A moment with Sister Shivani

Sister Shivani leaving after the program

It was the biggest AHA moment of my life! I am still spinning under its influence. I want to share this with you….

I am a big fan of Sister Shivani of Brahmakumaris. I have been regularly following her discussions on Aastha and Sanskar channels. Its safe to say that she is the single most influential person I have seen in my life. There are innumerable instances when I was lost or confused in life and its just her advice that came in timely. I listened to her religiously every evening only because she spoke exactly about the same problem I was experiencing at that time. In one of her sessions she went on to say that we feel this way because God is communicating with us through this medium. I believe her completely. How else is it possible that I sit with a problem, turn on the TV and there she is… talking about exactly whats on my mind! Not once but every time!

Yesterday God went one big step forward in making my dreams come true. Sister Shivani was to speak at Town Hall at 6.30 pm. I had asked an auto rickshaw person to pick me up at 6 pm. I also told my husband to reach home by 6 pm so he could watch the kids while I left. Something happened and my mom decided to join me at the last minute. She arrive really early and waited for me in the basement for half an hour. Mayank also arrived early and I left at 5.45pm. I was telling my mom that its too early to go. I couldnt imagine the function starting before 7 pm. I also told her that I was so surprised that the auto guy came 45 minutes early and Mayank also came 15 minutes early. Usually he is unable to leave office around 5. All through I wondered if baby would be too restless without me and if the program would start on time or get delayed.

As soon as we got off the auto at Town Hall I heard my mom scream from behind “ROMA, ROMA ! Sister ! Sister!” I couldnt understand. After all, all of them at Brahmakumaris are Sisters. Suddenly I turned around and there she was! Sister Shivani was standing right there. I couldnt believe my eyes. I have been seeing her on TV for so long yet when she I came face-to-face with her I couldn’t recognize her at first. May be because she is so much brighter and prettier than her TV image.

I went to her immediately and said ” Namaste Sister, I have been watching your program every day for the last 5 years and I am truly blessed to be standing here with you” . She gave me a sweet smile and went inside. This was like the biggest moment of my life! Sister was so beautiful and radiant. Now I know why in olden days they used to make a halo around the heads of saints. Sister radiates love. Her face glows like a power house of energy.

The session she conducted was for 2 hours. It was rejuvenating to meditate for 2-minutes with her. Definitely a more profound experience than watching her on TV. It was an interactive session. Sister really has the skill to put forth her points well. I enjoyed every moment  of the program. At the end of it I shook hands with her like everyone else and went till her car to see her off.

This is one of the best moments of my life and I think that the Universe conspired to make it happen. I recall the way my sister found out about the program and let me know timely that sister Shivani would be in town. How my husband and mom came home really early that day that eventually led to a moment with an incredibly dynamic personality. Its not everyday you see a celebrity next to you, just like that. You expect the person to be surrounded by crowd, flashed with media lights and unavailable to listen to you. Well, all that happened with sister but when I saw her she was by herself and thats what made that moment with her even more special. Om Shanti!

Coffee Cake and an Anniversary

Tags

, , ,

We celebrated our 7th Wedding anniversary yesterday. It being a Saturday we managed to have a long, lazy breakfast. Thankfully the kids slept on and we woke early so we could eat our breakfast blissfully. We chatted over some black forest pastries, Chocolate mousse, paneer rolls, mushroom buns and tea. Dont get me wrong, we dont eat so much everyday!  :-)

Continue reading »

Teething Biscuits

Tags

My baby doll is nearly a year old. She shows off two tiny teeth every time she laughs. I cant seem to get enough of it. Although its really cute to look at I know her gums itch quite a bit. No wonder she is always putting things in her mouth. So I thought its time I tried my hand at some teething biscuits. Now she has something home-made to sooth her gums. I was happy with the firmness of these biscuits but like any other teething biscuits they have a potential choking hazard. You need to constantly monitor the baby while eating so he doesnt bite off too big a piece (He heee… now I sound like a baby product company :-) ) Continue reading »

Crunchy Soya Toasts

Tags

, ,

Crunchy Soya Toasts

I love Tata Sky- it has made my life jhin ga la la! Simply because we get new recipe videos everyday. These are typically 4 videos recorded for NDTV Good times and some other regional channels earlier. The set of 4 videos is called ‘Menu for the day’ and it has a starter, a salad/ beverage, a main course dish and a dessert. Some times the combination varies, like if its raining too much outside they have only hot snacks. They even have festival special videos where they demonstrate how to make delicacies specific to each occasion. Continue reading »

