Are you human?

Human identification protocols have been in existence for a number of years now. I am of course no techie geek to get into the intricate details of this, but it is fascinating to observe how these machinations have evolved over the years.

It started with the very boring captchas - the earliest versions with all crooked alphabets so you had to twist your neck in weird angles to decipher the alphabets scrawled together...

I am so not ashamed to admit that there have been a number of occasions when I have not got it right even for the second or the third time!

They then made captchas even more complicated with background distortion, lines struck through, till I, in frustration, vowed to never log in to that particular site again...

I seriously wonder if a machine would be more capable of deducing what the f*** the captcha says rather than human beings - so maybe the algorithm could be reversed. If the captcha is not replicated successfully, voila, it's a human! 

I personally prefer the sensibly written two word captchas such as the one below. The techies, please care to explain why technologically this may not be as good! These can get hilarious too. I am sure we all have once in a while giggles at the words we have got to recapture... "love", "feeling", "retard"...

Then there are these psychedelic ones that make me feel like puking! Animated GIFs? Giving me a break!

Ofcourse, then there are those for the mathematically inclined. 2+2 kinds! 

I swear to god I get a little nervous around these. Suddenly, what if they throw some quadratic equation at my face or some trignometric tan, cot s*** that I sucked at in school....

I really enjoy doing the logical ones. Have you seen something like this:

Imagine the existential angst of the person doing such a captcha. The obvious answer for food is the Z (the rice bowl) but aren't human beings (X) food for some species too. I wonder if there is some forum for such misleading captchas!

And finally the captchas that made me go on this trip. The smart questions! The ones that apparently try to make it fun for you. So this is what I got in one particular portal:

I was actually dumbfounded for a sec. I wondered if this was a trick question. Who the hell is Lisa? Some character in a movie, and they want the real name? (I told you I have a lot of time on my hands these days - so my imagination does run wild once in a while...)

Another smart question that I wonder how most men would answer is (they actually have questions like these, I am serious):

"How many colors in the list: pink, magenta, fuchsia, purple?"

And now a trick question for you: how many men do you know who would answer "one" and not "four" to the above question? :D :P

(Ducks with all the brick bats from the the color blind sex...

...ooops there I go again....)

[Image source: Google Images]

Frodo and Gimli say hi!

There are these two adorable beings who often stare at me, as I surf the Internet or watch TV. I wonder what they think of me. I, who, often talk to them non-stop and the poor guys can only hear, gape, pretend to be interested in my rambling if I am bringing some food along, or just turn their back on me and hide somewhere. Rarely do they show any genuine interest in the "other beings" in the house, like they are doing right now - gawking at us as Vish reads the news and I blog about "us".

I think, if they could talk, they'd be shouting out a 'HI' this very moment. They look like they'll swim right through the glass. Want to meet them? Here they are...

This is Frodo:

And, this is Gimli:

And though they share their address with us, this is their exact abode:

Yes, Frodo and Gimli are our beloved fan tail gold fish. They are roughly 8 months and 4 months old, respectively, and have been our companions for a while now. A little like their one owner, they love to sleep well and, like both their owners, they love to binge on food :). A little shy, they do warm up after a while!

Born in a free world

They told me I was born in a free world.
I wrote a book; they found the imagery offensive.
Those who did not read it were more offended.
They burnt it and then banned it.

They told me I was born in a free world.
I painted a canvas; they were deeply hurt.
The vivid colors made them livid, and
They were forced to burn my effigies.

They told me I was born in a free world.
I doodled caricatures that some found funny;
My house was pelted with stones because,
They proclaimed it was 'in bad taste'.

They told me I was born in a free world.
I made a movie on a disturbing yet true subject.
The mirror with one's own image does disturb;
They staged violence and chaos on the streets.

They told me I was born in a free world.
I blogged about the injustices around me.
Proofs to substantiate claims were asked for;
They blocked my IP and shut the site down.

They told me I was born in a free world.
What they did not tell me was that my
Freedom is censored based on what
They deem right and what they deem wrong.

