If it were not for the LAST MINUTE, I would't get anything done!!!

To think for too long about doing a thing becomes its undoing BUT the sooner we fall behind, the more time we have to catch up.

It's the REALIZATION that one is FALLING BEHIND which by itself (in most cases) works as the Starting Switch to stir us into taking suitable action.

I am the king of Procrastination. But only when it comes to doing things for Myself. I love it, but it does exasperate others. I still prefer to wait. Correction...... ' Procrastinate ' . This word possesses the innate competence to make Indecisiveness sound like a Virtue.

They say 'Things will definitely come to you if you wait, but you run the risk of inheriting the leftovers from those who have taken the effort to hustle ". I for one don't buy this or feel threatened enough to launch myself into knee jerk action mode. By Hustling you may get the best seat on the Plane but it may be the flight one shouldn't have taken.

Hustlers don't preserve themselves and very rarely last for the long term. No point in living life like a Shooting Star for that fleeting moment of glory.

Somewhere between HUSTLING and PROCRASTINATING lies the realm of THINKING THROUGH which usually gets smudged between our misplaced promptitude to do things or the laziness to adjourn tasks on hand. It does pay to read the small print, because in real life the Large print gives but the Fine print takes away.

When I have to do things for others, I tend to accomplish the tasks well within prescribed deadlines, which in official matters usually fall due on a Friday. I have also over the years and after futile attempts of chasing a mirage realized that it was only Robinson Crusoe who could get everything done by Friday. The mountain of work with Deadline as its Summit continues to be a tough climb for me.

But now its time for me to let go the lapel of Lord Procrastination and head to the Supermarket only than can I meet my most important daily deadlines which I look forward to. That of making BREAKFAST, LUNCH and DINNER!

Its not a Fad. That thing called Salad!

I don't always prepare Rich, fulfilling and Sinful meals. Occasionally SALADS come to the rescue and serve the same purpose as competently as a Multi Course Meal, while delivering healthier nutrients to our systems.

Salads don't deteriorate in intrinsic natural value of its ingredients by going through the nutrient destroying process called Cooking and they can be prepared with Vegetables, Fruits, Meats and Sea Food, individually or collectively and thus boast of the rare gift of being able to please everyone.

What Salad is to a Meal, is what Conscious Restraint is to life. The art of knowing what to SAY or DO. But MOST IMPORTANTLY when to stop while still getting the point across without diluting the effect.

Indulgence is natural to us Mortals. But RESTRAINT never harms. What can be deceptively destructive is SUPPRESSION. Anything in MODERATION has never known to have caused damage to anyone.

Salad works as a Starter as well as a Main Course and it doesn't have to be un-interesting or tasteless or deceivingly fattening due to the Dressings. Eating Salads with fattening dressings is like watching an adult Channel dressed in a Monks attire.

I am human, thus Indulgent by default. But luckily, enlightened enough to realize that be it Indulgence or Restraint, both can be fatal if practiced in perpetuity. I neither subscribe nor adhere to Moderation as the only way of Life, but I try to use that as a springboard of excuse for occasional dives into Culinary indulgences. And that's where SALAD MEALS make a grand entry.

A Salad successfully fulfills the demanding requirement of being HEALTHY, DELICIOUS, FILLING and NUTRITIOUS. All at the same time. This THAI GLASS NOODLE SALAD definitely makes the cut in terms of all the attributes, which, while confining themselves to the holy territory of Moderation, do flirt with the persuasive borders of Indulgence.

INGREDIENTS : Thai Glass Noodles, Vegetable Oil, Shrimps (Or Tofu and Mushrooms for Vegetarians), Salt and Black Pepper, Red Chillies, Lime Juice, Fish Sauce (Vinegar and Soy Sauce), Sugar, Shallots, Coriander, Celery, Lettuce and Browned Onions (optional).

DIRECTIONS : Let Noodles Soak in water for about 10 Minutes till they are soft, then add to the Pot of Boiling Water, reduce the heat to Medium and cook until the noodles are plump and Glass Like. Drain in a Colander and rinse with cold water and cut in 3 to 4 inch length.

Pour Oil in Skillet and when hot add Shrimp or Tofu, season with Salt and Pepper and leave to cool.

Mix Chili, Lime Juice, Fish Sauce, Sugar, Shallots, Coriander, Celery and Shrimp (or Tofu and Mushrooms). Pour over noodles and Mix thoroughly.

Serve on a bed of Lettuce and garnish with optional crisp fried brown Onions.

Go ahead. Try making it and eat it to your hearts content without ever stepping into the guilt laden territory of Indulgence or Gastronomic debauchery and still emerge with the same satisfaction and facial expression that these otherwise sinful acts would bring about. Bon Apetite!

