Nirenjan's Space

Basic Marinara Sauce

Stardate 55881.9 (Wed Nov 16, 2011 2:14 am) in Recipes Recipes, Food, Basics

After a few cases of using half the bottle of the store bought sauces, leaving it in the fridge, and open it a few weeks later only to find it mouldy and quite unusable, I decided that it was time to make my own sauce. The work might be a bit more, but I certainly think that the flavour is unmatched.

Rava Pakoda

Stardate 55877.9 (Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:23 am) in Recipes Recipes, Food

When I was growing up in India, the monsoons would make the sky really gloomy, and we’d have a hankering for a hot masala chai. My grandmother would make rava pakodas, a small fried snack to go along with the tea. To an Indian, there’s nothing like sitting out on the patio watching the rain, with a steaming hot cup of chai in one hand, and a plate of pakodas in the other.

RIP Randy Pausch

Stardate 54674.2 (Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:59 am)

I’ve never had the chance to either take one of his classes or even listen to his last lecture live, although I saw it online. If you haven’t seen it, take the time to do so now.

Dr. Pausch was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in September of 2006, and in August 2007 was told that he had maybe 3 to 6 months left to live. I can immediately think of one of Rajnikanth's dialogues from Sivaji - "Saagara naal therinji pochu na vaazhara naal naragham aayidum, santhosham thaanga mukiyam". Most people would wallow in self pity on hearing such news, but not Dr. Pausch. The way he treated this information is close to stunning. He did not wallow in self-pity, but instead put his heart and soul into doing the things that he wanted to do.

Probably the most important lesson that I’ve got from his last lecture is this quote: “The brick walls are there for a reason: they are not there to keep you out, but to give you a chance to show how badly you want something”.