Love you Dr Abdul Kalam Chacha! You will live in our hearts forever!

Simplicity, humility, intelligence, integrity, wisdom, charm, vision you embodied all these and more! I loved the way you spoke with passion and love, I loved your ideas and the ideals you lived by! It was one of my dreams come true to have seen and heard you in person. Your connect with children and youngsters was amazing and visionary! You truly lived the life of a warrior with a mission and laid down your life in your battlefield inspiring students! You were and will always continue to be an inspiration to me, to India and to the world! Cheers to Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam​!

FRENCH TOAST WITH STEWED APPLES…

As often, the inspiration was a food show on Travel and Living. But well I don’t really follow measurements and love adding a desi tadka to food I make! :)

So here’s how you can make it…

Ingredients:

8 slices of bread

2 apples

Butter

Sugar (between 10 to 18 teaspoons depending on your taste)

Cumin power

Chaat Masala

A glass of milk

3 Eggs

First get the batter ready for French toast. For 8 slices of bread, I would take 3 eggs (2 egg whites and one whole egg…  Due to their high cholesterol content I avoid using too much of egg yoke; though you could add more) and beat them well. Then add milk and 4 teaspoons of sugar to it. Stir the mixture well till all the ingredients blend. I like the French toast a little less sweet as the apple stew is going to be very sweet.

Now chop two apples in any shape you like… you can either slice them thinly or chop them into medium sized pieces. Just don’t chop them finely. You should be able to bite into each piece after it’s cooked. I wouldn’t peel the apples as that would maintain the shape of each piece and also the difference in texture would add to the taste.

Heat some butter in a saucepan. Once the butter melts, add sugar to it (anything between 6 to 12 teaspoons depending on how sweet and caramalised you’d want your stew to be). Once the sugar melts and mixes well with the butter add some jeera (cumin) powder and chaat masala. (maybe ½ teaspoon of each; I use my intuition while adding spices)

Once the masala mixes well, reduce the flame and very slowly add a glass of water with one hand, while the other hand continues to gently stir the mixture… stir well for around 2 minutes and add the chopped apples. You can increase the flame to medium heat. Now keep stirring the mixture till the apples are cooked. You can add more water if you want more syrup.

Now on the other side, heat a little butter in a flat pan. Take a slice of bread, dip it well in the batter and fry till both sides are golden brown. Repeat for all slices of bread.

Now how long should you cook the apples? Well here again I’d say depending on how you’d like it. If you like your apples a little crunchy and the sauce watery and not too sweet, then don’t heat them a lot. If you’d like your apples cooked well with all the sugar syrup absorbed well by the apples and with caramalised toffee like sauce, heat it for longer. Be careful though, as if you heat it too much the apple’s skin might get burnt and the sauce might caramalise so much that it doesn’t remain sauce anymore and you'd get toffeed apples instead of stewed apples :P !

 

The best thing to do is to keep tasting as you cook!

Now to serve this, place two or three slices of French toast, slightly over each other, on a plate and pour the apple stew right over the slices! Serve hot!

It's yummy! :)

Canterbury, UK

I want to belong and be rooted to the green grass I grew from and enjoy the river that flows by, but I also want to branch out into the skies, to seek the world beyond my roots, to feel and sway with the winds that bring with them news from far away lands, want to feel fluffy clouds to pass through me and to hear the songs of birds...
Picture taken at Canterbury, UK

Pink Frost

Picture taken at Canterbury, UK

Flying high up in the skies through clouds

I love taking pictures of birds in motion with the sky or the sea as a background.

Rainy autumn day in London

Travelling on the front seat of the upper deck of a London bus on a rainy day offers the opportunity for some nice pictures!

It's time to get the wheel moving in the right direction!

The cause taken up by Anna Hazare and his intent behind it is for sure noble, though the means may be questionable... The current machinery against corruption is not delivering, we need a better system to hold people accountable and book those guilty. So instead of merely being skeptical about or criticising the existing version of the Jan Lokpal bill, the concerns associated with the bill should be voiced, discussed and addressed and the Bill modified accordingly so that we can come up with a more democratic yet robust solution!

SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS

What is a Livelihood? Any activity and resources that provide a means to fulfil basic needs of a person and act as a source of income.

So what is Sustainable Livelihood? A sustainable livelihood is one that provides a regular means of living, can withstand external shocks or changes in the environment and provides an opportunity to grow both in the short and long term, without depleting natural resources.

In developing countries planning activities may not be able to keep up with the pace of growth of cities. Reasons may differ from lack of capability, to inability of government or municipal agencies or lack of will and corruption. The most affected by the widening gap in the demand for and actual delivery of infrastructural services are the urban poor who are most vulnerable. Besides, they depend on cash income from informal, low-paying and irregular sources which reduces their ability to plan for the future and results in an insecure future!

Often authorities exclude slum dwellers in their planning process as these settlements lack a legal status. Even efforts to rehabilitate them may turn out to be a failure. Some of the slums maybe self-sustaining units and these units are shifted to ill-equipped buildings, previously existing sources of livelihoods are destroyed and the community feeling that the people shared is challenged. Instead of pulling the poor out of their local economies, the government should try to provide the entrepreneurial forces within them the resources needed to grow, it should acknowledge and protect small – scale units within such slums and street vendors through proper regulation.

Creation of affordable homes should encompass at least notional security of tenure; give them a place they can call their own, without the fear of being evicted. Slums should not be seen as a problem but as a solution to a problem developed by the people using ingenious methods! Their inhabitants must be seen as capable actors and not victims! The importance and role of existing organisations and social links needs to be appreciated. Only then can we get these communities to invest in improvement of their living conditions!

Access to resources is important aspect of creating sustainable livelihoods. In a project supported by the World Bank certain areas of Karnataka like Belgaum and Hubli have been equipped with 24 hour water supply. Women here now get relief from the time-consuming and strenuous activity of filling water from public taps and are taking up jobs to supplement their family income. Lack of access to basic services affects capability to earn a decent income. It may also result in people resorting to unhealthy alternatives. This coupled with poor sanitation results in serious health problems and managing a sustainable livelihood then becomes difficult.

Access to education is also essential for a sustainable livelihood. An interesting phenomenon here as observed by James Tooley expressed in his book The Beautiful Tree is the role of private schools with teachers from the community who understand the background of the students. Such schools should be given access to loans and infrastructural assistance.

Employment opportunities would increase by giving the urban poor a respectable living address (often applications are rejected at the screening process simply because applicants stay at a particular locality), by developing entrepreneurial skills through vocational training, providing fair working conditions and community day care services for women among other social welfare schemes.

In all the above areas, there is need for improved co-ordination between government and non-governmental agencies like that of the successful initiative by the NGO Pratham in its efforts to provide education.

To conclude I would say that we need to give the urban poor an equal right to the city!

REFERENCES:

‘Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches - Tools for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction’ - ProVention Consortium Secretariat – John Twigg

‘Urban Livelihoods in Afghanistan’ – Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit – Synthesis Paper Series - Jo Beall and Stefan Schütte

‘Methods for understanding urban poverty and livelihoods’ - Arjan de Haan, Michael Drinkwater, Carole Rakodi and Karen Westley

‘The Role of Tenure, Work and Co-operativism in Sustainable Urban Livelihoods’ - Urban Research Centre, University of Western Sydney - Louise Crabtree

Sustainable Development in India: Perspectives – Report by Ministry of Environment and Forests – GOI

‘Sustainable urban livelihoods: Concepts and implications for policy’ - Sheilah Meikle, Tamsin Ramasut & Julian Walker

Election woes...

It's the state elections day after tomorrow. During the national elections knew who candidates were and found detailed information about these candidates, the work done by them, their educational qualifications, criminal records and so on. I found this information on sites provided by JaagoRe and also in newspapers.