To know how good a Mughlai Restaurant is, First try their Butter Chicken

I subscribe to the school of thought where Gravy gets the pride of place as that is where the Chef's finer skills show in form of the Gravy's Texture, Appearance and Taste. The Chef may be a GOURMET Chef or THIS Chef or THAT Chef but what matters is that the Chef is a GOOD Chef.

Show me good Butter Chicken and I will point you to a kitchen from where a GOOD CHEF operates. Butter Chicken has become as basic to Mughlai Food as SA RE GA MA is to Music and that is the SA RE GA MA Dish of any Mughlai Restaurant. A Chef just cannot wish away this reality.

Butter Chicken tends to be very rich in Calorific value because of the Butter it contains and the Gravy just doesn't look good if the Butter makes a no-show. Most of the Chef's go the whole hog and make it a disguised heart attack on a Plate.

I try get around that by sauteing Onions and tomatoes till they are dark brown and then letting it stay in the refrigerator overnight. Next day when it is heated in a Pan, the natural oils from the Onion and Tomato ooze out and the gravy acquires the same consistency and appearance without the Butter.

For added effect run the Gravy through a Blender and add the standard spices with a dash of Chaat Masala. What you have is Gravy you may be tempted to dive into. But since that will be messy I decide to send in Pieces of Tandoori Grilled Boneless Chicken instead.

Depending on how good the Grilled Chicken is marinated, that tends to get over before the gravy, otherwise its a case of the tide going out first and those swimming naked getting caught. So the Grilled Chicken being deliciously good is equally important.

The testimonial to the best Butter Chicken is the Empty dish that served it, but now just has fingerprints of the ones who licked it clean.

Every job is a self portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your creation with excellence.

Finally my Doctor had to tell me to stop having Meals for Four. Unless there are Three other people!

There are certain very special Cuisines and Dishes one just cannot stop gorging on. Satisfaction just doesn't come until one has OVER eaten.

I don't remember being JUST HAPPY when an unexpected holiday was announced in School. I used to be MORE THAN HAPPY.

I don't remember being JUST JOYOUS on meeting my loved ones. I am OVER JOYED.

I don't feel JUST CALM after Meditation. I feel COMPLETELY ECSTATIC.

I don't feel JUST FIT after I exercise, I feel SUPER FIT.

I don't feel JUST LUCKY when I get an opportunity to Cook. I feel BLESSED.

Unless one adds an Adjective to what one is doing it makes the act just Mundane. And that adjective is PASSION. Passion is the wind that fills our Sails and propels us even after everything else has failed.

I am also FIERCELY Patriotic, but what is Patriotism if not the love for food one ate as one was growing up?

I grew up eating a very typically Sindhi Dish called Dal Pakwan which ranks right up there in the food chain and is to be savored with Fried Chili, Mint/Coriander Chutney and Imli Chutney mixed With Sliced Onions.

Boil the Chana Dal to Thick Consistency and the Dal is Ready (add Salt to taste). Make Maida Rotis and fry them till nicely light brown and Crisp and serve with the Chutneys. Garnish the Dal with a very light sprinkling of Dhaniya/Jeera Powder and Chat Masala and you are ready to go.

Sindhi Food, I can confidently say is the LEAST DISCOVERED Cuisines in the world but what it boasts of is nothing short of a very enlightening and tasteful Culinary Discovery. I am seriously going to experiment with more Sindhi Food.

And to hell with what the Doctor says, I am going to Cook for Four whether the other 3 turn up or not. If it is Sindhi Food, I can finish it alone! Do everything like the Sindhi's do. KINGSIZE! I am sure at least 3 of my Sindhi Friends will turn up:)

Fast Food is like Porn. Nutritionally speaking!

Anything good in life is either Fattening, Illicit or Illegal and Food is quiet at the top of that Pyramid of Sins.

The mind automatically veers towards what is not good for the Body, Soul and long term well being and we still derive immense pleasure from doing those things. Eating HEALTHY, BOILED, NON FRIED, TASTELESS food is as exciting as licking the glue off about 50 envelopes.

When one hasn't had the pleasure of Visually making love to the food and then ingesting it with equal passion, the mind is always frustrated and that prompts mortals to give up ones already weakened resolve which ensures that we plunge into a deep gorge of depression as soon as the sin is committed.

I still maintain that a great lifestyle could be SLEEP TILL YOU ARE HUNGRY AND EAT TILL YOU ARE SLEEPY but then one may not be able to attend his/her 40th birthday in person and that's not such a pleasant thought.

