Not smart enough to elude theft!

Posted on October 2, 2012 by indianviewstring

Like all youngsters i also dreamt of owning a cool feature rich smart phone. But i wanted to buy it with my own money. So from my first month’s salary i bought this smart phone: Samsung Omnia W running Windows Mango 7.5 OS. I was so proud of this device since it was my first smart phone and that to bought from my own hard earned cash. My friends were skeptical about me choosing a windows platform over the more popular Android or Apple platforms but i loved my new phone. Its touch was super smooth, screen was beautiful and the operations very simple. I am a lover of simple designs. Earlier when i had not joined the smart phone brigade i used to think i would never be able to adapt to typing on a touch screen device but i adapted to this device within a matter of hours of owning it. It cost me Rs.15200, for me a sizable chunk of my 1st month’s salary.

On 24th September 2012 i.e. exactly after 3 months of the date of purchase of this smart phone i lost it or someone stole it from me. I can not exactly pinpoint to where i dropped it or who has taken it but this beautiful thing simply disappeared. I searched for it everywhere i can but to no use.

I filed an FIR at the local Police Station regarding the loss of my phone, police is generally very reluctant to register a stolen report for a phone because they believe people lose their phones due to negligence even if phones gets stolen or snatched away from their owners. I mentioned the IMEI number of my phone in the FIR, i attached a copy of the purchase bill with it too. My friends and colleagues told me that if i knew someone personally in the Police Department my phone can be easily retrieved but unfortunately that is not my case. Police already have so many unsolved cases to take care of that they totally ignore reports of stolen and lost mobile phones.

All the apps installed on a smart phone to track a stolen phone are useless if the thief is smart (they are actually!)  and switch off your phone and take out the sim the moment they get their hands on it, which what happened to my phone. The phone trackers apps use the mobile networks or GPS on the phone for which the phone has to be switched on.

With a copy of the FIR one can retrieve his/her old mobile number whose sim got lost with the phone. Basically the one who loses a phone is at the receiving end of loss of a beloved device, the money spent on it and the memories in the form of data stored in the device.

 

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Margherita Pizza

Posted on December 6, 2011 by indianviewstring

This recipe is by our little friend Shreyashri Biswas.

Make pizza dough

Ingredients Required

  • 1 cup of warm water (105F)
  • 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons of honey
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of yeast

MAKE SAUCE

Ingredient required

1 (8 Ounce) Can Tomato Sauce
1 teaspoon Dry Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Aginamotto
1/2 teaspoon Dry Basil
1/2 teaspoon Garlic paste

Combine ingredients and let sit for 1 hour to make the sauce.

MAKE TOPPING FOR MARGHERITA

Ingredients Required

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 lb. plum Roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 12″ uncooked NY Style dough crust
  • 6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 6 fresh basil leaves cut into julienne strips
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese

Step by Step Procedure

  1. Combine 2 TblS. olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, and salt in bowl.
  2. Allow to marinate while making dough.
  3. Brush dough crust lightly with olive oil.
  4. Top with cheese, then tomatoes.
  5. Drizzle with olive oil.
  6. Bake in preheated 500F oven on pizza stone for 8−10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
  7. Remove from oven and top with parmesan cheese, then basil.
  8. Cool on a wire rack for 2−3 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Step by Step Procedure

1. Put warm water (80 to 110°F) into a bowl. Add salt and honey and mix with a spoon. Add yeast, mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
2. Gradually add flour and olive oil and start mixing.
3. When the mixture gets too heavy to mix, start kneading the dough with your hands.
4. Knead the dough until you have a smooth ball. If the dough cracks it is too dry. Add water bit by bit until if forms a nice coherent ball. If your doug feels more like batter, it is too wet and you need to add flour bit by bit. If you need to add water or flour, do it by small amounts.
5. Coat the dough with olive oil, place it in a large bowl and cover it with kitchen wrap or a grocery bag. Let the doug rise for about an hour at room temperature, then push it down again so it deflates. Let it sit for about another hour. If you want to use it the next day, put it in a refrigerator.
6. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface, put a bit of flour on top and make it into the shape of a pie by stretching it out from the center outwards. Use a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4″ thick. Punch some holes in the dough with a fork to let the air escape while the pizza is in the oven
7. Put on your pizza sauce of choice.
Put on your favorite pizza toppings.
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Do not use fairness products

