Muhammara

A hearty walnut and red pepper dish

promises you a flavour packed fetish

Coming via the Syrian city of Aleppo

a subtly sweet, slightly tangy tempo

Roast the red peppers gently over fire

Then cover, to let it cool and perspire

Discard that skin and those seeds too

Chop them or tear off, it’s up to you!

After you’ve toasted the walnuts well

Toast a fistful of bread crumbs as well

Once cooled, get them all in a blender

And add salt, garlic and cumin powder

The special ingredient appears at last

 Pomegranate molasses liberally cast

Oops! forgot the Aleppo chilli pepper

In time, I fish out my Turkish souvenir

Since I’d drizzled some olive oil earlier

I turn the knob to blend ‘em together

In a few bursts, you can smell the dip

Time to taste a bit with your fingertip!

Un-employing myself

Not wanting to be one of those millions employed yet adding little value to the organization or to oneself, I decided to un-employ myself while there was still time.

Before this daily chore of looking at computer screens, waiting for tea breaks, pivoting around in excel sheets while dishing out balderdash in strategy meetings to align with the boss, altered my neurons to believe that this is what life is all about, I decided I had to unplug.

Why did I take up a job in the first place? I asked myself. To earn money, respect, fame, and power? To utilize the time at hand, now that schools and colleges were done with? To create something new? The answers were both elusive and inconclusive. I wasn’t creating anything useful. In fact, there must be many like me, who are simply killing time with each passing day (probably tracing the coffee stains on their desks), leaving the office unchallenged and unstirred. Not to ridicule the ones who did get a chance to feel alive while working, for I have had my fortuitous share of it too. If I discounted money as a need for the time being, the rest were, but a figment of the mind.

Not that I had not attempted it earlier. I have failed miserably twice, unable to handle the free time at hand while there was no dearth of ideas in my mind. Moreover, I had grown up on the social definition of a successful career woman and it seemed absurd then, that I was throwing it away when I had it on a platter.

After all, the 20s is a decade of possibilities, albeit defined by the world. But there is a set of possibilities that I have discovered crossing into my 30s that seems more at peace with my nerdy-sporty-filmy existence on this planet. So, I asked myself, 'Why not take another shot at un-employing myself, but this time a longer one?'

Nine months down the line, how am I surviving? Well, taking each day as it comes helps while shaping up the possibilities a little more each day. I can’t believe that all this while, I had allowed myself to be so charmed by my dreams that I had not felt the need to think about the process for reaching them. I was a compulsive day-dreamer. But today, chipping these dreams further to remove the frivolous aspirations has helped me to focus on the basics – the process.

It is okay to catch that flight of fancy, but it is not okay to not fasten the seat belts for then you are bound to feel the turbulence. In fact, each day is an attempt to know my goals closely and critically so that I can align them against a sound process. Despite the bumps, once this gets going, it isn’t that difficult to transition.

Being jobless is a lot of hard work after all!

When you take your teachers too seriously ...

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Subconsciously you keep looking for a teacher to follow even after the school ends. Coz after slogging for more than a decade, you have ingrained the guru-shishya DNA. Where all you have to do is put in your hard work and wait for the appreciation. Giving your best has never been a problem here. In fact, that's the easy part. And enough number of events would have convinced you that appreciation is not far behind. The gratification is guaranteed.

However, the corporate or real world doesn’t always work like that. Very few people will have the time or patience to keep guiding you on what to do. While hard work is by default expected, expecting validation at all stages is akin to setting the stage for stagnation.
 
It is but natural for the bosses to guide and delegate but if you walk into the teacher trap then you risk losing your individuality/creativity/freedom. When your unsuspecting boss becomes your teacher rather than a colleague, a one-way communication channel develops where you wait for the instructions rather than co-create. 
 
This is especially alarming where even after the boss gives you a freehand, you are not comfortable using it as you are used to someone else telling you what to do and then grade or applaud you for the same. 
 
Apart from the corporate world, even when you are learning a craft, the teacher would like you to step out of the learner's zone, to explore and challenge yourself. After all, he or she is not there to create a clone but develop an individual to his or her potential.

To move ahead, you will have to follow your own path sooner or later whether you like it or not. Your teacher won't be with you at every step of your journey. You will need to tell yourself to keep going when things are not going your way or nudge yourself to find a way out when all roads seem blocked. You will have to be your own cheerleader. 

A 'filter'ed vacation

Note: - based on the liberal use of filters to share pics on Instagram (or other social media channels) 

I clicked a selfie at the entrance gate of the resort

‘Never mind if it’s dark dear’ was my man’s retort

‘By raising the contrast and cooling the shadows

I will set the picture right before anyone follows’

In a moment, my skin was lit up with natural grace

As if I’d just come out of a spa, ‘look at that face’

Sitting in a hammock I played with light and color

Until I ensured that autumn had turned to summer

The sunsets had never been so enchanting before

By refining the reds, Ludwig ensured “less is more”

The blues were never so blue, nor were the greens

Exuding peace and love in every frame by all means

Lark, Sierra, and Walden, they were all on their toes

Pepping my life, to the envy of my friends and foes

Filter coffees were filtered more, to make it intense

The color, not the taste, if you took it in that sense

Even the fruit bowl was brighter; all credits to Juno

No, not our attendant, it’s an #instafilter you know

Never mind what I saw, savored or sensed for real

The experience was upraised, no matter how trivial

By the number of likes, this #instavacation was a hit

‘A hidden gem?’, comments one, asking, where is it?