What dO thOse dOOdles say abOut yOu?

Do you remember doodling on the last page or in the column of your ruled notebook back in school? What did you scribble most of the time? Leaves and vines, stars and moon or ugly looking faces? Everyone at some point or the other had passed the time doodling some meaningless dots, lines and curves to avoid some boring lecture. But were those scribbles really meaningless or they carried a deep dark secret in them that could have revealed your personality? Experts have unplugged the real meaning behind those doodles.

If you used to draw a lot of artistic stars then you are a person who craves for fame. You used to daydream about becoming someone famous someday. Those who draw stars could lack in their efforts to get success. They are highly diplomatic in their approach. Their ego can be a big problem for them.

A person who loves to dream a lot often makes clouds. Instead of confronting the realities, a cloud doodler prefers to be in his own little world. Such people rarely stop daydreaming.

A person who draws eyes has some detective genes in him. He knows the best how to keep an eye on others. Such person is very moody and choosy. But they might make great discoveries or disclose hidden treasures with their ability of being observant.

A person whose interest is into doodling geometric shapes is quite a perfectionist. He will fight to prove his point of view. He holds a set of firm beliefs and opinions that he will not change come what may. Geometric shape lovers learn new things without much trouble.

A flower-doodler is an artist at heart. He is a complete environment enthusiast. Apart from his interest in nature, such person is very emotional and can make a fantastic friend and a life-partner. He is inclined to make career in creative fields.

A person who produces pictures of trees on a piece of paper is someone who can teach everyone what patience is. Such person will never miss a deadline and will complete a task assigned to him within a given deadline. Such people are highly intellectuals.

Sketching hearts might put forward two meanings. It might say that a person is emotional and gives importance to his loved ones than anything else. But on the other side it could also mean that a person could not tolerate heart-break at all. Such person might go into depression after a break-up.

Those who enjoy portraying houses are keen on living safe and secured lifestyle. They value their relations and are prudent while handling their life matters. Such people prefer to be in a joint family rather than a nuclear family.

A Person who draws arrows is either straightforward, optimist and goal-oriented or one who can break your trust by backstabbing you.

Finally, a person who sketches faces a lot is not being himself. He is constantly pretending to be someone who he is not. Such people are self-centered, but they can make excellent artists or media professionals.

Thinking about your personality type? Go down the memory lane, stress your mind, think what did you doodle when your teacher was busy analyzing world wars in the history period or when your boss was in the middle of his speech in the last meeting.

(Idea for this article came from the article appeared in Mumbai Mirror, Tabloid)

जुन्नर

हजारो वर्षांचा इतिहास लाभलेले जुन्नर हे सहयाद्री पर्वताय्च्या कुशीत वसलेले एक सुंदर शहर आहे। भारताच्या महाराष्ट्र जिल्ह्यातील पुणे तालुक्यात असलेले जुन्नर वीर मराठा छत्रपति शिवाजी महाराजांच्या शुरतेची आठवण करून देते। जुन्नरपासून जवळ असलेला शिवनेरी किल्ला जेथे महाराजांचा जन्म झाला, एक प्रेक्षणिय एइतिहासिक स्थळ आहे। अषठविनायकाँनपैकी लेन्याद्री (गिरीजात्मक) तसेच ओझर (विघ्नहेर) ही दोन गणपतीची रुपे पुजन्यासाठी जेथे दूर दूरून भक्त एकत्र येतात असे जुन्नर भक्तांसाठी तर जणू एक पवित्र स्थान आहे।

जुन्नर येथील जमीन अतिशय पिकाऊ असून तांदूळ, गहू आणि उस ही येथील प्रमुख धान्ये आहेत। शहरातील रविवारच्या बाजारात ताज्या भाज्या व फळांचे घड ग्राहकांच्या स्वागतार्थ सज्ज असतात। हिर्वळीची शाल पांघरलेले जुन्नर, अनेक धरणं लाभलेले जुन्नर पर्यटकांना आकर्षित करते। वडाज आणि माणिकदोह ही जुन्नर येथील लोकप्रिय सहलिंची ठिकाणे आहेत। जुन्नरमधील पुरातन नानेघाट लेण्या तर इतिहासातील काही पाने ताजी करुन जातात।