Posted on August 12, 2011 by indianviewstring

I am totally against using fairness products and have never used them till now and I swear I never would. They are all crap! Ads are even more crappier, totally racist, yes I feel the ads of the fairness products promotes racism and targets people with low self esteem. Yes I am fair and one might say “of course you would say this because you are fair” but trust me if I were a dark beauty I would have liked it better. Even if I were dark I would have never fell in the trap of these liars. Carrying off one’s looks is all about confidence which is so majorly lacking everywhere specially among women. Ads of the fairness products irritate me the most. They would first show a dark girl (now that men’s fairness products are also out, they first show a dark sad boy!) who is really sad because she is getting no opportunities because of her skin color, then walks by some awkwardly too fair girl (awkwardly because this would be one spot lighted, caked with makeup girl) recommends some god damned fairness cream and within weeks the dark girl’s sad dark face would be transform into a smiling awkwardly fair girl. I always wonder when I see these ads that why would any girl just want a fair face (in the ads of the fairness creams they just show the face getting fair), would not she like to be fair everywhere. Banking on this concept now a company has taken out a fairness body lotion, yeah smart move to fool the already foolish girls and boys too that use fairness products. I also notice that the poor dark girl is not actually dark in the real life; she is one fair model with very ugly make up to make her look desperately dark. Just know this people FAIRNESS CREAMS WILL NOT MAKE YOU FAIR because you can not change your genetic skin color. Fairness products have harsh bleaching agents which actually harm your skin and makes you depended on them. Even those products which claim to be herbal are not natural and have chemical bleaching agents in them. In a country like ours where 80% of the people are dark and even those who are fair fall under the brown skin category when they travel to abroad, why is everyone so obsessed with fair skin? The matrimonial ads are all full of wanting fair girls and guys as brides and grooms. All darks girls are forever advised how to be fair, taunted for their skin color, rejected by prospective grooms’ families and etc. My sister is very dark and she is proud of the way she looks and I am yet to know a more confident woman than her. She has so much self esteem that any day she can give any fairness cream using girl a run for her money. So girls and guys do not waste your money or your parents’ hard earned money on these crappy fairness products and be confident of what you are and how you look. Always remember your looks are not forever but your self esteem would always stay with you. I hate the bollywood movie stars who promote fairness products without considering the impact they have on silly low self esteemed people.

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My love affair with Insects!

Posted on August 11, 2011 by indianviewstring

Insects are considered petty by people but however small insects should not be underestimated, because if bitten by certain species can even cause death. Different people have different sort of affinities, I guess my affinity lies with insects, I would shortly tell you why.

I  have a large mark on my upper arm which till now was considered by me as a birth mark. One day my mother told that a spider walked over a cut which caused that. She also told me that once I was bitten by a large black ant, large black ants generally do not bite but I guess I was an exception! I get bitten by mosquitoes a lot too. The reason I came to know was that mosquitoes get attracted more to those whose bodies expel a lot of carbon dioxide, does that mean I am causing global warming?! Anyone who asks me the secret of my smooth skin I tell them it’s the constant application of Odomos. :) I have once got bitten by a tree ant too, trust me you wont want this experience, it burns like hell. :(

I went to a college which was situated on the outskirts of a city; my hostel was surrounded by sugarcane and wheat fields. As you know all sorts of insects flock plantations, obviously insecticides make such a profitable industry. While in college during monsoons there was this terror of an invisible insect (I call it invisible because no one has ever seen it yet, atleast no one I know!) which if bites cause the skin to form chain of blisters, very painful, looks like as if acid has been sprayed over the skin, even after the bite gets cured, the mark stays for a long time. Given the characteristics of the bite I described we named it ‘The Printer’. I was in 3rd year college when I got bitten by this. This lil fellow bit me in a long line along the side of my throat. Whoever saw the bite teasingly asked me who is the lucky guy from whom I have got this love bite, I just used to blush and get embarrassed, no matter how much I explained that it’s not what they are thinking, they would keep on pulling my leg. Imagine my luck, the 2nd college I went to also had fields around it, last year during monsoons again I got bitten by this damn insect, this time on the corner of my left eye, by the look of the bite, this time people teased me “who had  attacked me and poked me in the eye?”. Yeah it is funny!

