DEAR LIAR - AN ANALYSIS

On 21st August, Varun and I got the special chance of watching Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah live in their spellbinding performance of Dear Liar, a play that chronicles the relationship of George Bernard Shaw and Stella Patrick Campbell. Below is my review of  the play.

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Lights flashing, one after the other, on different parts of the stage. A chair. A door. Curtains. All visible in flashes, one after the other. Thudding sounds. Doorbells and telephones ringing. And then silence. And complete darkness. A pause… The audience is by now all eyes and ears. And then a sudden spot of light focused on the centre of the stage, and there, standing, hand in hand, the two greats of Indian theatre, Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah. The audience erupt in a thunderous applause. They are thrilled with this dramatic entrance. The actors walk together to the front of the stage, all grace and poise, and the night’s show begins.

Ratna Pathak Shah, elegant as always, her every movement from picking up a letter to storming off the stage is in character. She looks and plays every bit the proud and confident English actress, with her head held high, fit to conquer any stage in the world. Stella Patrick Campbell, although long gone, lives once again in Ratna. And then of course, George Bernard Shaw. Nasseruddin Shah, his deep, resonating voice echoing across the hall fills the audience with a warmth they’ve never felt before. His wonderful, wholesome stage presence captivates the audience for two hours. Together, Rathna Pathak and Naseeruddin act out the relationship between Stella Patrick Campbell, an English actress at the pinnacle of her career, and George Bernard Shaw, the great English playwright, fallen prey to Mrs. Patrick Campbell’s mesmerizing charms. The play covers a time span of almost forty years, during which this fascinating relationship blossoms, matures and eventually dies. Naseeruddin Shah brings alive the wit, energy (and stubbornness) of Shaw flawlessly and the audience find themselves hooting with laughter throughout. Ratna portrays Campbell as the strong minded woman she is, struggling to own the London stage in a male-dominated society. (Campbell remarks that both her husbands left her as they couldn’t stand being overshadowed by a woman)

The play follows Campbell and Shaw through highs and lows, joys and heartbreak. The first performance of Pygmalion was all the rage in London. It was the most successful production of the age with accolades showered on Shaw and Campbell, but its success was brought abruptly to an end with the beginning of the First World War. Here, we are witness to Shaw’s bitter indignation at the war, and Campbell’s heartbreaking sorrow at the loss of her son. This is one point in the play that the depth of their relationship is portrayed. Shaw refuses to offer his condolences to Campbell because of his very strong views on the war, and it must be noted that in a society filled the outward politeness, only a mature and meaningful relationship could withstand the ruthlessly harsh remarks of Shaw.

Naseeruddin and Ratna show their experience and skill as actors on stage as they depict the aging of Shaw and Campbell through forty years in two hours. In the beginning they have a spring in their step and confidence in their stride, use every corner of the stage and walk tall, their loud and booming voices filling the auditorium. Campbell, by the end of the play can hardly walk and what was once the melodious voice that thrilled the London theatres is reduced to a thin croak. Shaw, and octogenarian by the end of the play, has become a grumpy old Englishman, although his inert energy is still palpable. The audience truly have lived forty years with these brilliant actors, so convincing was their performance.

At the end of two hours, when it is time to say goodbye, the audience doesn’t want to. They have been witness to the highest form of acting that the Indian stage can boast of, and the opportunity to behold such excellence in this art comes but occasionally. As the actors bow down, the audience gives them one last resonating round of applause and exit the theatre with a content heart and food for thought.

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The story of how I ended up writing the article is quite amusing, actually. At the beginning of the play, the announcer informed us that we had the chance of being featured in The Hindu newspaper (this was after all The Hindu Theatre Fest) if we wrote a review of 50 to 100 words and the review was good enough to make the cut. Instead of '50 to 100 words', I heard 'fifty two hundred words', that is five thousand two hundred words! Imagine that... I thought it quite ridiculous. No one would write such a long essay! Well, turns out I was the ridiculous one. I set to work the next morning, wrote a six hundred word essay (which is above) and sent it to the Hindu by late evening (I'd already crossed the deadline by then, which was 11:00 am that morning). It was AFTER I sent it that I chanced to glance at the Metro Plus (a daily edition of The Hindu) and saw the reviews of the day before yesterday's performance. Needless to day I realized my mistake, and felt like the dumbest ass in the world. I did send a hundred word essay, choosing lines from the six hundred word one, and took the trouble to send it. But of course I'd by now overshot the deadline by a long time and the review didn't get published. 