I hate being a Gourmet who thinks of Calories because it feels like a tart who keeps on looking at her watch, but it is still good to cheat oneself by making and eating Food which looks good, can be classified as Fast Food but still is TASTY and HEALTHY!

Try this Veg Burger. The Patty is made of Potato mixed with finely chopped Cabbage, Carrots and Coriander and then grilled. Served on a Burger bun with Light Mayo, Onion, Salad leaves and Pickled Cucumber. YUMMY!

I will have to be creative. If only Banishing hunger was as easy as Rubbing the belly as it is to Masturbate. Alas!

We are never Deceived, we Deceive Ourselves

The Holy Month of Shravan in India has tens of Millions of people turning Vegetarian. Thailand observes a similar Veg Month around the same time where a large section of the population (otherwise vehemently Carnivorous) go completely off Non-Veg and even Restaurants, Food Courts and Hawkers (who otherwise pretend to have no clue about what Veg Food is) have exclusive sections serving Veg Food which is highlighted by Yellow Flags.

It resembles a Sea of Yellow. Just like it must have been yesterday when Chennai Super Kings won IPL 3. I will not say anything about abysmally pathetic and rigged performance of Mumbai Indians! Sorry for the digression though.

The meaning of VEGETARIANISM in the Hindu psyche means the Food LOOKS and IS Veg, but here in Thailand you get VEG FISH, VEG CHICKEN, VEG PORK, VEG SQUID, VEG PRAWNS, VEG CRAB and every conceivable version of Non Veg looking Food made out of Rice Flour, Tofu or Soy.

This preparation is the Classic Thai Traditional Green Curry with Baby Aubergines, Brown Sugar, Mushrooms, Coconut Milk, Green Curry Paste, Lemon Grass, Kaffir leaves, Light Soy Sauce and Lime Juice. And one more magical ingredient.... VEG FISH BALLS which gives it the look of a non-veg dish and deceives the eater into first seeing that one is going to eat non-veg and further re-enforcing that belief when one actually eats the Veg Fish balls.

Heat the Oil in a Wok and add the Green Curry Paste and Sugar over high heat stirring with Lemongrass. Reduce the heat and stir the Aubergines, Mushrooms and VEG FISH BALLS (!!!) until coated in the Paste. Add the Coconut Milk and Light Soy Sauce till it begins to Simmer for about 15 Minutes and thickens slightly. Then stir in the Lime Juice. Serve it with Thai Jasmine Rice.

I do wonder what the law of Karma says about this. Theoretically one has MADE MERIT by abstaining from Non-veg while at the same time, through stealthy perception one has still DERIVED the pleasure of eating Non-Veg.

Would it be like saying I am totally FAITHFUL and absolutely CELIBATE but for the fact that I make do with a INFLATABLE DOLL every time my passion stirs?. We are never deceived. We Deceive ourselves.

Come on in. Lets see if eating together makes this World a better place

That is FOOD DIPLOMACY.

All Conflicts represent a failure of Diplomacy which we consider as a waste of time. Reminds me of an anecdote where the Businessman and a Diplomat finish their meeting and leave together in the Businessman's Car who is frustrated at the outcome of the meeting and tells the Diplomat "Diplomacy is nothing but HOT AIR"! To which the Diplomat replies " Maybe so, but that is what is in the Tyres of this Car and see how smooth it is making the ride ".

If you cannot go Over it, Past it, Around it or Through it, then you better negotiate with it. And what better setting than over a Meal for that. After all, Diplomacy should be the art of letting someone have your way.

Hunger causes frustration but eating is a happy experience which can create the ideal foundation for a much required favorable resolution. Be it a tiff between a Husband and Wife, a difference of opinion with grown up kids and Parents, between old Parents and their smart ass kids and in-laws, between a Boss and sub-ordinates, between Friends, between Heads of two Nations or even between Terrorists. Though in some cases, Heads of Nations and Terrorists are known to have been the same.

Breaking bread together can bring about a magical positive transformation and thaw a Strife. Especially when there is no immediate solution in sight. That is the first and simplest step towards temporizing and seeking a resolution.

Since conflicts don't always arise with advance notice. One should have in his / her armory dishes which can be quickly prepared and served. Like these Rice Noodles Sauteed with Soy sauce, Tofu, Carrots, Spinach, Roasted Peanuts and Cabbage. Which can be accompanied by a variety of home made sauces (Mint, Chili or Tomato), but don't stop at that, try it even with Achar or whatever tingles your or the aggrieved party's taste buds.

It took only 10 minutes to prepare this but the thought which went into its preparation, can cut the ice, animosity and the very reason for Conflict and even nurture understanding amongst complete strangers and resolve the past, current or impending crises. But only if we try.

One has got to believe in something. I believe I will take one more helping!