They told me I was born in a free world.
I asserted my freedom of expression.
They showed me their moolah and their muscle,
And asserted their right to dissent.

A Dangerous Method

The movie, 'A Dangerous Method', though first released in Venice in September of 2011, has been in theaters in the US only since early December. 

Hardly advertised, I got to know of this movie from Vish who thought the subject would interest me - A Dangerous Method explores the tempestuous relationship between an emerging 'psyche-analyst', Carl Jung; his mentor and the founder of 'psychoanalysis', Sigmund Freud; and the patient who later goes on to become one of the first female psychoanalysts, Sabina Spielrein. 

The movie is fascinating and very interesting. The eve of World War I forms the backdrop of the evolving practices of psychiatry. While Freud is determined in his focus on repressed sexuality as a cause for psychological disorders, Jung wants to broaden those boundaries by bringing in mysticism and the heroism and superiority of the analyst. Sabina comes out of her insanity and brings together Freud's 'death drive' and Jung's 'transformation' in a new perspective influencing both men. The context of the impeding war, the religion and class conflicts (Freud and Sabina were Jews, Jung was married rich), the analysts' own incapability to deal with 'transference', and the vulnerability of one's own desires bring in a heady concoction - but for only those who are versed with the history if psychoanalysis.

Though the movie is quite well directed and does bring out the incompleteness of the entwined relationships -  coming together of the characters and their falling apart for ever, creating history every moment - it does not give sufficient time for the development of conflicts and tensions. Given that the rolling time is a little less 100 minutes, the story telling obviously cannot deep dive into details - thus leaving it to the viewers to understand the complications and the enormity of the problems between the characters.

The final verdict - Like I said, if you have read well enough on the subject, you will definitely appreciate the movie - one of the very few of its kind. And if you don't have a clue on Jung and Freud, I suggest you take the time out to read on them, and then go watch the movie. Their histories are very enthralling and enable you to chart the progression of varied theories of psychoanalysis that have affected and moulded the 'modern thought'.

[Image source: Google Images]

Versatile Blogger: Nomination and Tag

Nominated for the Versatile Blogger award by Aparna here. Thanks a lot! I wasn't sure the origins of it, so searched the Internet and found the Versatile Blogger Award site here. They have a blog roll of all the winners - which is periodically updated. Aparna, your nomination is well deserved and sound me out when you win it - All the best!

The nomination does not come easy. It has a set of rules and here I go...

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.

Here are the fellow bloggers I nominate... (excluding bloggers who have already been nominated, I got only 10)

• Chandrika Shubham at Chandrika Shubham : A reserved chit-chatter.
• BK Chowla at Change India.
• Creative Rumblings at Creative Rumblings.
• TBG at Desi Ghee and Coffee.
• Katherine Jenkins at Lessons from the Monk I Married.
• Sameera at Life in a jiffy.
• Mr "Niraj" Lemon at Masalla Lemonade.
• Susan Deborah at Meanderings and Reflections.
• Ram at Trails of a Traveler.
• Prathama at Towards Harmony.

2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination.

Consider this done - the minute I publish the post, will let the nominated bloggers know.

3. Add the Versatile Blogger award picture to your blog post. 

Here it is...

4. Share 7 random things about yourself.

Okay, let's see how random I can get...

• Though I can't sing for nuts, for as long as I can remember I have fancied being a top-notch singer - I used to sing along with the tapes, with a magazine rolled up as a mike and pretend I was giving an Oscar-winning performance. I still do it when nobody is at home (and now with YouTube instead) :D.

• My first career option ever as a kid was to join the army and fight at the borders. In the 80's, women were still not part of the Indian army; and when my parents told me that, I wanted to be an army doctor. (Until ofcourse I later realized I just don't have it in me to become any kind of a doc :()

• The first job I ever "interviewed" for was for the position of a Management Trainee at the Taj Group of Hotels. This was when I was still in college.

• I have carried dividers, compasses in my bags during the bus rides to and from college. I was in Delhi and it was almost a necessity to carry such equipment for self defense. I have used these and umbrellas, elbows, knees to hit so many men (ofcourse the guilty ones only), real bad, where it really hurts the most.