Lesson learned: LISTEN from next time onward, if you please!

Bellow is the hundred word edited review.

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A THRILLING NIGHT

A chance to witness such excellence in acting comes but occasionally. Stella Patrick Campbell, although long gone, lives once again as Ratna Pathak Shah flawlessly portrays her. Naseeruddin Shah plays the celebrated George Bernard Shaw and his deep, resonating voice echoing across the hall fills the audience with a warmth they’ve never felt before. His wonderful, wholesome stage presence captivates the audience for two hours. The play follows these two souls through forty years, and sees their relationship blossom, mature and eventually die. Through joys and heartbreak, the actors take us on a rollicking ride we will never forget.

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London Diaries

Over the next month or so, I'll try to regularly post writings of our London adventures. I'm working on documenting our trip with the best my memory can do, so hopefully it should be an interesting read!

Pachadis - The Delight of Andhra - Thotakura & Gongura Pachadi Recipes

I find a certain kind of joy by beginning my meal with mixing hot rice, Pachadi and ghee. It's probably the quirks that come with being from Andhra. Pachadis are chutneys, mostly made with vegetables, and almost any kind of vegetable, to come to that. Even vegetable peels... And they are the most delicious sort of chutneys that humankind have come up with till date. An essential ingredient in Pachadi in tamarind. You need the tanginess, folks! What's Andhra food without a bit of spice and sour? 
Thotakura and Gongura are leafy vegetables found in Andhra. I'm not sure if you find them in the north... Thotakura has small, light green leaves which are very supple, and Gongura had broader and thicker leaves. The leaves come in big bunches, but don't be  put off by the size, the whole bunch really comes down to a handful once you fry it. 
*I'm going to give the recipe for Thotakura Pachadi, but the Thotakura leaves can be freely replaced with Gongura.

THOTAKURA PACHADI

Ingredients:

Thotakura Leaves - 1 bunch, or 300g
Tamarind - 1 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - 2 tsp

For the Flavoured powder:
Urad Dal: 1 tbsp
Chana Dal: 1 tbsp
Dhaniya (Coriander) Seeds: 1 tbsp
Methi Seeds: 1/2 tsp
Jeera (Cumin): 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp
Red Chili (dried): 4

Method:

1. On medium-low, heat a Kadai (rounded vessel) and add 1 tbsp of oil. Once heated, add the Thotakura leaves, and cook for 15 minuted, or until they cook almost completely. Add salt, give it a stir, and set aside to cool.

2. In another smaller pan, heat the remaining tbsp of oil. Don't let the oil get to hot, other the lentils begin to burn. Add all the second batch of ingredients to the oil, and roast until they just about begin to blacken. Immediately take off the heat. 

3. In the same pan, using the oil that remained after roasting the spices, heat it, and the garlic and tamarind and stir for half a minute. Keep aside to cool.

4. Put all the cooled ingredients into the food processor, and process until you get a smooth paste. You can add some oil at this point. 

That's it! You're done! 

**For the Gongura Pachadi,all you have to do is replace the Thotakura leaves with the Gongura leaves, and reduce the tamarind content to 1/2 a tsp. 

Enjoy :)

Just a Little More – My 100K Republic Ride

2 weeks ago, Dada registered Varun and me (and himself, of course) for the 2015 Republic Ride. He was a little hesitant to register me. 100 kilometers. That was a LOT to cycle. And it wasn't like I was a superwoman. Varun was a superman, no doubt, but me? I waved off his doubts and told him with confidence in my air to go ahead and enroll me.