However this time, during state elections I only have information on the current MLA as he has been constantly sending leaflets, been in news and has visited our society many times. Apart from him, I also know about an independent candidate as he used to stay in my society. A couple of other independent candidates have dropped their leaflets (one of them a four-pager with lots of vague promises...). Yesterday I got a mail from Janagraha the NGO involved in the JaagoRe campaign reminding me that tuesday is election day and that I should go to vote. They referred a website http://www.mumbaivotes.com/ which would provide me with information about the candidates. I had this site earlier, it only has the list of candidates for my constituency, their age and educational qualification and in a couple of cases like that of the current MLA red and green flags against criminal records and use of funds, debates entered into. The site has very little information which could aid in decision-making.

I am really clueless and under the current circumstances I may just end up voting for the candidate who has been making the loudest noise in the past few days and whom I have heard about in the past years. However I am not really comfortable with this decision and would be doing that as I have no other option.

Why this lack of information about candidates during state elections? Why is there no platform that can provide us with vital information that could help us in making a decision. Also maybe I haven't been paying enough attention while reading newspapers (in case they have been carrying information about the candidates). There needs to be information sources on these candidates, there should be televised public debates between candidates.

However such lack of information could demotivate people who already have doubts as to how their vote matters. If we really want to involve the youth we need campaigns like JaagoRe on an massive scale which should inform the youth how and why their vote counts and how not voting means a failure of the democratic process.

Today I know many people, who think that voting is a waste of time as they feel their votes would not make a difference, all the candidates are corrupt or unworthy of their vote and besides they often don't even know who is standing for election; for them election day is a holiday or as in this case an extended weekend, an opportunity to utilise for outstation travel!

I believe that such apathy adds to the woes of democracy, because if the educated middle class do not vote the candidate elected would be one that is voted by the large uneducated masses who though may not be wrong in their choices, may at times vote influenced by coercion or ignorance or recency effect or by false promises of candidates who make use of their vulnerability. Then these same educated people, who did not vote complain about the kind of candidates who get elected. But how can you complain when you have not even participated in the election process.

I can today criticise this point of view because I too believed in this school of thought once. I thought that not voting was a way of protesting against the lack of worthy candidates. However today I realise the importance of participating in the process and that you cannot clean the system by staying away from it.

We need to find out ways and means to involve the youth to take active part in the election process. When the politicians know that the masses are informed about their background, the credibility of their promises, only then will our politicians pull up their socks!

DREAM HOMES or should I now say Nano-Homes

Well something I have been thinking of since my childhood is finally being brought into reality by the TATAs!!! They are actually venturing into 'Nano-Homes' :) 1 room, kitchen homes just like I used to think of !!!May be they just peeked into my mind..!!!! :) I had even thought of putting my idea in this blog.. had posted something last year, but never came to completing it...

I had always thought why no builder or corporate came up and made good budget homes for people below a certain income levels. Such homes could be minimal without frills, but with basic amenities for a humane living... Basic one-two room kitchen homes for families, with a small garden for children to play, a communal area where people could get together (a very basic aspect of community living) and of course safe and clean surroundings.. Would that be asking for too much??? Would that cost too much??? In fact the whole thing could be a complex, or a small township with maybe a school for the kids and budget/discount stores... It could be a huge marketing opportunity... by giving people a better living you are raising their standard of living and aspirations! You are creating new consumers!

Though yes I thought of it more as a part of corporate social responsibility, than a profit making venture, profits and other marketing opportunities would be an automatic fallout of a better standard of living! Also lift people of out miserable living conditions, give them a place that they can call their own, where they can sleep peacefully without the fear of being asked to evict, or their house being broken into. When you know that your homes are safe, you would not mind investing in a television or refrigerator that you have always wanted if you can be sure that it won’t be stolen in your absence. Women can go to work peacefully if they know that in their absence their kids would be safe at home. Such people would be more productive in their work... which would mean greater contribution to national product and higher incomes for these people. They in turn will spend more on consumer goods. Also employment opportunities would increase a lot for these people if they have a respectable living address; often resumes or applications are just thrown out at the screening process simply because the applicants stay at a particular area or locality.