गणेश उत्सवाची जर खरी झलक पाहायची असेल तर जुन्नर सारखे दुसरे ठिकाण नाही। जुन्नर येथील सार्वजनिक गणेश उत्सवातिल सजावट डोळे भरून पाहिल्याशिवाय रहवाणार नाही। जुन्नर येथे अनेक चांगल्या शाळा असून, उत्तम महाविद्यालये देखिल आहेत। जुन्नर येथील वन्यजीवन अतिशय स्म्रुद्छ असून, येथे चित्यांची संख्या जास्त आहे। जुन्नर मधील हवामान प्रसन्न आणि थंड आहे।

जुन्नर चा इतिहास हा इसवी सन ९० पुर्वीचा असून, खुपच रोमांचक आहे। जुन्नर हे निसर्ग सानिध्यात वसलेले अतिशय सुंदर पर्यटन स्थळ आहे। जुन्नर मध्ये एखाद घर असाव जेथे सहपरिवार सुट्टीची मजा लूटावी अस वाटाव असे शहर आहे जुन्नर। नैसर्गिक सुख-समृध्हीने नटलेल्या जुन्नरच्या तुम्ही प्रेमात पडला नाहीत तरच नवल।

SweEt N sOur!

A bowl of steamy sweet n sour soup was looking yummy. I thought I could gratify my taste buds as quickly as possible as my mouth had begun watering, but the soup was piping hot. I pulled the sauce container. First I made my soup little spicy by adding a few drops of chilly vinegar sauce, then I wanted it to be little pungent so I stirred in red chili sauce. Finally a few drops of soy sauce dived into my soup. I could wait no more. Sweet, sour, tangy and spicy aroma was overpowering my senses.

I dipped the spoon in the bowl and stirred for a moment. Soon I was busy sipping delicious soup until my nose started running. I had to stop to use tissue. I thought there is no other delightful thing in the world than having a bowl of hot and sour soup. I did not stop till I reached the base of the yellow and blue color bowl. I gulped down the soup and I got the chance to look at the bowl. It was a beautiful Chinese bowl. It had a yellow stripe at the top as background with elegant colorful flowers painted on it. I thought I could even lick the bowl, but I did not.

I licked my upper lip. I was going to eat nothing for a while as I wanted to relish the taste. A few moments passed, still the flavorsome taste of soup was lingering on my tongue. Suddenly a thought bumped onto my mind. A thought brought a question with it. Isn't our life similar to sweet and sour soup? Yes, it is. We have sweet and sour experiences and memories. We realize the importance of sweet moments only after experiencing sour ones. Good things in life won't get value they have, if bad things do not exist.

Finally I came to the conclusion. Life is nothing but a bow of sweet n sour soup. We have to face awesome as well as awful occasions. I found myself relishing the thought, when the main course of food arrived in front of me.

Have yOu brushed yOur skin?

We read at least one skin care tip in our entire day, and we come across many innovative skin care tips and ticks. Today I am also going to share with you a tip to get smooth and soft skin. No, it isn't about drinking eight glasses of water throughout the day. Neither it is about facials and chemical skin rejuvenating processes.

You must have heard about the use of toothpaste (specially Colgate) to get clean and clear skin. I myself tried this out, and I think it worked for me. You will need a toothbrush (that you are no more using to brush your teeth!) and a toothpaste. Here are the steps that will help you to get radiant skin.

1. Take a small amount of toothpaste on the palm of your hand. with the help of your fingers apply it on your entire face and neck.
2. Now take a damp toothbrush, and start exfoliating your face. Move the toothbrush on your face in light circular motions or as per your convenience.
3. Exfoliate your lips too. Exfoliation of lips will help to get rid of dead skin on the lips.
4. Once you are done, rinse you face well with water. Pat your face with an absorbent towel or a tissue paper.
5. Apply moisturizer and lip balm. You are done!

Well I found the video, toothbrush skin care treatment on you tube. You can see the enhanced method of face exfoliation with toothbrush in this video.

I am nO mOre a couch pOtatO!