Zooming forward to 2 days ago. 1 day before the ride. No practice. No preparation. Nothing. And here I was, ready to do 100 kilometers of cycling. ‘Okay’, I said to myself. ‘How difficult can it really be? I did the 67K Freedom Ride in August. This is just 30 odd kilometers more.’ Little did I realise just how difficult 30 more kilometers could be.

We got all the necessities ready for the next day: water bottles, a little cake, fresh orange juice, cycling gear like gloves, helmet, goggles etc. We pinned up our bibs to our shirts to save time the next morning. And then straight to bed by 8:30pm.

Dada gave us a shake at 4:15am. ‘Oh god’, I thought. ‘Another early start’. We somehow got out of bed, groggily went to the washroom, changed into our cycling clothes, and came down (still groggy).

5:25am, and we’re ready at the door. Mama took a picture of us with our sleepy eyes and sleepy smiles, for a ‘before the ride’ shot. And then, out of the door. We’d already put our cycles on the cycle rack the day before, so all we had to do was get into the car and drive.

We reached Gachibowli Stadium (the start point) at 5:45am. Unloaded the cycles, attached the pouches, and rode into the stadium. We met our friends at the start point (we always meet people at such events, and it’s such a nice community to be a part of!). Varun’s friend, Aatmesh, and his dad, Govind, were riding that day. I also met my friend Asha, who is still in my old school, Sloka. Dada met quite a few people; he seems to be quite popular in this community!! (Smile)

By 6:00am we were all lined up at the start line. They flagged us off at 6:20am, when there was 100 meters of visibility ahead (I believe the traffic police were quite strict on that point). And we started!

Okay, I don't know what much to say of the beginning. It was cold when we began, and my pull on sleeves kept slipping off. 7:15am, and it started to get warmer. The weather was really good from this point on, to 10:00am. The sun provided the warmth, the clouds provided the shade, and the wind provided that slight coolness that so needed.

The support was very well organised. Every 10km, there was water, Electral (a powder you mix in water to get essential salts), bananas and energy bars. They also gave these delicious spiced peanuts. Since my cycling shirt had 3 very convenient pockets at my lower back, I slipped the peanut packet into one of them. Every time I felt like it, I'd just reach out for a peanut and pop one into my mouth. It was actually kind of fun!! The energy bars were YUM!! They were some sort of crispy and sugary crispies wrapped in chocolate, and they were really good!!

At 8:30, we reached the breakfast point at Taramati Baradari. We had an excellent breakfast. The sandwiches, muffins, idlis and vadas were all really good. With our stomachs full, we started again. Dada stayed behind for 5 minutes after I left, to organise something, so I was on my own for 15 minutes.

This guy caught up with me towards the end of the Taramati road. 'So, are you doing the entire 100K Ride, or you part of the relay event?' he asked me. I replied in affirmative to the former. 'Wow!' he said. 'So which company do you work in?' I smiled with incredulity; I told him I was in school, in 10th grade. 'Whooooooo', he went. Not everyone expects to see a 16 year old doing a 100K, right? I have to admit, I felt a little smug.

Dada caught up with me after a while, and we cycled on together. I was all okay up till the 50K mark, at Himayat Sagar. I was cycling just fine, at a good pace, with no aches and pains, and most importantly, with mental tranquility.

We reached the Shankarpally road at 10:15am. We had checked the map the previous day, and this road was supposed to be 18 kilometers one way. So we prepared ourselves for 36 kilometers of cycling, before heading back to the stadium.

It was hot now. The glaring sun was bearing down on our backs. The first part of the road had hardly any tree cover, and so the heat was multiplied greatly. 10 minutes down the road, and Dada got a call from Aatmesh. Varun had got a punctured tire, some 10 kilometers down the Shankarpally road. Dada had a few handy tools in case of this kind of a situation, so he cycled on fast to catch Varun.

I cycle on alone. At first, I enjoyed the feeling of riding alone. I started singing to myself and waving my head from side to side, like I was in a 70s Bollywood movie (The crowd of cyclists had thinned out by now, and I hoped no one was watching!).

