CafeTalks

Beach Volley ball is such a funny game.. but so hard to arrange..especially in places like Delhi which has no natural beaches!! Could anybody tell me plz where i can get genuine equipments/gears for this game in Delhi/Gurgaon? Also plz suggest us how we could play this game in floodlights.. i mean, which sports service provider/club makes arrangements for this in Delhi or Gurgaon on rent-basis or membership..?

Come, try this too.. it's a good weekend off..

Brasilia is one of the most beautiful capital-cities in the world. It’s well planned, maintained and administered with an awsome climate and location. Very few cities in the world boast of such remoteness still being so progressive. But the city does not have a very ancient history; it came into existence just a few decades ago. Before that, there were unreachable Amazon rainforests only in that area. This city was actually planned and built in this vast and far flung country keeping in mind that the capital should be centrally located. So it's comparatively a newly settled city. For making the capital, great contenders like, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo or Porto Alegre were already jostling shoulder to shoulder, but the politicians had other ideas, they wanted it to be "brand new". So the beautiful city of Brasilia came into existence. But the price paid for building this was huge.. thousands of hectares of the already dwindling great Amazon rainforests had to be cleared to settle the city,to make airports,highways,railway tracks,electricity transmission grids etc which feed this city surrounded with unreachable rainforests to other metros like Rio and Sao Paolo. Just in the same way as if a baby has to be connected to his mother for feeding milk. Brasilia can't imagine its existence, in such a hostile terrain, without getting connected to mother cities like Rio or Sao Paolo which are not only mega-cities rather are witness to the humanity and its rise and fall. Brasilia is just a nascent baby in front of them and so very much vulnerable, dependent and fragile yet glamorous! Still it's the symbol of the insuppressible will power of the millions of Brazilians and a really great city of a legendary Samba Nation! Salute to this harmonious city!!
(Views are purely personal, and have nothing to do with any event/organization)

Bihari cuisine has a history that can be traced to the cultures that flourished and waned in this part of the globe.

¤ Rice- Main Course of Food

References to rice abound in a variety of sources. During the days of the Buddha, rice was the staple food. The elite consumed the superior quality of rice while the inferior quality fell to the lot of the poor. At Nalanda, Hiuen Tsang was given mahasali rice to eat. Each grain was as large as a bean, and when cooked, was aromatic, and shining like no other rice.

Centuries later, presenting an account of the different varieties of rice around the Gangetic basin, Abul Fazal said that if a single grain of each kind of rice was collected, they would fill a large vase. The Mughal chronicler described the rice cultivated in Patna as being ‘rare and unequalled in quality’. The shali rice was popular and much in demand in Europe, while Indians preferred the shahpasand and basmati variety of Patna rice. The Gangetic plain proved to be a fertile ground for litchis – a relatively new plant that arrived in India only during the end of the 17th century. Originally from China, Buddhist pilgrims brought the first saplings of this plant from China as a hommage to the land of the Buddha.

¤ Bihari cuisine is a melange

Bhat, dal, tarkari and achar (rice, lentil, vegetable and pickle) have been part of Bihari cuisine since the days of yore. With the advent of Jainism and Buddhism, its followers took to a vegetarian diet, while others preferred goat, pig, deer, peacock, etc. In fact offering meat to a guest was as meritorious as performing the dvadasah (twelfth day) sacrifice. Thus slaughterhouses thrived alongside the Jain and Buddhist philosophies of ahimsa (non-violence). A variety of meat was openly sold in the market, and lavishly consumed during festivals. After inviting the Buddha for breakfast (this was also the Buddha’s last breakfast), Chunda, a blacksmith, served him a dish called sukaramaddava, that translates to tender pork. Unlike Mahavira, the Buddha sanctioned fish and flesh as lawful though with some restrictions. Mahayana Buddhism rejected this altogether. The followers of this denomination believed that the sukaramaddava was some aromatic mushroom. Speculations abound about the unusual breakfast that none of the Buddha’s disciples were allowed to consume, and the remains of which were buried.