Today my morning started with music and melody. I spent almost two hours surfing music channels. I felt really lucky as I got to watch two of my favorite numbers from ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. I must say that Shahrukh, The king Khan once again proved his charm through this movie. I just loved the geek look of him. One more song I found soothing to ears today is ‘Gajab Bhayo Rama…’ from the movie of Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu. It feels so relaxing to sip a cup of hot tea (chose green cardamom tea over ginger tea today) while watching TV in the morning. It is one of my favorite morning activities; of course I indulge in the activity only if I rise early on that particular day.

So, coming back to the point, I was watching TV and suddenly words like couch potato, Lazy bones, obesity, etc. started echoing in my mind. I don’t know what happened to me and I just switched off the TV, and switched on the PC. No, I didn’t switch it on for logging in on Orkut, but for checking out some exercises to lose weight. I googled for ‘various forms of exercises to tone-up various body parts’. I wanted a workout regime that won’t require a use of workout equipments. I wanted stretching and toning exercises that I can practice at home. I am keeping my fingers crossed in a hope that at least this time I will achieve my goal.

I was surfing and by chance bumped into a website myfit.ca, and found a lot of useful stuff that I was looking for. I found information on how to do stretching exercises, how to do stomach crunches, and read about eye exercises. I just spent a few moments on exploring different types of exercises available on this site, and also tried to be acquainted with them.

The next step was tough. It was time to actually perform all of them. I unfold my pink yoga mat. (It was lying underneath my writing table for quite a long period of time; finally it was the time to inaugurate the yoga mat.) I spread it on the floor and started off with my first exercise session of the season. I hope I will be successful to get rid of some of the extra mass. I hope finally I will be able to get flat abs (not six pack like SRK… ha ha!).

Here are the exercises I have picked up for daily practice. If some words with high calories are echoing in your ears too, then these exercises will be useful:

• Stretches and flexibility exercises with pictures
• Crunches- abdominal exercise
• Twisting crunches
• Bridge- abdominal exercise
• Eye exercises
  

What's CoOking?

Last week my mom's backache got pathetic and we were planning to order dinner from outside. But don't know what struck me and I pulled out a recipe book by Tarala Dalal from bookshelf. (I can’t cook without a recipe book, I should learn to cook.) I explored entire book. I stopped over a recipe called 'Soya Mutter Ki Subzi'. I thought, 'let me try out this one.' My mom was quite relieved to know that I am taking the charge of the kitchen.

Soon I got done with the preparation part with a bowl of fresh green peas, paste of green chillies, ginger and garlic, mixture of curd, milk, gram flour, and water, and of course cubes of cottage cheese. (The original recipe needs soya nuggets, but I replaced them with cottage cheese). I rolled up sleeves of my shirt and started stirring, tossing, mixing and simmering. I bent forward and filled my nostrils with the spicy aroma. ‘Hmmm, it seems that I can make a good cook,’ thought I.

Soon we all were enjoying the tangy and spicy vegetable with hot rotis and steamed rice. I received compliments from my mom, dad and sister. Here is the recipe of 'Soya Mutter Ki Subzi' by Tarla Dalal. Try it out!!!

SOYA MUTTER KI SUBZI

Soyabean nuggets and peas simmered in a tangy gravy.


Cooking Time : 40 mins.
Preparation Time : 10 mins.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

1/2 cup soya nuggets 1/2 cup green peas 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera) a pinch asafoetida (hing) 1 teaspoon ginger-green chilli paste 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste 2 medium onions, chopped 2 tomatoes, finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi) 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder 1/4 cup fresh curds 2 teaspoons Bengal gram flour (besan) 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 tablespoons oil salt to taste

Method

1. Cook the soya nuggets in hot salted water for about 20 minutes. Keep aside. 2. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the asafoetida, ginger-green chilli paste, garlic paste and onions and saute till the onions are translucent. 3. Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder and cook on a slow flame for about 5 to 10 minutes. 4. Mix the curds, gram flour, milk and 3/4 cup of water and add to the onion-tomato gravy. 5. Add the soya nuggets, green peas, sugar and salt and simmer for 2 more minutes. 6. Serve hot.

Tips

You can use mushrooms or paneer instead of the soya nuggets as a variation.

It sounds delicious, isn’t it? Well, I know it is mouthwatering. Try it out, and don’t forget to leave me a comment if you liked it. All credit goes to Tarla Dalal, a famous Indian chef.