Culinary Novice.....

Cooking and me have always been far apart....during my late teens and early twenties when most girls were busy coaxed by their mothers to learn some basic cooking, my mom used to never let me enter the kitchen! She used to say when the time comes u will learn to make a meal so don’t waste your time now!!! At that time I found what mom said to be very weird because she was so unlike the rest of the pack!! Later, as I grew older and wiser (!!), I realised my mom was way ahead of her times! She wanted me to learn other important skills in life and she was egging me on to take on bigger challenges in life!

Today when I look back I am so glad I am not one of those kitchen bound women (no offence please!) who find it difficult to let go and get insecure if that space of theirs is taken by another woman!

Now, as a desperate attempt to get some distraction in life, I have taken to cooking like never before....I was never one of those who liked to cook a regular meal...this time I have taken to making desserts and puddings! I find myself looking up sites for interesting recipes, talking to friends who have tried some simple mouth watering recipes. The enthusiasm has gone up several notches as the first two attempts have received good reviews and I have been nudged to try more!!

I am finding my energies channelized in a yummy way and I am finding this very therapeutic!

For those interested in getting simple dessert recipes, mail me!!!

IPL fever is back!

I was one of those who was initially skeptical about the way the IPL would take shape but as the inaugural version kicked off i was hooked to each and every game and ofcourse my money was on Chennai Super Kings...I watched the spectacular closing ceremony and the finals of season one and i was awe struck...i knew and realised then why all other sportpersons in this country crib about the kind of atention cricket receives here....obscene amount of money was spent on not just getting players in the teams, but getting cheerleaders, the advertising, the merchandise etc etc ...

Season 2 is going to start within the next few days....it begins with the auctions! Pakistan players are not going to be there...not sure if they are going to be missed...except Sohail Tanveer of Rajasthan Royals...who was the spearhead bowler and gave several match winning performances! Clarke has pulled out and its expected many other Aussies would not join in too...A lot of speculation going on that KP is going to beat MSD in terms of the highest paid non icon figure. Apparently, Royal Challengers are really keen to get him!!! Lot of internal shuffling happening too...Uttappa swapped with Zaheer Khan...similarly other teams are planning their strategies too...

The glamour quotient got bigger too...Shilpa becomes a co-owner of Rajasthan Royals! Smart move i must say! She is really cashing in on her popularity in UK..now that English players are jumping into the IPL this season!

Me?? I am going to glued to any bit of information that going to come by on the IPL...I somehow dislike Lalit Modi but need to give it to him - he has created a humdinger!

How far will u go for money??

Few days back i happened to watch The Moment of Truth for the first time. Was channel surfing and chanced upon this reality show. Five minutes of viewing and i was hooked. The questions got personal with each level and as a viewer i started getting very uncomfortable. But i was amazed by the ease with which the contestants could answer some very touchy questions especially in front of their family members....

left me wondering....is this all staged?? like WWF (oops! its called WWE now!) or are people really willing to put their personal relationships at stake for that kind of money??? A lot of us do keep some part of our lives closely to ourselves and would probably share with close friends only so what prompts someone to share such sensitive stuff on national TV?? With so many reality shows hitting Indian TV, that day is not far away when an Indian version of this show comes on one of our channels!

The firang connection!

I have been observing a recent phenomenon in Bollywood....the advent of dancers from the west!! Off late, I don’t get to see any popular song and dance with the local dancers - u name a chartbuster from any movie in recent times or for that matter chat shows and it has gori girls gyrating to oft so heard tunes of music composers. Also there are hardly any gora dancers in these groups mind u!!! Whereas this was not the case with local dancers...the hero always had male dancers giving him a run for his money in the background!

This is happening inspite of several reality dance shows which have given wanna be choreographers a good break in the film industry...a case in point is Rajeev Surti . For those who have watched Nach Baliye season 1 will remember, he was the choreographer for varun and rajeshwari and he mesmerised one and all with his unique style and grace. It was his luck that Farhan Akhtar was one of the judges on the show and he promptly signed him on for Don!!! The rest they say is history. There are several such success stories in the past few years – reality tv is big time in India these days and every channel worth its money has a dance show on it.

Despite these developments why are our choreographers (there are no firangs who have come in this category as yet – it is still ruled by the Khans and the Merchants!!!) , producers and directors looking for company from the west?? Hold on!! I am not ad venting here a viewpoint thrown by quite a few philosophy redundant political parties or proving a case in point for them but I am raising this because I am curious as to know why this development has taken place when there is no dearth of talent on this front in this country.