thaumaturgist

The absolutely fascinating period of exams are on. This time at a foreign university (my first), making it slightly more mesmerising. People can rediscover themselves at a time like this, these times can bring with them a revelation. We come to know exactly how much the classes preceding these exams have been meaningful, how much the students paid attention and how effectively the teachers imparted their knowledge. Just like there are two sides to a coin, this situation also has two sides to it, we (the students) think the teachers had been ineffective and they(the professors- they like to call themselves that ridiculously old fashioned way) believe we failed them by not working hard enough or  not being smart enough. I have never been very academic, never been much of anything really, but more about that later... so the idea to get a second master's degree was to give myself some credibility and a kick start to a career I never had. But being back in school makes me question my...

 For a while the weather hadn't been something to write home about, it had been dull and dismal, the cold, damp air doing nothing to one's mood. My booted feet squelched on the wet and muddy leaves gathering on the steps in front of the university building as I walked into my department to attend early morning classes, clinging onto my thermos of coffee, the only source of warmth. This had been going on for almost 3 weeks, the same bleakness in the air when a brief flurry of wind blew away the remaining weak, yellow leave still clinging on to dear life.. But today is what an Autumn day should be like in my mind, clear blue skies, sunshine, sparkling golden leaves and a nip in the air. I have friends who adore rain, who are inspired and rejuvenated by it, but I believe that the damp and constant drizzle that go on for days would  fail to evoke any inspiration even in the most ardent of rain lovers. The monsoons and the torrential rains are very different kinds of rainfal...

Waking up in a strange bed, in an unfamiliar room- sleep last night was elusive, interjected by restlessness.The streets this morning look dull and the sky is a flinty grey. I can hear the pitter patter of constant rain, a drizzle, but never pouring down unabashedly, as if it is waiting eternally for someone's arrival. We drink our coffees, bite into something sweet purely as a complement to the strong, black brew. Ready to go on our exploration, we quietly close the door behind us as we leave the strange dwelling for the day. The drizzle not being a deterrent, I let it lash on my face, I had abandoned my glasses for the much disliked contact lenses so that the water droplets wouldn't come in the way of my eyes and the sights that lie before me.  We are walking down Potter Street, ironic, I think, as it could've been Privet Drive. In the tube we count the number of stations we would need to pass to reach our destination. A little girl beside me is playing around holdi...

I was never one to believe in the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder," so I decided it's high time I haul myself to the Blog space before the readers move on to greener pastures.  A lot has happened in the last 4 months as you can well imagine. For starters we have a new addition to our family, the cutest bundle of joy, my itty bitty niece who turns 3 months old in 10 days. I spent the first 2 months of her life by her side trying to convince my sister to give her to me, of course it didn't work so now I feel bereft without her! What I did manage to do is insert a middle name of my choice, a way of enforcing my existence in her life. She is Nandana Malini Mukherjee and she has us all wrapped around her tiny little finger.  Three others who need a mention on my blog are the three kitty boys my sister has, Calvin, Hobbes and Casper, those three own us- they are my sister's crown jewels and bundles of joy. This year was the first time I got to se...

Virginia Woolf once said that a woman must have money and a room of her own to write fiction, I feel it holds true for blogs as well in my case. I particularly need a room with a view, either a snow capped mountain or a rumbling sea full of waves.  The last month and a half had been intensely busy, to say the least, My in laws were visiting us for the first time in out 4 year marriage and it was an event of sorts. The preparations had been going on for weeks for them as well as for us. We had to get the house in order, the guest bedroom tidied up and the refrigerator stocked. The only thing we couldn't get in order was the weather, this year summer has been playing hide and seek so the in laws has to embrace the cold and wet which certainly needed some getting used to. We had certain trips planned for this period and while all this was going on I had my online course on Literary Theories going full swing. Some days I would catch up on the studies while my mother in law coo...

June is supposed to bring with it the joys of Summer, unfortunately it feels like we have been put through a time machine and have landed up a few month ahead into the gloomy and wet coldness of November. The only source of comfort is in the home and the hearth. So, to keep warm I could think of nothing better that cranking up the oven and baking so the house smells warm and sweet and buttery. I ticked one other Nigella Lawson recipe today, the chocolate and walnut brownies. Apart from following the recipe to the tee I did a little temperature tweaking advised to me by my friend cum lil-sis who is a pastry chef. So here's the recipe : 375 g soft unsalted butter 375 g best quality dark chocolate 6 large eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 500 g caster sugar 225 g plain flour 1 teaspoon salt 300 g chopped walnut Instructions: Preheat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4. Line your brownie pan - I think it's worth lining the sides as well as the base. Melt the butter an...

Hey everyone, this is definitely one of those dear diary moments. It is my first blog post from the Blogger application on my mobile, so three cheers to that. Well, the reason for my doing so is because I am on a 'Sex and the City' marathon on my laptop and did not want to open a different window to type this one out and multitasking is the modern equivalent of efficient, right? I have always claimed to be a city girl, as you all know, I have flourishingly managed to stay afloat 5 glorious years of my adulthood in the Indian Capital and I do hail from the former Indian capital but since my move to Dresden I have, slowly and unknowingly, got detached from big cities. Don't get me wrong, half a million inhabitants is not small by any means (in Europe) but when your public transport is rarely 5 mins late, it loses its big city status. Unless you are sweating with worry, looking at your watch every 2 seconds, running across streets in a frenzy to reach your appointment in tim...