Bihari cuisine has innumerable rice-based dishes. The Buddha was usually offered rice cooked with milk, and mixed with honey. The Jatakas (legends on the Buddha’s previous lives) mention pua (prepared from the mixture of powdered rice, milk, sugar, ghee, or clarified butter, and honey), pitta (rice cake), khajjaka (also known as khaja, the finest variety of this sweet prepared from wheat flour and sugar, is sold at Silao near Rajgir), palala (modern day tilkuta made from pounded tila, or sesame seeds). Sariputta, one of the disciples of the Buddha was very fond of palala. Gaya is famous for tilkuta, that can be found only in winter, and the finest shops selling tilkuta are located at Ramna. Another delicacy from Gaya is lai, prepared with sugar and beaten rice. Along with the peras (sweetmeat made of sugar and milk) of Mathura, the ones prepared in Gaya continue to be popular.

The Mithila Brahmins who take great pride in their Vedic culture considered themselves to be ‘Aryanised’ much before other parts of Bihar. Most of their festivals and religious rites are in strict accordance with the shastras (ancient scriptures). A fine variety of beaten rice or chiwra, with a heavy coat of curd and cream continues to be a favorite dish in Mithila. Makhana, a water fruit, (gorgon or fox nut) prepared from lotus seeds, is considered pure enough to be offered even to the gods. According to a popular adage in Mithila, betel leaves and makhana are not found in heaven. So one should relish them on earth so as not to regret later. Makhana is eaten in various forms, the commonest being salted puffs. Kheer (a dessert usually prepared with milk and rice) prepared with makhana is a mouth-watering delicacy.

¤ Favourite Morning Meal

The people of northern Bihar rely heavily on the energy-giving sattu (powdered gram), and a number of preparations like litti, parantha (a sort of Indian bread) etc. are stuffed with sattu and spice. For breakfast in Bhagalpur and Patna, people often prepare drinks with sattu, salt, chopped onions and chilly. Litties come in a large variety and are often roasted on hot coals. Muslim's Delicacy--The Biryani

some seventy years before the Muslim conquest of North India, the Turks had consolidated their hold in Maner (22 miles from Patna). Around this time, the region came under the sway of the Sufis (Muslim saints and mystics who came to India once the Turks had established themselves here. of the three chief orders of Sufism in India, Firdausi’s Sufism particularly influenced Bihar). The influx of the Afghans, Mughals, Persians, and much later, the Bengal Nawabs, and the Europeans followed this. Certainly there was a synthesis of the local culinary genius and the art of the newcomers. Possibly this is called Mughlai. Otherwise the term in its true sense sounds hollow, for the Mongol nomads, associated more with warfare, hardly ever cooked good food.

Biryani, for instance, is a Persian world that means ‘a dish of meat and rice in which the meat is roasted or fried.’ Usually referred to as a Mughlai dish, biryani has regional variations, and tastes different in Bombay, Lucknow, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bihar. Today one can spot even vegetarian biryani on a menu! Likewise, Bombay sells boti kebab (meat pieces), Calcutta offers kathi kebab (meat roasted on wooden skewers), Hyderabad is famous for choti ki kebab (plaited kebab), while Bihar is reputed for its voluminous seekh kebab. Other Non-Veg Delicacies

Some of the dishes of Arabic origin like keema (minced meat), murgh masallam (a chicken delicacy), naahari (broth with chunks of meat, cooked overnight). Halwa, a dessert, is popular all over India, with slight regional variations. Persian delights like the kebab, zardah, biryani, sheer maal are available in all those cities of India that had a brush with Persian nobles. Baqarkhani is even named after one of the Persian governors in India, Baqar Khan. Some of the Bihari dishes like the curries, shahi tukra (a sort of French toast) and khichdi are supposed to be of European descent! While opinions are divided on whether the Mughal emperor, Jehangir, or Wajid Ali Shah is to be credited with the original recipe of the kichdi, the broth of rice, lentil and other leftovers seems to be a creation of Indian chefs at the behest of their white masters. The Pre-requisites of Mughal Preparations

Mughal recipes at their best would require a variety and quantity of ingredients that would simply cripple a modern housewife’s budget. When Nur Jahan, the wife of the Mughal emperor, Jehangir, was in the Rohtasgarh Fort during the birth of her third son, she requisitioned 60 pounds of ambergris of the sea, 160 pounds of khus, 2000 pods of musk, 2000 bottles of the essence of Egyptian willow, essence of flowers, 10,000 bottles of rose water from Yazd and 4000 pounds of saffron!