After 15 kilometers of cycling in this fashion, I saw Dada sitting on the side of the road, with wheels, tools and other cycle-repair stuff strewn about him. It seemed like the puncture was worst than imagined. Dada said he'd sent Varun off on his own cycle, and just then we saw Varun cycling happily, coming towards us from the opposite side. He smiled at us, said the cycle was fine, and went on. Dada asked me to carry on, and said he'd catch up with me. The check-point was 3 kilometers ahead, and feeling cheered up by that idea, I cycled a little faster.

I met Govind Uncle at the Shankarpally check-point. He seemed to be doing okay. I drank a little water and Electral, took a U-Turn, and began the long way back. It was already 11:30, and I wondered how long it would take me to get to the end of the road.

3 kilometers down, and Dada was still there, trying to repair the cycle. He told me to go on, and that he'd figure out something. The thing was Dada had a call at 1:00pm, and he needed to be home by then. Knowing him, he would figure out something.

I rode on. An auto caught up with me at 12:00pm. Dada was in it, with the cycle. So no, he hadn't been able to fix it, but at least he had means of getting home. I asked him how much more. 20 kilometers, he said. I exclaimed meekly. I didn't have energy left to complain too strongly. He patted me on the back, told me to keep riding, and said he knew I'd do it well. I gave him a tired half-smile, and then he went on. My lifted spirits took a slight dip again.

Anyways, that's when the sheer exhaustion set in. The tiredness. The fatigue. If you'd been riding for 75 kilometers, in Indian heat, you'd know what I was talking about. And then, the inevitable question arises: Why am I even doing this? One Hundred Kilometers. I can stay perfectly fit riding 50K. But for some reason, you go on riding. Your back pains, your neck burns with the sun's spiteful glare, your arms are stiff, you wrists and palms tingling with the vibrations of the bike, your glutes are numb with the hardness of the cycle seat, and your calves are on fire. Yet, you keep going. Just a little more, you tell yourself. Stretch yourself a little.

The road never seems to end. With hope, you look for what's awaiting at every new turn, but with dejected spirits, you realize the road just goes on. For an hour and a half, I rode like this, the same thoughts circling my mind, and trying a encourage myself little by little. And then I saw the hill. The hill we had to climb, the hill that would take us home. I'd ridden that hill before. I knew just how killing it was. But the sight of it was inviting because I knew the monotony was over. The physically toughest part was yet to come, but that which was mentally taxing was now the past.

I met Govind Uncle again at the bottom of the hill, just before we started climbing. We sat together for a bite, exchanged a few words, and got back up, determined, now that we were so close. He planned to walk up the hill, like 90% of the riders do. I didn't. I had to ride up. That, I was determined to do.

I started up the hill. I was on my lowest gear. Every round of the pedal took me an inch forward. Every part of me was burning. But there's something that kept me going, something that made me stretch my limits, something that didn't let me stop. I think that something is different for everybody. For my part, I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I stopped. I couldn't forgive myself if I let my foot touched the ground. I would have felt as though I accomplished nothing if I didn't keep going. And so I did. I stayed on my bike, my feet on the pedals throughout. And I smiled to myself at the top of the hill. I'd accomplished what I wanted. I could live with myself.

I zoomed down the hill, that smile never leaving my face, enjoying the moment. Enjoying the breeze batting against my face. Enjoying, for a change, not things creeping by, but things whipping past me.

Just 7K to go. That's all I had left, to complete my first 100K. 15 minutes, and I came to that last hill.
It takes us 5 minutes to drive up that road. The thought scared me. How long to ride? Let me answer that question without too much delay. 30 minutes. 30 minutes of tireless uphill riding. The steepness was gradual, but the road was long. Looking back, however, this road seems to be a blur. I just remember riding on and on. I just remember telling myself I couldn't let my feet touch the ground. I got to the top successfully.

