Live like your grandparents

And you will be fine. I was thinking of logging something on these lines for quite a while. After some thought on this for past couple weeks this seems like a plausible idea. Live like your grandparents and you will be fine.

Most of us see our grandparents at the time when we are completely new to the world--like a blank slate and they on the other hand have seen all the ups and downs there are to see in their lifetime.

There are just so many good reasons living like our grandparents would really do so many good to us. They may not be perfect during their lifetime but by the time they interact with you it would be more likely that not only they have surpassed their 'imperfections' thay might have come up with some wisdom from experience to deal with those imperfections.

Likely the grandchildren are the dearest people they have in their life and they would only give their best in any conversation they have with them. This is something that even the most honest and dedicated teacher might not be able to give you.

I do not say do exactly what they have done. If your grandparent had invented lightbulb, you do not have to go ahead and reinvent it. However, what you can definitely follow is the rigor he might have undergone during the whole invention process.

Unfortunately, not everyone has a chance to see all their grandparents but most are lucky to have had seen one of them. I was lucky enough to have seen 2 of my grandparents, both maternal. While I learned so many things from them by directly watching their actions and trying to place them in context as I grew up, I also kept hearing about their past lives and ups and downs they have seen. The same for my paternal ones. I haven't ever seen them but learned quite a bit about their life.

Someday, I will try to word the lessons and principles of life I have learned from their lives.

mohabbat jinhe ho gayi ho kisi se; mohabbat ka anjaam kab sochte hain

This is last line of the song "tumhe apna saathi banane se pehle..." from a superhit Bollywood movie "Pyar Jhukta Nahin" released in 1985. I was just a small kid then with an elder brother and an elder sister both in their teenage. And I hardly understood a thing from the movie. But still I so damned loved to watch those in those small-town movie theatres. In fact for a long time I thought the name of the movie was "pyar joota nahin" and wondered why would it called so and never bothered to even ask anyone what the hell is the meaning of the name.

Still. There are times today when the music of this movie brings so many memories back right in front of my eyes. So much so that my eyes get wet every single time I listen to them. The lyrics and music is extraordinary no doubt about it. The thing that touches me most is the associated memories with it. Those rainy grey days. We were allowed to watch only one movie in the cinema hall per month. Thats it. It would be mostly some Sunday of a month. And that day was so glorious. The only agenda of the day was to reach the theatre well in advance, stand the queue and manage to get the tickets. The fact that we had tickets on our hands made us so proud. Ahh such were those days!! I know, I know, I am being nostalgic and all that. Still.

Making a Minimal Vegan Sandwich

Most people including me agree that veganism goes hand in hand with minimalism. I will argue in a later post why vegetarianism is pointless for me without veganism. Recently, I experimented with and tried to prepare a minimal vegan sandwich. So, today, I present the ingredients to a tasty vegan sandwich

.Bread

.Peanut Butter

.Tomatoes

.Resins

.Sesame seeds

.Olive oil (optional)

.Dried banana (really optional, omit if you do not like it to be too sweet)

I will not go in detail on making the sandwich itself as it is a fairly simple recipe. Except that do not put too much oil on the bread as the Peanut butter itself might be oily depending upon what type you have. And finally, the important thing is that the sandwich is vegan, nutritious, easy and quick to make. Hope you like the idea. I will put up a post soon on how to prepare peanut butter at home. So, two upcoming discussions are: Vegan vs Vegetarianism and Preparing Peanut Butter at home.

Cheers!

xx

A Hypothetical Conversation With Sachin Tendulkar

me: Hello Sachin, how are you?
Sachin: Fine thank you!
me: Would you save thousands of lives if you are in a position to do so?
Sachin: Yes, sure!
me: Then, go ahead and be vegetarian, many lives will thank you and your millions of fans who follow you!

Typical Spring Sunset in Sophia Antipolis

First International Trip!!

Here is a mail I wrote to my wife Archana, a day after I reached Amsterdam, hope you find it amusing:
hi.
now i m relaxed and can write a detailed story till date. Once i went in the lounge after checkin at ahmedabad, i had to wait for getting on board. from ahmedabad to mumbai, things went nice, i had lime water, fruit and juice on board. from up in the night the city lights were looking beautiful. particularly when plane weas over mumbai...jet airways did
not charged anything for extra baggage. even when the flight was in time i reached mumbai local terminal at 10:05 pm. There was heavy rush of people to reach international terminal by the airport vehicle so i asked jet staff what shd i do. they said i should take a taxi and reach the int terminal, they said that the luggage will automatically be transferred, and i just need to transfer my hand bag. so i took a taxi. taxi wale ne raste me bataya ki voh 250\- charge karega to mein utar gaya ;) aur vahin se rixa pakad li. he took me safely and was a nice guy. charged 50/- but i gave 100/-. i was well in time to reach the international terminal. went to the swiss staff, they gave me a new boarding pass for the international flight, then went to the immigration center and filled up an immigration form and gave it to an officer there. he asked me some question related to my purpose of travel etc. then he put a stamp on it. i was to pass to the security check again. which they finished in 10 minutes. then i tried to call you but i couldnt so called ilmudin on the coin phone and asked to inform you that i have reacxhed mumbai safe. soon we got a call to climb on board the international flight. they gave me a new luggage pass. It was a huge plane. there was a video screen on every seat. it took off sharp at 1:15 am. one marathi businessman uncle was beside my seat. they served vegetarian south indian food(mendu wada,chutney and namkeen sevai). i also had apple juice. later i felt cold so asked for beer. it was nice and i felt warm. after that tried to sleep but the seat was not sleepable. i thought our trains are better. on the way i saw many cities and beutiful lights from top. in the morning it was like a race between sun and the flight. all the way i just saw saffron lining on the horizon but no sun. finally landed zurich. local time 6:20am. here i really had to rush for the flight. from zurich airport i climb down a big escalator to the basement and took a train to domestic terminal. my boarding time for zurich amsterdam flight was 6:50am!! mushkil se terminal par pahucha to dekha security checking me bahut badi line hai. security walon ne shoes bhi khulvaye as there was a steel cap. main shoes haath me liye apne terminal pe bhaaga..really..it was like catching an amts bus. finally i came to know that i was the last passenger to come on board and they were waiting for me only. checked my passport and allowed me in. this was a better flight as the seat was comfortable. reached amsterdam in 1hr and 30 minutes. while on this flight i saw sun rising. and a bright day down. they served jam roll and juice on board. they also offered coffee but i didnt took. i saw so many planes flying by while i was on this flight.
at amsterdam airport they have an escalated walk way with which i came out in the luggage room. was also looking for elise. waited a lot for luggage.(ek baar to khayal aaya ke kahin ye log luggage bhool to nahin gaye...). finally luggage aaya. aur mein bahar nikla. elise was waiting out. then she helped a lot in finding things for me. we went to housing company and got the key for my flat and made the necessary payments. then got to the appartment. the appartment is really worth 295 euro per month. its great. i will write you further details in the next mail. aaj itna hi. mein thak gaya. Thats all for now.

List of vegetarian things available in France (out of Paris)

1. Dates
2. Cookies
3. Banana
4. Apple
5. Grapes
6. Milk
7. Bread
8. vegetables
9. rice
10. popcorn
11. canned corn
12. corn flakes
13. muesli
14. wheat flakes
15. honey
16. beans
17. Figs
18. Oat Meal
19. Olives