But yes Budget homes, do not mean cramped up homes or pigeon holes with no space even to turn or stretch your legs, or where sunlight does dare enter forcing people into dungeons with stale air floating around due to no ventilation... they do not mean homes where you can step into your neighbour's home through your window.. where there is no guarantee of continuous water-supply or electricity, where elevators don’t work, or even worse don’t exist, where the buildings have no maintenance or cleaning service leading to accumulation of dirt and unbearable stench, where children have no place to run about or play cricket or hide-seek forcing them to go out on the streets or some public garden to play. I say this coz this exactly what some of the MHADA or Slum Rehabilitation buildings have turned into... also there needs to be a check on whether the people buying such homes are the genuine buyers and not mere investors. Flats could be alloted on the basis of annual income and number of family members. Also Rules on transfers and re-sale should be very strict.

That is why I insist that this has to be a private venture!! And when I say private it had to be a large business house that had the funds into enter something like this and the commitment to such a cause and the integrity to keep up their promise. I hope TATA does fulfil at least part of these wishes of mine... I hope what they are creating are not just Nano-Homes but 'Dreams homes' for a million hopeful hearts!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

I just happen to read on a blog that today is a special day.. and a special day it is as two great people Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on 12 February 1809! Two people who have influenced the way people thought about mankind... Two people who made who helped many to understand the significance of life better... Two people who presented revolutionary ideas... Two people who lead others towards the light on the other side of a dark tunnel... Two people who I am awed by!!!
May their charisma always be alive...!!!

DE MOC(K) RACY

That exactly describes the atrocious happenings in various State Assemblies across India be it in Lucknow or Hyderabad. It fills my heart with anguish to see that these hooligans are the ones who are ruling us, that we have placed the future of our country in the hands of a bunch of uncouth jerks...
Don't we deserve better politicians?

Mumbai under attack

Shocked, disbelief, frustrated, disgusted, grieving, anger, fear - these are just some of the moods and feelings that I have gone through the past few days!

True Religion - Love for Humanity

"Rather than converting people from one organized religion to another organized religion, we should try to convert people from misery to happiness, from bondage to liberation and from cruelty to compassion." - Mr. S. N. Goenka, the principal teacher of Vipassana at the "Millennium World Peace Summit" New York.

That's such a lovely thought! and that is what I truely believe religion should do! Religion is to liberate man from all suffering and bondages, not to create suffering or to shackle man. True religion is to serve humanity and spread love and compassion, not to evoke hatred.

That reminds of the lines from one of my favourite songs from the movie Anari, lines I truely believe in..

"Kisiki muskuraahaton pe ho nisaar

Kisika dard mil sake to le udhaar

Kisike waaste ho tere dil mein pyaar

Jeena issi ka naam hai"

And this brings me back to the poem of Abu Ben Adhem (May his tribe increase!) by James L. Hunt. The spirit reflected by Abu Ben Adhem continues to inspire me today and will throughout my life! His attitude captures the essence of religion!

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An Angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the Presence in the room he said,"What writest thou?"

The Vision raised its head,

And with a look made of all sweet accord

Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou.

"Nay, not so,"Replied the Angel.

Abou spoke more low,

But cheerily still;

and said, "I pray thee, then,Write me as one who loves his fellow men."

The Angel wrote, and vanished.

The next night

It came again with a great wakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,

And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

You show your love to God by loving his fellow beings! "Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.”

However we have buried this true meaning under layers of rituals and doctrines created by us and not by God. Saadi, a Persian poet from the 12th century very rightly wrote “To give joy to a single heart by a single kind act is better than a thousand head-bowings in prayer.”