My last kilometer. Just a little more. My eyes already had a spark in them. I was almost done. I turned towards the finish line, crossed in, and stepped off my bike. 'Ahhhhhhh'... I hung my head, sighed, and looked up again. Mama and Varun were there. 'How was it?' Mama asked. All I could say was 'Good'. For now, I had to sit down. I was aching, and I just needed a seat. I sat down, sighed again, and smiled. I'd achieved this they way I wanted: strongly and with a self satisfaction beyond description.

All I've got to say now is this: I'm coming back, and I'm doing this again. And like my father said, 'I've felt the pain, and gone back for more'. 

A Sweet Sweet 16!

If you know me, you know that I'm not the partying kind. I'm not your typical teenager, who's glued onto her phone or is too rebellious (note the use of the word 'too'!) just for the sake of it. One of the most shocking things my friends find about me is that I love spending time with my parents (which is probably the reason why I love home-schooling).

I had my sweet 16 on Tuesday, and I'd like to write about it.

My best friends came over on Monday night. Anandini and Mitali. I think they're friends I'll never forget. I've known them for five or six years, and we're like sisters. I've spent most of my birthdays with only those two and we have the best time ever!

I think I'll take this opportunity to introduce them here.

I've known Mitali since the fifth grade. She's a bubbly person who is your typical teenager. You can talk all your crap about other people with her and you know she'll give you an ear, no matter how much you rattle on. (If fact, the other day, she stood in front of Anandini and me and said, 'Okay, who's going to start the bitching?' Quite a girl, isn't she?) She's a very social person, and loves talking. What I love about Mitali is her positive outlook towards life. She's make the most out of any situation.

I've known Anandini since the 7th. We instantly became best friends. Until the 9th (Anandini was in Sloka uptil then) Anandini was a pretty 'rowdy' girl. But she changed completely after coming to our school (The Integral School). Her personality now and then has drastic differences. I love her because she's passionate about so many things. She's the person I can have serious talks with, about education, learning, feelings. We can have deep conversations, and end them on a light note, without spoiling the moment.

Well, those are my best friends. Amazing people, both of them.

But to get on with my sweet sweet 16.

We went into the gym and ran 2 kilometres as Anandini said she was stuffed to the throat from the hogging she did the previous day. We later did these really cool ab exercises Mitali suggested, and work up a massive appetite for that wonderful dinner Mama had made.

Paalak rice and paneer. Simple, but it was so delicious!!

We went for a walk downstairs after dinner, and spent it in our favourite way - complaining about all the stuff going on in our lives. Mitali always has something to complain about, Anandini most of the time, and me a little lesser. But it's funny; now that I have no social life, I have nothing to complain about. Apart from some petty issues that I tried to feel bad about, there was nothing. I'm leading a happy, content life now, with not a care in the world. That was my gift to myself on my sweet 16th.

While walking back home, we started talking about math (HOW?). I realized that Anandini and Mitali had the same misconception I had 3 years ago, about quantities changing signs when they moved to the other side of the equation. We spent half-an-hour sorting that out. I still remember how I understood the thing about quantities and changing signs. It was about 3 months before I left Sloka along with Abha, Haritha and a few others. It was Abha's birthday and Dada had come to pick me up. While we were finishing up, Dada and Abha's dad started having a very heated discussion about maths in school (both criticizing it very badly). It was then that Abha's dad started talking about these quantities and signs so heatedly and it stuck in my head forever.

Anyways, the highlight of the day's coming up. We cut a cake at 12!!! I've never done that before and I was so excited!! It was amazing, because they sang happy birthday for me, Varun took a video of the whole thing, and the cake... The cake was so so delicious!!

Right after the cake cutting, Anandini and Mitali disappeared. At first I was annoyed. I turned 16 like two and a half minutes ago, and the run upstairs? How insensitive is that? That feeling lasted for about a second. It struck me - maybe they'd gotten me something for my birthday!! I felt so happy, because even though I told them not to bring anything, they had!! That feeling too didn;t last for a very long time. They got down Anandini's laptop, and I thought great, another slideshow... I'm embarrassed at thinking like that, because a lot of effort goes into making but, but that's what we got Mitali and Anandini on their respective birthdays, and I didn't want the same thing.

