yellow cake mix (Readily available in Jewel Osco or any grocery store. Costs 1-2$)
1-2 sp Cardamom powder (Alternatively can use Cinnamon as well.)
Butter
Baking Dish/ Microwaveable Dish (I love Pyrex since you can use it in Microwave, you can bake in it and store in it!)
Process:
1. Core and Peel the apple(s)
2. Cut the apple in thin slices and place it in the Pyrex bowl
3. Add Sugar and mix
4. Place the bowl in microwave (High) for two minutes.
5. Now add the Cardamom powder, stir it a bit and once again microwave it for two minutes.
6. Just keep checking that the apple is soft enough. It tends to get translucent. Please don’t touch the apple (It's super hot.. not that I know anything about that!). Start microwave for another minute if needed!
7. Now, add 5-6 tspoons of the cake mix on top of the melted apple-sugar concoction. Make sure to use a fork to tab it in the liquid.
8. Now, if you like the buttery taste, feel free to place small cubes of butter on top of the cake mix for better baking. (I placed 2-3 only)
9. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees on Bake for about 15 minutes.
Yumm Yumm Yumm
Apple Cobbler is ready.... feel free to eat it with Vanilla Ice Cream like I did!
Or feel free to force feed the hubby to "Try it out"... Once again like I did!
Or feel free to not feel bad when kiddo only wants the Ice Cream... since the cobbler was still super hot! Just like mine did!
Fear not. I will ensure she eats the cold leftover one tonight!
Sorry... no pictures, I really didn’t know I was going to blog about it.
Now, I definitely plan to make such quick fix cobblers of different fruits (Peaches, Berry's, Nectarines).... all should work well! Any tasters?
Try it out… let me know how it turned out!
Note: If you don’t want to use the cake mix, for the crusty top do the following:
1. 6 tspoons All purpose flower + 3-4 cubes of butter, Sugar if you like the crust to be sweet.
2. Hand mix the ingredients to a powdery feel. Just so you can place it over the fruit concoction. And bake
I was lazy last night, so the cake mix was perfect. I think I will use cake mix going forward; it’s just quicker (and less dishes, and less preparation time and that one big box will last me a few more trial attempts)!
This was completely inspired by Chris’s post of the Peach Cobbler...
The major switch is using fresh fruit instead of packed (read: super sweet, super glorified) fruit. And since SD had recently gone for our groceries (Aaah!! thank you XOXO), we had more apples than peaches. Hence, here is my revised recipe for:
Apple Cobbler! (In MWave less than 10 min. preparation + Baking Time)
Need:
Fresh Apples (Since this was a trial, I only used two)
4 Tspoon sugar (Proportion is for 1 apple = 2 Tsp sugar)
Box of yellow cake mix (Readily available in Jewel Osco or any grocery store. Costs 1-2$)
1-2 sp Cardamom powder (Alternatively can use Cinnamon as well.)
Butter
Baking Dish/ Microwaveable Dish (I love Pyrex since you can use it in Microwave, you can bake in it and store in it!)
Process:
1. Core and Peel the apple(s)
2. Cut the apple in thin slices and place it in the Pyrex bowl
3. Add Sugar and mix
4. Place the bowl in microwave (High) for two minutes.
5. Now add the Cardamom powder, stir it a bit and once again microwave it for two minutes.
6. Just keep checking that the apple is soft enough. It tends to get translucent. Please don’t touch the apple (It's super hot.. not that I know anything about that!). Start microwave for another minute if needed!
7. Now, add 5-6 tspoons of the cake mix on top of the melted apple-sugar concoction. Make sure to use a fork to tab it in the liquid.
8. Now, if you like the buttery taste, feel free to place small cubes of butter on top of the cake mix for better baking. (I placed 2-3 only)
9. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees on Bake for about 15 minutes.
Yumm Yumm Yumm
Apple Cobbler is ready.... feel free to eat it with Vanilla Ice Cream like I did!
Or feel free to force feed the hubby to "Try it out"... Once again like I did!
Or feel free to not feel bad when kiddo only wants the Ice Cream... since the cobbler was still super hot! Just like mine did!
Fear not. I will ensure she eats the cold leftover one tonight!
Sorry... no pictures, I really didn’t know I was going to blog about it.
Now, I definitely plan to make such quick fix cobblers of different fruits (Peaches, Berry's, Nectarines).... all should work well! Any tasters?
Try it out… let me know how it turned out!
Note: If you don’t want to use the cake mix, for the crusty top do the following:
1. 6 tspoons All purpose flower + 3-4 cubes of butter, Sugar if you like the crust to be sweet.
2. Hand mix the ingredients to a powdery feel. Just so you can place it over the fruit concoction. And bake
I was lazy last night, so the cake mix was perfect. I think I will use cake mix going forward; it’s just quicker (and less dishes, and less preparation time and that one big box will last me a few more trial attempts)!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Shameless Self Promotion...
See this post is all about boasting and patting myself on my back.. and saying.. Oh I am so fab.. So if you dont want to hear it... stop reading.. I mean it..
Fine you stuck around.. don't tell me I didnt warn you!
Remember in my 100th post (Wohooo) I had mentioned there were a few other things brewing up for me... here is one of them.. I will be writing for "Smartly Chicago". I am hoping to write bi-monthly for them... How nice is that? The cool thing, on Smartly Chicago I can write about anything from parenting, cultural mis-matches, vacations, general stuff which are important to me or made me take a step behind and re-think!
