Lumuhuku

You were tagged!

A notification has struck your online life.

Did you expect it coming? No? Doesn’t matter. You have still been tagged.

I was discussing the Culture of Tagging with a close friend AA. And not surprisingly, both of us agreed that life is not as it used to be. [Last sentence makes me feel as if ours is a generation past its prime]. In good old days, we were required to make phone calls, write SMSs or letters (!)/emails to make people realize that we still remembered them. But now, all it takes is a few keystrokes, i.e. @Name and bingo! You have achieved a feat that did not even exist a few years back. You have tagged someone! And the tagged person gets to know that you care for them. You have him/her in your mind. You have not forgotten them.

Disclaimer – If by now, it seems like another of my loud-thinking posts, I won’t blame you. The reason for taking up such redundant topics ‘may’ be attributed to this.

So, ladies and non-gentlemen (men should not be gentle ), being a part of this revolutionary Age of Tagging, I put forward a radical and disturbing thought.

You would agree with the fact that only time, when you are socially inactive is when you are sleeping. Now what t. f. would happen, if thanks to technological advancements, people are given the ability to tag you in their dreams??

Just imagine

Have updated the list - Things To Do Before I Die

Link to updated list - New List

Link to Original List – Original List

There are questions.

Unanswerable questions.

There are questions.

The ones, unimaginable.

But there are answers.

Answers, which take us further away from our questions.

Then does it make sense in trying?

Trying to answer those questions?

• Travelled to more than 32 cities
• Done almost 60,000 kilometers
• Roads, no-roads, ships, planes…
• Been to mountains, forests, deserts, seas & places worthy of being called as graveyards.

What’s more… its still going strong (though, life of being dev’s shoe, has started taking its toll)

Future ?

If these can last for a total of 1,00,000 Kms, then I swear I will open a bottle of champagne.

I have this stupid habit of using the word ‘redundant’ a lot. “That’s redundant.” “This is redundant.” “Remove the redundancies out of this.” At times, it makes my sentences sound a little redundant . But believe me, the word is a powerful one.

[Redundant : The meaning]

It is easier to find redundancies around us. But tougher to find those within. Reality is, that if we are sane enough to conduct a self-audit, we will realize that, there so many redundancies in our actions & most importantly, our thinking. Take for example, the act of imagining brilliance. How far does this act take a person to the stated goal? Does the act of just imagining, enough to take somebody to brilliance? No!! Not at all. I can remember a scene from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, where the character of Hank Rearden (owner of a huge industry) shows an equipment to his brother and tells him that, there was a time, when he wanted that equipment very badly. But it wasn’t his ‘want’ that gave him that equipment. Though he was brilliant enough to think about it, it wasn’t just the act of imagining, that gave him the desired result. He actually took actions to covert his want into something real.

[End of Post : Abruptly though.]

PS – This post has the word ‘redundant’ used 10 times in different forms. Add one more for the one in title.

PS [Again!] – This post is a redundant-out-of-the-stupid-blue, types.

Anyone can reach a bus stop. But only a few can catch the bus.

[Disclaimer : Dev loves to eat; but that does not, in any way whatsoever, means that, he had a role to play in preparation of the Momos.]

Ladies & Gentle-ladies,

You have loved them, and you have hated them. But you can’t ignore them. I am talking about the delicious Tibetan Momos. And I swear, it is indeed an art (or I guess science) to prepare them.

So here is the complete recipe and a step by step guide to you know what -

Ingredients

1. 1Tbsp     – Blessings of Dalai Lama(!)
2. 5Tbsp     – Blessings of Tibetan Gods of Steamed Food
3. 1MB        – Google (for recipe)
4. Rs 500     – Financial stabilty (for purchase of consumable ingredients)
5. 67 Kg       – A patient guy like Dev
6. *** Kgs     – Two Friends as cooks (NK & AA)
7. 10 Mins    – Prayers

Procedure

Step 1 :

Once you have arranged all the above mentioned ingredients, it is time for step 1. This is the most critical of all steps, because it is here, that we procure our secret recipe. You really need to be careful to find an authentic source for the recipe (for general & primitive information, check here). Once you get hold of one good-enough recipe, you need to either get a print of the same or rub some pen on the paper to note down the recipe, as depicted below –

Step 2 :

As you can see in the picture given below, you need to take flour or something really similar, and add water to it. Then you need to punch it for quite some time (a helpful tip here would be to remember something, like office work), till it attains a form similar to the one shown below. This is known as the Dough

Step 3 :

Circular shapes, for thousands of years have intrigued scientists and novices alike. A circular shape, neither has a start, nor an end. So,since we need to make circular discs from the dough, you need to find a real pro. And the pro I found was so fast at work, that even my camera had trouble getting a nice stable shot. (Pro=AA here)

Step 4 :

According to a great book ‘Zen & The Art of Momo Stuffing’, you may use the stuffing prepared from vegetables, along with spices etc, to stuff the discs. And once you have put the adequate amount of stuffing, you need to seal them to form dumplings. Now, I would like to share an experience here. Never underestimate the importance of sealing the dumplings. Because if you don’t seal them properly, it would result in a mess, that even great cooks won’t be able to handle.

(Pro=NK here)

Step 5 :

As you can see, the dumplings have been made. They have been properly sealed with emotions and are ready to be given a hot steam bath.

Step 6 :

Before placing the dumplings on the tray with depressions, you need to oil the depressions. This is done (I guess) to prevent the dumplings getting stuck. So, once you have oiled the tray, slowly and with great care, place the dumplings onto it and cover the lid. After that, allow the dumplings to have their share of steam bath for around 10 minutes. Beware though : Some dumplings might decide that 10 minutes is a much longer time than they can comfortably handle. So you need to be careful. This is where the above mentioned 2 Pro friend’s experience came into play.

Step 7 :

After the stipulated 10 minutes, you can open the lid and if your prayers (check ingredient list) have been answered, you will witness something like this.

Step 8 :

Nothing happens without the blessing of the powers above. So thank the Tibetan Gods of Steamed Food and serve the Momos with hot red sauce and juices (if you have more time to waste, you can read my earlier Juicy Adventures)

[Credits for preparation of Momos : NK, AA]

[Credits for consumption of Momos : Dev]