Power to transform the world

We do not need magic to transform our world.
We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.
We have the power to imagine better. - JK Rowling

How true! The power to transform the world, to make changes, to make make the world a better place lies WITHIN US... We need to search for the Good and The God within us and bring it

My Childhood Dreams

I have been reading about Randy Pausch and listening to videos of his lecture since the past couple of weeks. I even read the initial pages of his book during my last visit to Crossword. (I am considering buying the book!) Dad just showed me a ppt version of his lecture with pictures; saw the strong emphasis on achieving your childhood dreams! I was actually transported to my childhood, when I suddenly thought, “What were my childhood dreams? Why don’t I put them down”… As I have often said in my blog, have put down whatever I could think of, will keep adding to it…

- To be a Doctor to help poor people and to find medicines or cures for incurable diseases (maybe then to me being a doctor was the most noble profession)

- To keep improving my general knowledge and to win GK quizzes

- To participate in science exhibitions in school and to represent my school

- To become a scientist - to do experiments! (I even bought this Experiment Kit, and my Mom used to get irritated as I dirtied the house with iron filings and tried testing the litmus paper on any thing that I could get hold of)

- To be excellent in hurdles/high jump and to improve my sports skills in general ( I wanted to be good at races and wanted to learn basket ball) I wished I could participate in the Olympics!!!

- To be a part of the Secret Seven or Famous Five – (to set up a club like Secret Seven that solves mysteries) well I did set up a club called Secret Six, though it defintely did not turn out to be as fun as the real one...

- To travel around the world (I was so inspired by Travel around the world in 80 days!!!) (I have managed to travel to the UK, to London, Scotland, Stratford upon Avon and Oxford)

- To read as many story books as possible (especially all the classics)

- To have a personal library with the world’s largest collection of books (and yes of course all my favourite books) (the library should be made in wood – wooden shelves and flooring, a fireplace, a huge cosy arm armchair, thick soft carpets, heavy curtains that keep out all the disturbances away while I am reading my book on my armchair with my cup of hot chocolate!!!

- To have a magical fridge always full of different flavours and varieties of choloates and icecreams

- To go to Disneyland

- To eat all the yummy goodies that the witch feeds kids in Hansel and Gretel (including her house!!!!)

- To watch all my favourite cartoons and to have a collection of them

- To design affordable, yet safe and good homes for the poor

- To create employment opportunities for the poor

- To offer free basic clothing to all poor people, especially kids and women

- To play in snow

- To be transported to a magical world of friendly elves and fairies

- Wished that Pandora had never opened that box...

- To visit Salsburg and Captain Von Trapp's Palatial House and all the places that Maria has travelled to with the kids!!

- To meet Kiran Bedi! - Well that's the one dream that I can say for sure that I have fulfilled! I was invited to attend a conference where she was the key speaker! I must hav been around 18 then...

- To learn classical dance (love Kathak for its swift movements and Bharatnatyam for the expressions and hand/finger movements)

- To learn the play casio and sitar

- To work for United Nations

- To be able to study at any of the world's leading institutes like World Schools or Oxford (and yes to get a scholarship to study at these places)

- to have the entire Barie doll collections

- to have the entire World Book series

- to have a bicycle of my own (This was an other dream that I fulfilled, Dad promised me that he would get a biycycle if I came 1st in class and that was exactly what I did and Dad kept up his promise)

India struck Gold at Olympics!!!

Hey India has won its FIRST INDIVIDUAL OLYMPIC GOLD!!!

I know that it is a pity that we could not win a Gold till now... but now that we have it makes me so happy and proud!

I hope this is beginnin of many more Golds to come!!!

Congrats Abhinav Bindra!!! May you be an inspiration to all Indian sportspeople!!!

When the Indian flag was being raised and our National Anthem was played - oh that moment was so touchin and inspiring!!! Oh how proud you must have felt!! I am really envious of you!

Congrats to Saina too for proceeding to the Quarterfinals and defeating the fourth ranker! You are playing well... keep improving!!

I hope the government takes note of this feat and makes best use of this opportunity to promote sports in India!

Low Cost Housing - Homes for a Better Life!

This is something that I have thought of but fill in soon...