Nice right? ;-)
I will let you know as and when I publish there... dont worry.. I know you are waiting to read a bit more of my chatter .
You can check out my writing bio here
Guess what the punch line for Smartly Chicago is: "People who get it" Ahem! ;)
Foot Note: Please comment on my Perfect Sunday evening post... the Giveaway is still on. I really wish you win.. so we can meet up over pop-corn and may be some chai! :-D
Fine you stuck around.. don't tell me I didnt warn you!
Remember in my 100th post (Wohooo) I had mentioned there were a few other things brewing up for me... here is one of them.. I will be writing for "Smartly Chicago". I am hoping to write bi-monthly for them... How nice is that? The cool thing, on Smartly Chicago I can write about anything from parenting, cultural mis-matches, vacations, general stuff which are important to me or made me take a step behind and re-think!
Nice right? ;-)
I will let you know as and when I publish there... dont worry.. I know you are waiting to read a bit more of my chatter .
You can check out my writing bio here
Guess what the punch line for Smartly Chicago is: "People who get it" Ahem! ;)
Foot Note: Please comment on my Perfect Sunday evening post... the Giveaway is still on. I really wish you win.. so we can meet up over pop-corn and may be some chai! :-D
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A little Book Keeping
All right.. with a lot of fan fare I had announced my Energizer Giveaway.. >> Finally time to announce the winners.. and the winner for the amazing set of batteries is G.... whose cute comment was
"Gonna need lotsa batteries! Gimme gimme gimme.. " Hehe...
G.. please shoot me an email at garimablogs at gmail dot com with your postal address. I promise to not show up at your doorstep (unannounced)... It is mainly for the people at Energizer to mail the batteries out to you.
Secondly, For people who did comment on the giveaway or missed the deadline and still commented.... thanks a lot.. Was very sweet. But ...... I am having another giveaway.. Not for batteries.. but yummy.. Angie's Kettle Corn... go ahead, check it out on my Mommy In Making blog and leave a comment there. And FYI- There will be five winners, so your probability of winning is definitely higher..
Thirdly, you remember, I won the Blogadda's being invisible contest right? So Pringoo was suppose to mail me the choice of gift.. hmm... and I picked my design and ordered. And I am informed, that oh-we-dont-ship-to-US! And I am like... oh-it-was-not-mentioned-anywhere.
Damn...so now we are figuring out logistics together... which is definitely me telling them.. I want that T-shirt.. bad, I won ;-)! Hehe.
Will keep you guys posted.. and definitely, if and when I do get it, I will put up a picture... promise baba.. pinky promise.
Fourthly........naah nothing.. just wanted to see... how fourthly sounds.
Have a great week everyone.
"Gonna need lotsa batteries! Gimme gimme gimme.. " Hehe...
G.. please shoot me an email at garimablogs at gmail dot com with your postal address. I promise to not show up at your doorstep (unannounced)... It is mainly for the people at Energizer to mail the batteries out to you.
Secondly, For people who did comment on the giveaway or missed the deadline and still commented.... thanks a lot.. Was very sweet. But ...... I am having another giveaway.. Not for batteries.. but yummy.. Angie's Kettle Corn... go ahead, check it out on my Mommy In Making blog and leave a comment there. And FYI- There will be five winners, so your probability of winning is definitely higher..
Thirdly, you remember, I won the Blogadda's being invisible contest right? So Pringoo was suppose to mail me the choice of gift.. hmm... and I picked my design and ordered. And I am informed, that oh-we-dont-ship-to-US! And I am like... oh-it-was-not-mentioned-anywhere.
Damn...so now we are figuring out logistics together... which is definitely me telling them.. I want that T-shirt.. bad, I won ;-)! Hehe.
Will keep you guys posted.. and definitely, if and when I do get it, I will put up a picture... promise baba.. pinky promise.
Fourthly........naah nothing.. just wanted to see... how fourthly sounds.
Have a great week everyone.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Late is better than Never! Right?
All this is way overdue. Shilpa @ Shonawrites had passed on this award to me "Cherry on TOp"
Thank you so much girl.. it was super cute of you. Here I am now... Thanks Shilpa for this award... and super sorry for the delay in putting this up!
In order to accept this, I have to write three things about myself....hmm like I dont do that all the time.. eheh.
All right.. here it is.
1. Hello, I am Garima. :-)
2. Hello, I am Garima. :-)
3. Hello, I am Garima. :-)
Come on... it didn't say that to be unique, catchy or nice... So there... GNSD = Garima. Happy!
Now, the fun part... tag five more people.
Piper
Lakhsmi
Forever mother
Prutha
Bikramjit Singh Mann
And A picture I love...Taken in the soft sands of Puerto Rico..... GN, SD and V.
Thank you so much girl.. it was super cute of you. Here I am now... Thanks Shilpa for this award... and super sorry for the delay in putting this up!
In order to accept this, I have to write three things about myself....hmm like I dont do that all the time.. eheh.
All right.. here it is.
1. Hello, I am Garima. :-)
2. Hello, I am Garima. :-)
3. Hello, I am Garima. :-)
Come on... it didn't say that to be unique, catchy or nice... So there... GNSD = Garima. Happy!
Now, the fun part... tag five more people.
Piper
Lakhsmi
Forever mother
Prutha
Bikramjit Singh Mann
And A picture I love...Taken in the soft sands of Puerto Rico..... GN, SD and V.
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