Now at present as you know monsoon is going on, I got 3rd time lucky, this ass of an insect bit me again on both my knees and below my right eye, I look like I have got punched in the eye as it has got swollen so much. I so much wish I knew how this insect looks like; I want my sweet revenge as we have got a past together. Lots of my neighbors have got bitten by it, they went to a doc who told them it’s Herpes (seriously Herpes, my poor neighbors are consuming antibiotics for Herpes now!), I request my old friend ‘The printer’ to please oblige a kiss to this doc. My friends are forever teasing me that this Printer insect is the true love of my life, that’s why it keeps following me everywhere! Printer bit me the 3rd time now but it did not show itself or turn into some handsome prince like the fairy tales insists (yeah I replaced the frog with my beloved printer!) so I am getting doubtful now! :p

P.S.: the cute lil lady bird in the snap is just used as a narrative, I actually love lady birds, and they are so pretty.

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A Stranger turned Friend!

Posted on August 5, 2011 by indianviewstring

I met a guy on train, yes a complete stranger, we talked for a while and now have become friends. No I am not a kind of person who starts conversation with random strangers while I travel. In fact while traveling alone I have never talked to a stranger till this particular time. I boarded the train from my usual station, I checked my berth no. on my ticket and went to my seat but found a man sleeping on it. All the berths beside mine were occupied by someone or other. Since my destination was only 3 hours away I didn’t bother sitting on any empty seat I find in that coach. So I sat on a passage seat. Few moments past and a young girl and a guy came and sat on the seat in front of me, the way they had eyes only for each other, they seemed like a couple. So I wanted to find myself another seat where I can doze off in peace without being disturbed. Just then I saw the coup next to where I was sitting was empty except one lone guy. I carried my luggage over there, shoved my bag under the lower berth and sat diagonally opposite to the guy sitting there. We just glanced at each other for a bit and that’s it. I always carry reading material while travelling alone or otherwise I would get too bored. I hid behind the newspaper first and then got busy with a novel. I even dozed off for a while, I got up, the ticket checker came and we both got out tickets checked. I got a glimpse of the ID handed over to the TTE by that guy, he was all clean shaven in his ID photo, was looking very different from his physical self, the guy had a maintained stubble. I got busy with my novel again and then suddenly:

The guy: excuse me can I ask you a question?

Me: (looked up startled from my novel, I was not expecting being spoken to): yes?

The guy: Are you a Bengali?

Me: (I always feel elated when someone asks me if I am a bong ‘cause people mostly don’t think so): yes I am.

After a moment’s pause

Me: How do you know?

The guy: Bengalis have some particular features and besides my girlfriend is a bong.

Me: oh…I see. Thanks! (I took that as a compliment)

The guy: So where are you from?

Me: I am from Delhi.

The guy: Have you been to Kolkata?

Me: yes, so your girlfriend belongs to Kolkata?

The guy: Yes she stays and studies B.A. there.

Me: Don’t mind my asking, how did you guys meet? (I felt very intrusive though I am not)

The guy: She came to my college’s fest, I asked her out, she agreed. I know a lot about bongs, I have lots of Bengali friends.

Me: What do you know about bongs? (Broadly smiling)

The guy: they smoke, they can’t stay single, and they love food.

I laughed on that and thought how simply he could describe the culturally complicated bongs in a single line. I felt like telling him not to generalize people as every individual is different!

The guy: Do you smoke?

Me: (I thought gosh this guy asks such unabashed questions): No

The guy: are you single?

Me: (I raised my eyebrows and I am like gosh again!) Yes

The guy: this is unusual; you r a bong, you do not smoke and you are single!

The guy asked me my name, I told him so. Just then my station came and I had to de-board, I asked the guy his name and asked if he existed on Facebook. He said he does. I got down from the train thinking how some people can be so comfortable talking to complete strangers; I can never be like that. I liked this guy’s straightforwardness and confidence. After a few days he added me on Facebook and now we have become friends. He is a nice and intelligent guy, asks a lot of questions which are fun to answer or dodge! :P

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