I put on and surprised and anticipating look for their sake, and approached the laptop as they excitedly called me forward.

They began the video. It started with a picture of saying 'To be most beautiful girl'. I said to myself, 'Okay, watch it with an open mind'. But then it wasn't pictures that followed. It was a video of Anandini and Mitali, the latter sitting with a guitar. I wasn't anticipating this at all! And then they started singing. It was so so beautiful. It almost brought me to tears. They were singing a song for me!! My best friends were literally the best friends in the world!! I hugged and kissed them both, blinking back tears. Sounds dramatic, I know, but it was. It was amazing.

We spent the rest of the night talking, and fell asleep at 3:00am.

In the morning, I had my special breakfast that I had asked off Mama. Pork Sausages, Baked Mashed Potato, Scrambled eggs and toast. YUM YUM!! I feasted. Dada came home around 9:00. He'd taken an early flight to be with me on my birthday. Don't a have an enviously sweet family?

I dressed in that beautiful special top I bought for my birthday. A blue lace spaghetti with a second shirt of pale blue wide embroidery on top. I know I shouldn't be saying this, but I knew I looked lovely.

We left home in a hurry to catch Pk, the Aamir Khan film I was dying to watch. It turned out to be brilliant. 20 years later, When I read this post and read the name PK, I bet I'll watch that film again.
Aamir Khan is brilliant.

We ended the birthday with a lunch at the Flying Spaghetti Monster, that amazing Italian place. We at as much as we could, and ordered all but one of the desserts!! ANyways, that's where my birthday ended with my friends.

But birthdays go on till the day ends, doesn't it?

We got home and I went to give Chintan some birthday cake. She repeatedly told me how beautiful a was looking, which made me feel so good. That's the thing about Chintan. She makes you feel good about yourself.

Back home, Mama asked me to come down after I changed out of my fancy clothes. A big box was waiting for me. They'd got me a present!! I had told them repeatedly NOT to get me anything (last time, the present they got me just depressed me), and yet they had!!

I impatiently opened it, hoping it wasn't anything lame, like last time. After I opened it, I believed it to be the farthest thing from lame! They had gotten me an artisan bread maker!! I was jumping with excitement! It was so so so cool! It looked so posh, with a touch screen to control it, and it looked just perfect! Trust Dada to get the perfect stuff!!

Later that evening, I found a gift waiting for me from Chintan. She had made me Double-Ka-Meetha, which she excels in making. And Ayaan had made me a card. It was such and inviting gift, and the Double-Ka-Meetha was delicious!

We ended the day with Dada's signature mutton pulao, which, as usual was heavenly.

So all in all, I have a very sweet sweet 16. 

Running - A way of life.

My dad's a runner. For some of you, that may be a bizarre thing to be. You may be thinking - "So what the deal? He runs?" Well yes, he runs. He doesn't run for a living, nor does he run just to stay fit. No, he runs because for him, running is a way of life. Running is an integral part of his life. And I think that's beautiful.

Well, the running bug has bitten all of us. We're now a family that runs. Including Mama!! We've done 10Ks, 7Ks, and 5Ks to date!! 

Well, Dada's in a completely different league altogether. He's been running half-marathons for above ten years, and started running marathons last year. In the last 5 months, he's done 5 marathons, 1 duathlon, and 2 Brevets. Mindbogglingly crazy, but what do I say? :)

But then, Dada doesn't stop there, does he. He's started a running group!! We live really far from the city, so we can't really attend the Hyderabad Runners' regular training program. Anyways, he started a group. And it's going very very well!! Over the last 3 weeks, we've got together 10-12 regularly attending people! (Our community is quite small, so this is a large group of runners). We meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:30 in morning (Yep, 5:30am. If you want to be a runner, you have to sacrifice late nights and retire by 9:30pm). 

