Our Convocation @ Jamia Millia Islamia

The big day when we were awarded our degrees. The venue was same as every year, "The Ansari Auditorium Lawn". On this occasion, the University conferred the Degree of ‘Doctor of Letters’ (Honoris Causa) on Dr. Ashok Seth, a famous cardiologist. The event begun with singing Jamia's Tarana, "Dayar-e-shawk mera..".

All people who passed out in 2011 were there. Many of us were meeting after our final exams around 18 months ago. Everyone looked different. People got more handsome and beautiful with time. Everyone got photographed with everyone. Some people cleared their misunderstandings. Some patched up with old enemies. Suddenly all girls perfected in dressing sense. There were those I wish I had met earlier. Some guys even found a new crush.

Everyone wore black gown and colored hood which resembled their faculties. Some of my friends wanted to wear the square academic cap as seen in many movies. They were disappointed on being given hoods. I felt really great wearing our convocation dress. Jamia have its own unique culture. I felt really proud following that culture. I do not wanted to imitate the movie scene of throwing caps on cost of compromising our culture. However the people who complained were very few. Rest everyone enjoyed their day. Many people took a day off from work to be a part of this amazing event. For all those who were too far to reach there physically the event was live broadcasted for the first time on Jamia Website. 

Everyone shouted when the name of their course and faculties were announced. Engineering graduates were loudest. The event ended with singing our National Anthem. After the ceremony we were handed over refreshment boxes. Later we moved to our respective faculties to collect our degrees. The day was really memorable.

Why Momos?

My first problem is with the name "momo". Can't you find a decent name for a snack? It sounds more like a relative than food item in India much like "Mama" or "Dada". The more I hate momos the more I  see them everyday. Few years ago no one had heard about this thing. Somehow it got introduced and Indians are so fond of street food that they can eat anything in the name of street food.

Momo is nothing but boiled dough(aata) filled with an uncooked piece of chicken or vegetables. Yes, boiled chicken is uncooked. When I can have a hundred varieties of chicken and chat in Delhi why on earth should I eat an uncooked momo? "U find it tasty when you are damn hungry" said a friend. Come on, you find everything tasty when you are hungry.

Why not Indians cook it themselves and modify? I could not believe my eyes when I saw someone selling momos in Old Delhi near Jama Masjid. Old Delhi is the heaven of Mughlai. You can find best non-vegetarian street food near Jama Masjid, still someone sells chicken momos next to kebabs there. Similarly in Batla House and Jamia Engineering Faculty canteen momos are now available. At least they should not sell it next to most delicious snacks.

Can Momos be really compared to Delhi's Aloo Chaat, Bhalla Papdi, Golgappa, Tikki, Jalebi, Shawarma, Kebabs, Pakoras or Samosa?

Best Food in Delhi

Jamia Nagar in South Delhi is a student's hub. Many students live in Batla House and Zakir Nagar as paying guests. There exist many food joints and restaurants which serve good quality inexpensive food. There are so many options that for weeks you can eat different dishes at different places everyday.

Undoubtedly, Jamia Nagar serves one of the best non-vegetarian food in Delhi. Every restaurant here have a specialty. This specialty is known to people who eat in Zakir Nagar/Batla House regularly. So, for best version of a specific dish you should go to a particular place. Here people like me doesn't go to a restaurant, look at menu and decide what to eat. Rather we first decide what to eat then accordingly go to a restaurant. Below is a list of some popular dishes and restaurants which specialize in them:

• Chicken Biryani-  Gulavati, Salman Bhai
• Beef Biryani-  Salman Bhai, Gulavati
• Nihari-  Javed Nihari, Madina Nihari
• Paya-   Madina Nihari
• Beef Kebabs-  Famous Restaurant ,Galavati Kebabs
• Kebab Paratha-  Bismillah, Galavati Kebabs
• Chicken Fry-  Gul Bahar Chicken point
• Chicken Roasted-  Al- Nawaz , Al-Umar
• Chicken Qorma-  Moonis Qada
• Chicken Changezi-  Saquib Chicken Point,Meher, Darbaar
• Mutton Qorma-  Moonis Qada, Al-Umar
• Butter Chicken-  Ahad
• Chicken Achari-  Meer
• Qeema-  Moonis Qada 
• Maghaz/Bheja-  Madina Nihari
• Dal Makhni-  Al-Umar
• Matar Paneer-  Moonis Qada
• Shahi Tukda- Zakir Nagar Masjid

P.S. : There are many more delicious dishes and restaurants in the locality. This is the list of stuff that are making me fat. Try at your own risk.

I Protest Against Insult of our Beloved Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

Being a muslim I believe there is one God and Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) is his messenger. As I believe I try to obey what Allah had ordered and spend my life the way Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) did. So he is my ideal and I try to copy him in every aspect of life. And this is also true for all the muslims around the world. Now when someone disrespects him it is obvious that every muslim feels offended. Disrespecting an ideal is as if you are insulting all his followers. This is clear racism. They keep doing it, again and again, and still call their society civilized.

