Happy Halloween

Wishing all a Happy Halloween!

As I walked down the street today, I saw this halloween decoration outside a house.

Birthday Memories!

On my birthday this year, my younger sister Soniya surprised me with a cool personalized gift! She coordinated with family and friends requesting them to pen down the memorable moments/incidences that they had with me in the form of handwritten(preferably)/printed letters. She bundled them in a beautifully decorated box which when opened gave an illusion of my room. She created the illusion by sticking pictures of the room on the four sides of the box. I was completely startled by this idea!

As it was a parcel, Praveen had a tough time keeping it a secret from me. The hiding business was a bit irritating for him but I surely dint get a clue of the arrived parcel till 12 midnight! There were 34 letters that I received and as I scanned through each of them it was dawn already!

My grandparents and parents had written down incidences of my childhood which I dint even know till date and it was great fun to know how I was. Family friends had mentioned of the fun times that we had on trips and get-togethers'. Friends wrote on the crazy time spent together at school, college and at work.

I really feel glad to have a sister and husband who planned and gifted me a precious present which was a collection of the golden moments that I spent with family and friends!

Why are we not laughing, huh?

With the never ending chores to be completed for the day, do you anytime ask this question to yourself? I feel myself lucky enough to be in the company of a tiny tot who reminds me to laugh out and enjoy the small moments that I spend with him! He has a keen observation over my body language and if I dont laugh or pretend to laugh as we play, he doesn't spare one chance to say "Why are we not laughing, huh?"

Agile Surgery

I came across this meme today morning and it made a good start of my day. The first thing that seeked my attention was the horrifying look on the patient's face!! How true, I would have been equally or rather more petrified than that guy there....

For those of you who are from a non-IT background, might be wondering what's the joke??!!! The term 'Agile' is a methodology used for project development in the IT industry where the project evolves as an end product in a number of phases/iterations. Each developed iteration is then sent to the client to know for any flaws or improvements that could be worked on in the next phase. The artist has perfectly blended the terminology into a surgery scenario making it humorous and conveying the intended message!

With almost all verticals of the current market heavily investing in real time analytics and constantly upgrading their information systems, I dont see this day too far away to be a reality!!

In the city of lights...

I made a paper lamp shade using push pins to design a city skyline. It was a simple DIY art but looked incredibly different upon completion. 

Fresh produce

When its spring, nothing is better than fresh, in season produce of a variety of fruits with their rich colours, sweet smells and succulent tastes! We got a pack of fresh strawberies(our first buy of this spring) and they were really juicy and sweet.

Even after having a handful of them, their freshness urged us to make stawberry milkshake which was a healthy beverage to enjoy the evening.

Sunset skyline

Sometimes driving on the roads here in Melbourne gives us a feel as if we are on a rollercoaster ride. The roads go uphill many a times and give a mesmerizing view of the CBD (Central Business District). And just as you want to keeping gazing at that sight you are halfway down! Its very difficult to capture the scenic view of how it looks from the elevated area but I tried my best yesterday evening to click few snaps of the sunset skyline.

Blackburn Lake Santuary

To enjoy the fresh air, we went on a nature trail along the Blackburn Lake which is quite near to our house. This place is one of the natural bushlands in Melbourne and is surrounded by extensive network of walking tracks for the residents to enjoy. It also a had nice play area for kids.

As we walked along the trail we came across a number of spots which gave a nice view of the lake. People were relaxing on the wooden dock like construction 'The Landing'. On our way we came across pine trees which had number of dried pine cones hanging in huge numbers. It was the first time I saw these many pine cone laden trees in one stretch of a park.

It was surely a good choice of a trail to spend the evening!

Celebrate Spring

The city council of Hawthorn suburb in Melbourne has arranged flower beds on each of the street entrance to add to the beauty and celebration of spring. They have named this as 'Celebrate Spring'.

Different varieties of flowering saplings have been planted in this arrangement. For people who might like to buy some, they had set up stalls on the pavements. Such a nice way of giving the city a more colourful look and at the same time encouraging citizens in and around the suburb to plant flowering shrubs without they shelling out time to visit nurseries!

Happy Dussehra

Wishing all a Happy Dussehra!!

May the divine blessings of goddess Durga bestow us good health, success and prosperity.

We cooked semiya kheer to celebrate Vijayadashmi.

Came across this message on watsapp-

A controversial & debatable question:

Today if Ravan took your wife away ..... would you still consider him evil .....?

101 ways to get rejected...