• Till I was in my early 20s, the worst abuse I had ever used was "bitch". And if I called so it was someone that, it was understood that they really deserved it and infact much more! I couldn't bring myself to use to the more illustrious vocabulary that I seem to fluently mouth out these days! 

• I have admired and been infatuated by various celebrities from different field over the years. However, I have always proudly proclaimed that I have never been so star-struck as to put up posters in my room EXCEPT for only once in all these years - I had Rahul Dravid's poster on my bedroom wall for exactly 10 days when I was in Grade 8.

• Though not at all a sportsperson, I have tried my hand (literally only that much) at most sports - lawn tennis, badminton, javelin throw, short put, karate, long jump, golf, volley ball, basket ball, throw ball, even cricket, and what not - only to come to the conclusion that all these are too "rough" for my taste :P. The one sport I have "seriously" pursued, for say 2 years continuously in school, was Table Tennis :).

Wow! I actually enjoyed doing this post! Thanks Aparna, once again.

Over to you guys, now! 

And there is so much more of Murphy...

A long long time ago I did a post on how Murphy has a habit of ruining my life given the inherent perversity  of this seamless universe - you can read the post on my experiments with Murphy's laws here.

I would be surprised if the universal truths I had documented years ago were no longer good - but aren't there more shocks to life than surprises?

Here are a few more Murphy-isms I am being subjected to.

• Just when the tea is about to boil over, will something more urgent distract my attention. It will be that very second I would have turned that there will be spilled tea all over the burner.

• I will wait all week for the supposedly shipped Amazon order to arrive, but the USPS/Fedex guy will find precisely that moment when I am in the shower to knock at the door. I will then have to take his note to the leasing office and hopefully not the shipping center to pick up my package.

• After a long hiatus, I'll somehow pull my lethargic self out to go the the gym and that very day the gym will be closed for maintenance activity.

• The only day that I choose to go on a quick evening walk will Vish decide to come home early from work to give me a surprise, and end up being surprised at my absence.

• I will wait all day for the maintenance guy from the leasing office to show up to fix the fused bulb and he will choose to arrive the only time in the whole month that I would have put a face pack. Out-of-season Halloween for the poor guy!

• Right when it is the time to take out the dish from the oven, will my gloves mysteriously  go missing and completely out of sight - resulting in unnecessary chaos and distress.

• After putting the clothes in the washer, I'll occupy myself with other chores in order to multitask only to forget till after a couple of hours that I haven't put them in the dryer yet.

• And I think, this one's the worst - I'll rationalize with Vish how picking up a bar of Snickers at the checkout lane of Walmart/Target is not a bad idea - 140 calories for all the walking around seems reasonable. And lo, behold, the check out lane we chose does NOT have snickers on the panels. I mean, I seriously doubt, who controls our lives more God or Mr. Murphy?

How is your equation with Murphy?

Creating cultures free from violence...

...Is the motto of the Men Can Stop Rape organization. You can read about them at their website linked here: mencanstoprape.org. Established more than a decade ago, with the vision to "institutionalize primary prevention of men's violence against women through sustained initiatives that generate positive, measurable outcomes in populations throughout the world", the organization is primarily based in the US and has recently come into lime light with their very popular The Strength campaign, with the slogan, "My strength is not for hurting"...

I have always believed that to create a society that is "safe" for women, it is not sufficient to educate the women and make them aware of their rights, their strengths but also educate the men and sensitize them on issues that women face. 

Mothers need to cultivate in their sons respect for women, sisters need to talk to their brothers to help them understand how a girl feels, classmates and colleagues should open up communication channels so that a girl does not hesitate to ask for help. 

Women can't just do this on their own, not because we lack in courage but because we lack in numbers. 

A long time ago, I wrote an article for a university newspaper on eve teasing and women's harassment on Delhi University's campus with exactly the same argument - The editorial team came back to me saying how so many men appreciated the thought and how it had never struck them that they could help proactively rather than simply consider these as only "women's issues". 