Check into a resort on Sundays

 

Life Between the Granite Slabs - View from our pool

Which resort is this you can check into on Sundays? You dont have to go far to find it as it is in the comfort of your own home. Yes, yesterday I got a resort kind of feeling at my house. I wanted to share it with you all the easy steps with which you can check into that mode too : Continue reading »

Rich Fruit Cake

Tags

, ,

How I love these chilly Christmas mornings. We had a great evening yesterday at my sister’s house. Kids played games, danced and got gifts from their dear Santa Claus. My 3 month old was tired after the festivities and slept through the night. I got a well deserved break from the night long baby sitting routine. So instead of being busy Santa just had to keep gifts on the bed side and go to sleep :-)

Santa spreads the cheer

The fruit cake I baked uses all things I found running around in the kitchen. I havent picked the recipe from anywhere, its concocted on the run. I am happy with the result. I have been receiving cakes from my neighbors as well. Its like as if there is a dry fruit cake fest going on in our apartment. Well, all of us have our own version and thats what makes it interesting. It would be so boring if we all baked the exact same recipe.

Our Christmas Tree is all dressed up

My 3 year old daughter is attending 3 christmas parties this season. One at her school, one with family and one with friends. The party at school required her to go in a fancy dress. I made her into corn. Here is a picture of her – Oh Sweet Corn!

Dressed as Corn for Fancy Dress @ School

Here is the recipe of the cake I baked. I bake round the year but Christmas Cake always tastes the best (honestly, something in the air!)

Ingredients for Fruit Mix :

  • 4 cashew nuts, 4 almonds : roasted and ground into a powder
  • 4 cashew nuts, 4 almonds: roasted and fine chopped
  • 6 yellow raisins, chopped
  • 6 black raisins, de-seeded and chopped
  • ½ teaspoon ginger peel chopped
  • 1 teaspoon orange peel chopped (inner white skin removed)
  • 1 fresh date

for the marinate :

  • 1 tablespoon black currant
  • 1 tablespoon grape squash

dry ingredients :

  • 2 cups white flour (maida)
  • 1 ½ baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

other ingredients :

  • 2 eggs ( beaten)
  • ¾ cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
  • ½ almond essence

Procedure:

  1. Soak the ingredients of the fruit mix in the marinate for 2-3 hours.
  2. Sift the dry ingredients.
  3. Cream the butter with the sugar. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the beaten eggs and fold in (do not beat!). Add the marinated dry fruit mix to this.
  4. Now add both essences and milk till the mixture reaches dropping consistency.
  5. Once the mixture blends well and comes together pour into a greased and dusted pan. (you can grease with butter and dust it with white flour)
  6. Bake in a preheated oven for 180 Deg C for 40 mins.

Chocolate Fudge

Tags

, ,

What wouldnt I do to eat some chocolate? These days I am playing the strict hypocrite, the character who doesnt allow chocolates inside the house as daughter eats too many of them but secretly nurses the dream of eating some herself. I think these chunks are a great substitute for regular chocolates. Whats more? You can even make it on festivals for prasad and the kids will love the new variation to the regular burfis. You can also make this any time you dont have Khoya, condensed milk or any milk at all. You can use the milk powder stored in your refrigerator to quickly make this dessert. Continue reading »

Its a Girl !

Dear All,

I have been blessed with a baby girl one week ago. My 3-year old daughter is really excited about the new arrival. We have named her Trisha (meaning: desiring)

I know some of you must be wondering where I’ve disappeared these last few months. My pregnancy had made me weak and completely cut off from any kind of kitchen work. I couldnt tolerate smells or cook with ease. Thats the reason behind my fairly blank and un-updated blog. Hopefully in few months from now I will be back with more recipes which I will be trying out for  my baby girl. For now, its months of nappy changing and lullaby singing. See you at the other end of it… cheers!

A Trip To Mysore

Tags

,

Palace by night

We took a 3 day trip to Mysore last weekend. Bangalore and Mysore are hardly away from each other. They are like twin cities, it takes about 2.5 hrs to cover the ‘journey’. Whats really interesting about the journey is that the stretch is so exploited by Ad banners and eating joints that you barely feel like you’ve the left the city. Small Towns fly past – Ramamnagaram, Chennapatna,Maddur, Mandya and finally Mysore. You have reached before you realized. Continue reading »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 139 other followers