However I am also against these violent protests that are in progress in many countries in Asia. Many innocents are loosing their lives which is strictly against Islam. Even when the Prophet(PBUH) himself was targeted by locals in Taif and his legs started bleeding. An angel appeared and asked him if he want all of them to be crushed between mountains. He simply refused the punishment and even prayed for them. So, how can we justify these violent protests?

We must understand that some people can use us for their political ambitions. People are really sensitive to religious sentiments. So, some politicians find it a best time to gain popularity without caring about the lives of those innocents who become victim of violence. Its time we use our brains and follow the religion. Stop getting influenced by the West and our own selfish leaders.

May Allah grant all of us true guidance and wisdom.

Batla House - Three days after Eid.

Three days have passed after Eid. The holy month of Ramadan is over. The atmosphere in Batla House in New Delhi is very different. Not just different form Ramadan but also from normal days. Batla house is home to a lot of students and people from nearby states, especially UP and Bihar, who visit their hometowns for celebrating Eid. I know people who visit their hometowns only once a year with whole family. And that time of year is now.

Even I am back so early first time. Like others, even I preferred to join college on the first Monday after Eid. But now I work and holidays in Corporate world are very limited. So, I had to return early this time.

The silence in Batla House and Zakir Nagar is really strange. The streets here are known to be crowded whole year. Even on chilly winter nights one can find people around. Today, I wanted to have my favourite Al-Umar's 'Dal Makhni' for dinner. But to my surprise Al-Umar(the restaurant) was closed. I couldn't find  any other good restaurant open. So, had to manage with Famous's "Qeema". But to my delight "Aggarwal Sweets" was open. I went there and fed myself few pieces of 'Qalaqand'.

Its hard to imagine Batla House free of traffic chaos in evening. I really miss:

• Bikers who perform stunts in the middle of traffic jam.
• Aunties, who shop whole year with complete family.
• Bearded uncles running for namaz.
• Aroma of frying chicken.
• Fights between car-walas and rickshaw-walas.
• Beggars, who occupy both sides of road and leave no room to walk.
• Students, carrying bags full of books on their shoulders and dreams in their eyes.

Issues with First Job.

Everyone wants to find a good job after college thinking that it will solve all problems. There is suspense over how the knowledge we have gained in school and college is applied in real world. And what happens in those multi-storey buildings which house big companies. Here I tried to capture some of the issues which I faced after joining.

Learn living alone.

              The very first issue you face after college is adjusting in an alien environment. You spent your school life with family and college life with friends. However while doing job you should learn living alone. Yes you can meet family or friends but only on weekends. Weekdays are really hectic. Even in college when you were new you faced issues in adjusting initially. But unlike college people in corporate world are more professional and all of them are of different age group and mentality.

How to handle money?

Best thing about corporate job is money. Unlike college now you have lots of money. You can buy anything you like and you are less answerable to anyone about where you spent money. The bad thing about having lot of money is it makes you vulnerable to bad habits. You actually don't know how to manage money. At times you end up spending money uselessly.

Suddenly Grown Up.

Till college you thought you are a kid. Suddenly you feel grown up. Now you are supposed to make many decisions on your own. You also face responsibilities. Your parents start sharing with you the family problems which were kept away from you earlier.

You or Society.

Now you are part of society. People start taking you seriously. You have to follow rules of society. You have to change your " who cares" attitude. Aakhir ghar waalon ki izzat ka sawal hai.

Cant eat more..!!

There was this magical thing about college and school that you kept eating whatever you like and as much as you like. But now you keep sitting in office whole day so you start gaining weight. Now you have to find time for exercising and avoid over eating.

Future planning. 

Unlike college its not exams you should worry about. Actually you don't even know what you should plan for( atleast i have no idea). People tell you to just work hard. And they always say that.

Having said all this, there are many good things too about your first job. I think there is no need to capture  them. Those are the things that make you do lot of hard work for finding a nice job.

What you should know before throwing garbage on roads?

By throwing garbage on roads:

1. Your make your locality dirty.
2. You harm environment.
3. You help in reproduction of viruses, bacteria and mosquitoes.
4. You and your family also inhale those dangerous micro organisms.
5. You can test the strength of your perfume while passing by the heap of garbage.
6. You prove that you don't care if people think you are an illiterate fool although you have a masters degree.
7. You teach your children that whatever they are learning in school does not apply to real life.
8. You cannot justify your action even if there is no dust bin nearby.
9. You think nobody saw you throwing garbage and you are not answerable to yourself.

My Grandmother

I went to Amroha last weekend and met my maternal grandmother. I call her "Naani Ammi". After meeting her this time, I realized how special she is to me.

She is full of knowledge and experiences. I can learn so much from her. Earlier when there was no formal education the older generation was the only source of learning for humans. Even today they are the first ones we start learning from. When I met her, she was so happy. She put her hand on my head, that's how elders in Amroha bless their children.