Like other crimes that our society is ridden by - murders, thefts, corruption, harassment against women is also a social problem not just a "woman's problem". And like other issues are dealt with out in the open - the girl child education program, the polio campaign, the AIDS awareness program - we need a dedicated, well planned campaign for stopping sexual harassment of women in any form. 

I cannot stress enough the need of such a campaign like the "Men Can Stop Rape" in India. Let this be a subject in the school syllabus. Adult education centers and other literacy missions should imbibe this in their curriculum. 

We need to go to the grass root level - when kids are as young as two or three years old, they are told to hit someone is wrong; when they grow up a little more and learn the sense of ownership, they are told to steal is wrong; and when they reach adolescence, we are hesitant to even impart sex education to them (atleast in India) and we simply refuse to talk about all the headlines they read - women raped, harassed, burnt, killed - We tell our daughters to come before dusk and not to roam about alone, without actually talking to them about all the dangers that lurk and what they can do in self defense - And we don't find any need to tell our sons anything. Why? Why this hypocrisy in our own value system? 

Let's educate the women and the men. Awareness and mutual understanding is the key to a healthy social eco system where crimes can be thwarted and criminals justly punished.

A head start ;)

Talk about actually giving a head start to your new year resolutions on the first day of the year itself. Vish and I took the going healthy bit too seriously, and along with a friend were on our way to hiking the Camelback Mountain in Phoenix as early as 7 AM on the 1st of January!

Camelback is a popular hiking and rock climbing destination in the valley and has two trails. We picked up the Echo Canyon trail that was labeled 'moderate'. Not that we are great or regular hikers, but you know that super ego within, 'if they say it's moderate, it must be easy'. Haa! God had his first lesson of the new year planned for us already. Though a 1.2 mile hike one way - the climb and descent both were extremely arduous. I cannot explain enough the havoc caused by the sand, the dirt, the gravel, the rocks, the boulders. 

The climb starts with a few sandy steps giving way to a fairly steep rise that is made only a degree simpler with the rail and net provided. To say that I struggled, would be an understatement (I have learnt modesty :)). Mid-way I had lost all steam and was ready to give up - panting, out of breath, feeling nauseated and faintish, the peak seemed too far. Vish applied all tricks of the trade - enthusiastic cheering and then subtle manipulation - "aren't you from the hills - whatever happened to the great Chaube's", and that's it - I just couldn't call it quits. Not on the first day of the year. 

And then we went on to the most challenging part of the ascent - a steep almost-vertical climb on a completely rocky terrain. I slipped a couple of times, bruised my ankles, took a minute's rest every two minutes, but we finally did make it to the top. And yes, the views were worth the trouble getting all the way up...

The descent was riskier and even more challenging - I tried the strategy of holding the rocks on both the sides with my hands and then swinging down - the trick did me good (and completely destroyed my forearms in the process) - I was down in record time - never mind the 60-year old and 10-year old local pros who were running down the slope - comparison is never healthy :D. 

As we returned home after the hike, followed by a quick lunch at an Iranian place, we could already feel the soreness creep in. 

Like a battered and bruised soldier but from a victorious war, I am still reeling from all the aches and the stretched joints - walking is difficult, lifting objects is impossible, the neck is stiff and so are 99% of the muscles but the sense of achievement is at its peak :). I am just hoping that this is not the only exercise I get in the whole year - to keep it optimistic, well begun is half done, folks!

Wishing you all a very happy new year - may fulfilling joy be yours every single day!

A yummy year end...

If you thought that my culinary experimentation had gone cold after the self lauding post here, you couldn't be more wrong. The dipping mercury, all the time in hand, and that unmistakable love for good food has ensured that I keep busy with cooking all the stuff that I would want to have. Being in the kitchen in the winter is a nice warm feeling and plus the layers of extra clothing ensures that the million calories go unnoticed. [I swear I have never dreaded spring/summer so much before. Come the new year, and whether there is rain or hail, I promise to hit the gym :(]. But aren't resolutions for new year; let's just enjoy the yummy year ends now :)...