We spoke to one of our university friend last week and were sharing our experiences on the progress of the ongoing job hunt. His first reaction to it was "I can write a book titled 101 ways to get rejected in job applications". We both burst out laughing listening to the comic way of expressing his frustration of not landing up on the right job opportunity. We all are trying our level best to seek the most suited position for our profiles and we wish to get there soon!

An interesting case study

Today's written exam structure was completely different than all the exams that I have attempted till date. We were given a case study on which we had to apply the learnt theoretical concepts and answer three questions with a weightage of 20 marks each. I found the case study very different and innovative and thought of sharing it here. It was based on toy manufacturer called ToyCo which specialised in manufacturing toys like barbies and teddy bears. The differenting factor from the regular toys were:

1. There will be a sensor fitted inside the barbies that will gauge the kid's temperature, pulse and movements and send notifications to parents if any parameters drastically fluctuate.

2. The teddy bear will be an interactive toy supporting multiple language packs that will teach kids to talk and will correct any grammatical and pronunciation errors. 

I really loved this idea and appreciated the creative thought that was applied in writing the case study. Just makes me think how technological advancement is being reflected in various segments of product design and development.

The last paper

Finally I have reached the end of my masters with the last paper to go for tomorrow. Just hoping that all goes fine and I manage to get a good score for this subject. Wish me luck!

Masterchef

Masterchef Praveen tried his hand in preparing a new variety of crisp called "Chilli Cauliflower". This Indo-Chinese recipe was fairly simple to prepare and most importantly pulled us out of the study boredom. Just in-case if you would like to try it out, here are the steps:
1.  Cut cauliflower into small florets and boil them in salt water for 15-20 minutes.
2.  To prepare the batter, take equal proportions of all purpose flour (maida) and cornflour and salt for taste. To this, add red chilli powder, garam masala, corriander and cumin powder, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar and soya sauce. Mix well with water to form thick batter which would stay on the florets.
3. Deep fry these florets until they turn golden brown.

And its ready to tantalize your taste buds!!

The Ghosts!!

For the past few months, me and Rayyan have been talking the language of "Ghosts". The post title might seem scary, but in reality its funny!! Whenever he feels scratchy he tells me "The scratchy ghost is running all over me", when he trips off while we play he says "The bad ghost is pushing me". Sometime back in the flow of conversation I asked him " Rayyan who made you soo sweet?" he surprised me by answering "The friendly ghost!!" Its absolutely true that kids drive you through their world of imagination.

Chaat

With the temperature reaching a max of 34 degrees, we thought of fighting the heat with mine and Praveen's most loved Indian street food 'Chaat'! We made Paani Puri and SPDP for the hot afternoon and both the dishes turned out to be yummy. Chaat has always been our favourite snack and its ease and quick preparation helps us overcome the craving for Indian street snack in Melbourne!

The African Art

I came across a nice painting of African women on Pinterest and thought of painting it myself. I just love the contrast colour combination which makes them stand out from other paintings and the ease to draw them makes me choose similar ones each time!

Spring

Melbourne is known for its changeable weather. Until I came here, I never had witnessed such drastic weather changes before. Out of the four seasons, I enjoy autumn and spring the most. Spring is a time for renewal and a great time to visit parks, nurseries and beautiful gardens. Even if we miss out to plan a trip to the above mentioned, a casual walk on the tree-lined streets is equally refreshing. Of all the blossoms that I have seen till date, the snow-drop trees which are planted by the city council are my favorite. Their sight just leaves me awestruck each time. It gives me a feel as if I am walking by snow clad trees in a beautiful warm weather!

There are many other varieties of fragrant flowers which coupled with their beauty and attractive colours make your spring more enjoyable.

Rayyan Superman!

Its been one year since I am working part-time as a nanny for Rayyan and its been truly an exhilarating experience. I first met this three year old little guy sometime last August and still recall him introducing as "My name is Rayyan superman". Since I have known him he has always been a very energetic kid who is eagerly waiting to play and learn new stuff. Within the last one year, I can mark an immense development in his overall abilities. He is a quick learner and has a flair for languages. Recently he has learnt many new words and it surprises me how it strikes to him to use the correct word in the right context! The other day we were singing the alphabet song and it went fine till the letter "D". He couldnt recollect what the next aphabets stand for. We reached the letter "O" and before I said anything he immediately prompted "O is for Ohh-yaaa?". It Ieft me astounded for a moment until I said "yes thats right!!".