We discussed how fast the world have changed in recent years. She told me, when phones were not there the popular form of communication were letters and the fastest mode was telegram. Even that used to take at least two days to reach. And generally people used them for informing about some miss-happening. They used to torn off a corner of the paper carrying news about someone's death. So, on receiving such a letter people used to have an idea about the bad news. I tried to tell her about some other developments in technology like online shopping and Google. Although she looked surprised however I doubt if she really understood everything I told her.

She invested whole life in her children. And she is really successful. She is the one behind my mother's all delicious recipes. She successfully transferred her values and culture to my mother, who is teaching me now. Even today she is completely self dependent and full of energy. When I went to meet her, she prepared coffee for me. When I was a kid, she used to tell me stories. I want to spend more time with her and gain some wisdom. But holidays in corporate world are very limited. :(

At Zakir Nagar in the Middle of a Night.

At 1 am, Zakir Nagar in South Delhi is one of the few places where you can find some delicious stuff to eat.
In college days my friends and I usually used to climb the Jamia Hostel wall to come here in search of food. Now a days I am living in Zakir Nagar and last weekend again I was feeling hungry in the middle of night. So I went out in search of something I can eat.

When people must have slept in most of Delhi's residential areas. This muslim neighbourhood in South Delhi was still serving some delicious stuff. At 1 am in the night lot of activities were going on. Galavati Kebab, the shop,  was spreading the smell of frying meat. And serving customers with mouth watering kebabs, parathas and chicken keema. Rotiwalas had extinguished the fire in their underground ovens and were listening to old melodies on FM. Pehelvan, that fat old  man, was counting money as his son prepared fresh creamy lassi for customers. Muradabadi biryani was almost finish still I managed to have some with lot of oil perforated in the base of degh. Roadside Juicewala was also feeling sleepy. Still he humbly asked "aur ??", after I have consumed a glass full of natural fruit juice. I said "no" however if you say "yes". He again half fills your glass with fresh juice.

The two dudes at Blenders, the shake parlour, were listening to sad songs as they sold their refreshing fruit shakes. The street dogs also had enough and captured their favourite places to sleep. Some of them even prefered to sleep in the middle of road. 

My First Dish

Today, I tried my hands on cooking first time in my life. The combination of  boring weekend, maid's absence, laziness and 'long time desire to experiment with cooking' forced me to cook something more than an omelet for myself. Laziness, because I always had an option to go out n eat in a restaurant but I was feeling too lazy to go out. So I searched on Google and found an easy recipe. The dish is called "Egg fried rice". I chose it because its really easy to cook and all the ingredients required were available in my kitchen.

Some of the ingredients I used.

I started cooking while listening music. I modified the recipe and also changed the sequence of ingredients to be added. Almost burnt my hand because I lost concentration when one of my favorite tracks started playing. Forgot to put ginger garlic paste and even scratched my face just after cutting chilies. I messed up our whole kitchen. By the time I finished the whole kitchen n room was filled up with smoke because I forgot to turn on the exhaust fan. Still the final result turned out to be reasonably delicious. However I think I can do much better.

Final Dish - Egg Fried Rice

Yes it was a good learning experience and  it made me feel more independent.

One of my friends asked if I am preparing for future i.e life after marriage??
I said "Yes maybe, U never know".! :)

Generate a Barcode for Free

Just learnt how to create a barcode.

Bar Code Containing my blog's URL

2 Dimensional Barcodes can store much more than simply a number. Now a days I find them quiet often in newspapers, magazines and websites. Actually recent phones are equipped with barcode scanners so its very easy to read them. They are being used for marketing. They simply code the company's web address using barcode and print them in newspapers and magazines. Then u just need to scan that using ur phone and ur phone browser takes u to that link.

We can generate a barcode without paying anything through a number of websites. One of them is:
 http://www.racoindustries.com/barcodegenerator/2d/aztec-code.aspx

A good internet application!! :)

Life Is Good

This year begun with partying with friends in central Delhi. On new year's eve I had some delicious food near Jama Masjid with Khawar, Saquib ,  Farooque , Mudassar and Aleem, my school friends. And later we ended up in NFC's community center where Noor also joined. I bought this new phone "Live with Walkman" next morning. Also watched few movies including latest Mission Impossible and Sherlock Homes in multiplexes which  I might not have done in college life.

New Year's eve in NFC

Vidit, Rajneesh, Farrukh n me in
 Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon

       Now as I started earning I feel more independent and free. However now I have to be more responsible. As of now there are no demands from family and there are no boundations but I know there will be some very soon. And more importantly its time to apply what I have learnt throughout in school and college i.e now I am part of society so I should now look after social and environmental problems too. 

       However I was already mentally prepared for this but the biggest question that disturbs me sometimes now a days is "Whats next??". I am thinking about a lot of things and probably I will dedicate my next post to this question. 

       Still as of now every 30th I receive a huge sum of money which is enough for me to do whatever I want.

Yes, by the grace of Almighty life is really good..!! :)