Well this is our routine: 

Mondays: Meet at 5:30am for Interval Training. Interval training goes kind of like this: You pick a distance you're comfortable with, say 100m, 200m, or 400m. We've picked 200m, since all of us are beginning with a couple of 10Ks to our names. The idea is, you run this distance till you are very breathless, and then the same distance, you do a slow jog or walk to regain your breath. Keep increasing the distance and the number of times you repeat this exercise. You do this as this helps your body store in more oxygen. You are getting your body used to being breathless, so it helps the body learn to store more energy (oxygen). This also helps increase your running pace (who doesn't want to finish each run with a new personal best?)

As of now, we're doing 8 repeats of 200m Interval Training. Very exhausting, but so worth it. I can already feel my pace increasing!! 

Wednesdays: Meet at 5:30 for Tempo Run. Tempo run is a run that helps you increase you pace. You start of jogging very slow, and gradually increase your speed. In the middle of the run, you should be running at your fastest speed. You them gradually slow down towards the end. As of now, we're doing 5 or 6 kilometer Tempo Runs. 

Fridays: Meet at 5:30 for Long Run. Long Run, as the name suggests, is a long run. If you've done a 10K, and you're aiming for 21K (half-marathon), you start of running 10Ks and every week add a kilometer or two. (I'm not doing a 21K, because Dada says for a 16 year old it is physically too demanding, so I've decided to stick with the good old 10Ks.) 

Stretches: What I haven't mentioned is that before and after every session, we do stretches. Dada says stretches are one of the most important things to do. Warming up and cooling down your muscles are very important, and without these, you become very injury prone. At the beginning, we do stretches to increase blood flow to the muscles, and at the end of the run, we do them to relax our muscles.

Well, so that's our life now. Running. And it's a wonderful life :) 

Prawn Biryani from the Spiciest State in India

AT LAST!! After a lot of coaxing, Varun and I got to spend ONE night at home alone, and god, it was fun!! I had the whole menu planned for our meals, and lunch was Prawn Biryani!!

We're from Andhra Pradesh. Yes, we may not be very "Andhra" in the way we talk, or the way we live, but we sure are very Andhra when it comes to our taste palette. Although Mama makes simple food on an every-day basis, when it comes to non-veg, we make dishes filled with spice.

I'd asked Dada to buy me prawns the day before, telling him it was for the Biryani. I come home and see that the prawns are HUGE. We need small prawns for Biryanis!!!!!!!!! Anyhow, it worked just fine, as I cut the prawns into 3 pieces each!! (Do not do this if you have small prawns!!)

The recipe I'm going to share doesn't have measurements for the spices, as Indian cooking is all about improvisation. So go ahead, if you have prawns or shrimp at home, don't hesitate, because this is the best recipe in the world!!!

Ingredients:

Kashmiri Chili Powder                                                                              
Normal Chili Powder *Be generous
Turmeric Powder
Jeera Powder
Saunf Powder *Not too much                                      
Dhaniya Powder
Biriyani Masali *Be generous

1 kg prawns with shell on (800 gms if shelled)

Oil

Bay leaves (dried)
Peppercorns
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Mint leaves

2 Sliced onion
3-4 Sliced fresh red/green Chillis
1 tablespoonGinger Garlic paste
2 cups Sona Masuri Rice
4 cups Water
Coriander Leaves

Direction:

• Marinate the Prawns in the first 7 ground spices. Keep in the fridge.
• Heat the oil, and Add the next  4 whole spices and mint leaves, and let them sputter in the oil for 1 minute.
• Add the onions, chili, and Ginger Garlic paste, and let them fry for 5 minutes, until the onions are completely translucent. 
• Add in the marinated prawns. Fry for 5-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of your prawns.
• Add in the rice and fry for 2 minutes.
• Pour in the water and Pressure cook for 2 minutes after you hear the whistle. 
• Add chopped coriander and carefully mix the biryani, without crushing the soft rice. 
• Serve piping hot with Raita. 

And there it is - your clear and easy pathway to paradise!