odzer's blog

Some days ago i have made a pasta dish. I was looking forward to using Penne but when I looked in my supplies I discovered I had only some spirali pasta. Oh well its not as if you can not use one or the other. So the thing about Pasta is that it is my instant noodles. I am not particularly fond of eating “maggi” type things so I just make a pasta whenever I feel the need to escape from cooking.It requires fairly less amount of work and it contains tomatoes which i am quite partial to. Extra flavouring comes from bay leaves, garlic, white onions, an occassional green chilli, pepper, basil and oregano.

Its always good to use good quality tomatoes when you do a tomato based pasta sauce. If you like you can also use a bit of tomato paste for a darker colour.

On the 13th we voted in Chandigarh, Usually for me its just a two minute walk to the polling station. On the way I stopped to have a chat with the father of a friend who was sitting at a political party’s tent. Inside the polling station I was surprised to see a line of people waiting to cast their vote because usually its just a walk in and walk out affair. After a wait of around ten minutes I could show my identity and proceed to vote.

As I had expected the congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal won by quite a margin. This election was special in Chandigarh because of two reasons. The first we had major parties trying to win the seat for the first time, in the past it was only a competition between the Congress and the BJP. Second voters turned out in huge numbers, in some parts of the city voting reached 85%, over all the city vote percentage was around 65%. On a sadder note the brother of the BJP candidate died after election results were declared due to a heart attack. When you are the richest city in the country you don’t usually expect such percentages. The people this time were determined to come and show their resolve to vote. It was very nice to see many first time voters and young people. The atmosphere in the polling center was polite and respectful. The guy who marked my finger even called me “Sir”. Something that I don’t really expect from an Indian public servant.

I would encourage everyone to vote in the next elections whenever they get a chance. Not because your vote will or not make a difference but because you can vote. Although I am opposed to compulsory voting I think when people get the encouragement they will come out. As for the mark on my finger now I am curious how many months it will take to vanish, however the one good thing about this is that I can now be amazed at how fast finger nails grow.

Some days ago I tried to make a cheese cake, this was result of the fact that I was given a free packet of Ricotta by a local store. Actually between me and a friend we had two packets but due to some curious incident we ended up with one. I was a bit wary of what would happen when I try making it with one pack but over all the result was not that bad. Originally I had wanted to do a strawberry cheese cake but because I could not find any strawberries I setteled on making a lemon cheese cake. This unbaked cheese cake had a layer of digestive biscuits and the filling was composed on lemon juice, zest, double cream and the cheese of course. I was a bit scared to take out the cake out of its shell because i was afraid the base might crumble but it held on steadily and strongly.

So the results were okay but I could have done much better with more cheese. I decided to add some shaved chocolate to the top of the cake for a bit of a twist. I liked the cake but I will do somethings differently next time I try it. A cheese cake is best if it is cheesy!

Vikram has asked me to do the Book Tag. I must say that I am not reading as much as i used to do once upon a time. However I have liked reading the books that I did and I am likely to go back to reading if my routine allows. So here it goes :-

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Agatha Christie most definitely. I am a die hard fan of hers.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
The wind in the willows by Kenneth Grahme.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not at all!

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Most likely Jeeves the butler, I would not mind having him around.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
The Bible, I managed to read that in patches.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
I read a lot of Enid Blyton. I guess I would have to say Noddy and the Famous Five Series.

7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?

I would not really read something that I won’t like.

8 ) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
The Lost Country– Mongolia Revealed by Jasper Becker.

9) If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?
Most likely it would be The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rimpoche.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
I do.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
I can’t say but I guess I think I would like to see a modern version of “And then there were none by Agatha Christie”.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Anything boring.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I have never had any yet.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
I own and I have read quite a few but I would not say it here!

15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Oh my god anything by Salman Rushdie, I can never go beyond Chapter 1.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
None, I acted in and I have seen only the most popular ones.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
The French definitely, because the Russians are just wannabe French.

18) Roth or Updike?
No Idea!

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Huh?

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare

21) Austen or Eliot?
Eliot

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
I guess not having read enough modern books. When I find an author I like I stick to him or her.

23) What is your favorite novel?
The Dark of the Sun by Wilbur Smith, Tutan Walah Khooh (The Well with  the Mulberries) by Ajit Cour.

24) Play?
Dooja Vyah or Second Marriage by Sant Singh Sekhon.

25) Poem?
Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout by Shel Silverstein

26) Essay?
Hmmmm I am not really an essay boy.

27) Short story?
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

28) Work of nonfiction?
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History by Charles Allen.

29) Who is your favorite writer?
Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse.

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Salman Rushdie!

31) What is your desert island book?
Desert Gardening – The Complete Guide by George Brookbank.

32) And… what are you reading right now?
Nothing because I am writing a chapter for a book that will soon be published.

I think I am going to definitely tag Priyank and Hedonist for this one. Although I must admit I now own most of Hedonists book collection. He he he he.