Saffron rice went well with Mughlai fare. One still finds pulaos (a rice, vegetable and spice dish, often served with meat or fish) painted in rich saffron colour without its slightest flavour. Wedding menus continue to display dishes like halwa-i-maquti, muzaffar, etc. A man of fine tastes, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the founder of the Nationalist Muslim Party, judged Bihari dishes to be the finest.

¤ The Tribal Cuisine of jharkhand

Situated in the southern half of Undivided Bihar (now Jharkhand), Chotanagpur is home to numerous aboriginal tribes that differ from each other in their food habits and cuisine. Their general daily diet consists of boiled cereals, millet and a curry of boiled vegetables or meat, or edible roots and tubers seasoned with salt and chillies. Some of the tribal specialities of Chotanagpur are asur pittha (cake) prepared from the flour of mahua (a tree that yields the hallucinogenic mahua flower), rice, or maize. Similary, asur khichdi is cooked by adding mahua flour when the rice is half cooked. When maize is crushed and cooked like rice, it is called sauria ghata. It takes two days to prepare the korwa lata, which is cooked by mixing the seeds of mahua to sarai (sakhua fruit). Korwa jatangi is another dish for which jatangi is fried, pounded and its oil extracted. The residual cake is fried in earthen pots and eaten as a mixture with mahua. No other tree is as valued for its flowers as the mahua. March-April is the season for collecting mahua since at that time the leafless branches are laden with flowers.

Handia - The Tribal Beverage:

The handia is an important tribal beverage that still sells on the roadsides of Chotanagpur. Most of the tribes cannot think of any occasion or function without a fairly good stock of Handia. It is made by fermenting rice with the help of biro – a medicinal cake that incorporates a dozen herbs (the manufacturers keep the ingredients a secret). The rice or millet to be fermented is first partially cooked over fire in a handa (earthen cooking pot). Only the amount of water that the rice can absorb is added. Next, it is cooked and mixed thoroughly with powdered biro. The new pot is then placed in a cool place for about a week following which the beverage is ready.

(Source: "www.indiasite.com" copyrights of the original publisher acknowledged)

today someone rang the bell in the morning. when i asked him the purpose to come, he told me that he was from a reputed survey agency and needs my 'co-operation' to complete a survey, regarding the services of the cellular providers.
i asked him how much time it would take.. he replied just five minutes. reluctantly, i agreed. he had a lengthy (respondent) information booklet which he wanted to get filled-up. first he asked my full name, then..my address...afterthat my mobile no.. i was aghast by the time and refused to disclose my personal informations like mobile no. i told him my reservations that despite i have registered for the 'national do not call registry' i keep on receiving unsolicited commercial calls and you people are only going to worsen my agony. just due to this nuisance i had to change my mobile no 4-5 months back. by the time i had this arguments with him some of my neighbours gathered at the scene and all of them justified my concerns. so, sensing the situation, the 'surveyer' disappered from there swiftly. so the messege through my blog is simple- never yield to other's influence and justify yourself, and please never compromise your interests and privacy.

Today Indian Cricket Team witnessed the farewell to one of it's greatest bowlers- Anil Kumble.
Anil Kumble will always be remembered as the cricketer who fought hard and elevated the standards of the game . He served the Team for more than a decade and half. In his career he saw many ups and downs but his commitment to perform best with each outing remained undeterred. When he made this heart-breaking announcement today, his fans could have really felt so sorry for him. His decision came at such a time when he was at the peak of his career- he was the captain of the Test Team. Only a man of great courage and self-respect can take such a decision at this poit of his career. There has never been any controversies in his long career, which is so tough to maintain in modern competitive cricket. The vacuum thus created would be hard to fill.
Let's hope together that the wait to find a suitable repacement for him in the team is not too long, otherwise it will be sarcastic to the team interests. Bid adeu to this great gem of the crown .

That's how it works.. but it clearly shows that-
I'm a novice in photography!