So here's presenting to you my new feats...

Everyday Experiments

We had some friends over for dinner a couple of times giving me the opportunity to expand my guinea pig base :D. In addition to my forte (*wink* *wink*), I tried out the malai kofta for the first time ever. The koftas were not very shapely but I was reasonable satisfied by the end result. I followed Manjula's Kitchen for this one. This pic is straight from the wok...

I tried my hand at some maida crispies. The recipe is ridiculously simple, but the product is a hit especially at tea time...

Had to make some goodies to fill a friend's bakeware that she had brought along (with food ofcourse :)) for a dinner at our place. And the self-proclaimed baking expert that I have now become, dished out these simple yet awesome chocolate walnut muffins. These are much dryer than the cup cakes I did earlier, and make great accompaniments to your coffee. Recipe here; and picture below :D.

Thanksgiving Specials

Just the two of us, so moong daal kachoris with aloo sabzi was the main course. The recipes I followed are here and here. The kachoris came out so nice and crisp - good enough to warrant a snap...:D

For dessert, I made a German Apple Cake with Pecans. Here's the recipe; just add a cup full of chopped pecans to it for added flavor. Here's the picture. It looks a little bland and dry in the pic but that's because this was taken when it was just out of the oven. Infact the cake is quite moist and refrigerates well. No topping for this one as I wanted to store it for long. To serve each time, I warmed it a little and poured some maple syrup over it. Vish loved it with Vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. 

Winter Specials

Winter is really the time for some good comfort food. And we did have a binging spree...

After my near disaster with rava laddoos earlier, this time, I placed my trust in Tarla Dalal's recipe for besan laddoos. And boy, I was so not disappointed. I had to put a little more besan than mentioned in the recipe because I felt there was too much ghee, and I didn't really want ghee dripping laddoos, so... The slight deviation did do me good. The laddoos came out extremely well and we finished the lot in no time at all.

Found an awesome chana daal kebab recipe that does not need too much oil - Tarla Dalal, obviously. Kebabs or tikkis, whatever you call them make a filling evening snack; we dined on it :).

If it is not already obvious, let me say it again, Vish and I have an enormous sweet tooth and well made halwas may well be our greatest undoing. Tried my hand at gajar/carrot halwa following the recipe here - it was okay, came out a little too creamier for our tastes - and that is obvious from the pic too.

I then tried making doodhi/lauki/bottlegourd halwa, following the recipe here. The picture doesn't look great but it was one of the best halwaas that I have had (and not made, please note :P), plus I did not use any food coloring.

Christmas Special!!!

Save the best for the last they say; and this one actually takes the cake - quite literally. Attempted the Christmas Special - Fruit Cake with Rum and Wine (recipe here) - and it is the richest and the best cake I have ever baked. Following the instructions, I had soaked the fruits in rum, wine and spices for a week and let the cake rest for a week after being baked. Come Christmas evening, and the cake tasted delicious - all thanks to the wonderful recipe - the spices and liquor gave it a wonderful kick and according to Vish, we must celebrate Christmas more often :).

( I have this one still in my refrigerator, stop by if you can ;))

Adios 2011. And see you guys next year.

A blogging award for a merrier Christmas...

IHM is a very popular Indian blogger who primarily writes against injustices, violence, biases and atrocities committed on women. She recently announced THE BLOGSCARS: Tejaswee Rao Blogging Awards (after her daughter) wherein bloggers were invited to submit relevant blog posts under various categories that focused on feminism, women's issues and so on. Here's the complete list. 

I did submit a few of my own blog posts that I felt were relevant to the topics, and am really delighted to have won in the category, "The way a woman dresses...". My winning blog post is titled, "Dressed to kill!" and you can read it here.
Here's the award badge that I get to proudly display on my side panel. If you have the time, I would suggest that you read the other winning posts to at the link above. They make for some really good reading - informative and eye opening.

This, added to the short weekend trip (which I do hope to write about :)), did make my Christmas merrier. How have you been?