Sky Mirror: Beyond Surreal Photos From A Secret Island

There is a secret island off the Malaysian coast that forms a mirror that flawlessly reflects the sky, hence the name “Sky Mirror.” This is one of the photos of Sky Mirror from our December 2022 trip to Kuala Selangor.

About the secret island:

This secret island is located in the Strait of Malacca, about 45 minutes by boat from Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. The island is submerged under the sea and appears only for a few hours during low tide. Here is how it looked when our boat arrived at the island. Oh, but where is the island? It could not be seen anywhere. This is how it looked like:

Photo taken at 09:46 a.m.

In about 6 minutes the sea level dropped substantially and we could see our tour guides standing in water.

Photo taken at 09:52 a.m.

In another 12 minutes, the sea receded further, and the tourists started coming down the boats in the water, which was now about 6 inches deep.

Photo taken at 10:05 a.m.

As we were walking toward our respective tour guides, I looked back, and the mirror dawned upon me. Here is my first photo of the mirror. The water was only about an inch deep now. 

No filter no edit photo at 10:21 a.m.

Slowly, there was hardly a few millimeters of water, and all the tour guides were very busy setting up their screens, leveling the sand, and setting up the props..

After everything was set, a few kids were standing as if punching something in the air. This was the setup by the photographer:

Photo setup by our tour guide who was also the photographer using his phone camera

And the following image was captured by the photographer with his phone camera. If you’re wondering how the dinosaur ended up in the picture, look at the prop in the above image. If you are still not getting your head around it, then see the pictures of someone eating the sun, carrying the moon on their shoulder, or pinching the Eiffel Tower, and you will know how the dinosaur came into the frame.

While our guide was busy taking photos of others from our tour group, we went for a walk. We walked away from the photo shoot area for about ten minutes only to be called back as the boat was heading back to Kuala Selangor. On our way back we saw thousands of crabs walking ahead of us. As we kept walking towards the boat, the crabs in front of us probably sensed us coming and went hiding in the sand. Thus, they made a clear way for us and saved us from causing a stampede. Unfortunately it did not occur to me to take a photo or a video of the life on that island. However here is a photo (from Canva) very close to what I saw

Finally here is a quick photo of how the island looked as I climbed the boat at 11:30 a.m.

Photo at 11:30 a.m.

Why would a secret island appear in the sea for a few hours and then get submerged again?

The Sky-Mirror Tour had come to an end, but was it only about the mirror-like reflections and surreal photos? Overwhelmed by the magical transformation of the seabed into a mirror, I now find myself reflecting on the last hour of my experience. The experience was two-fold: One was nature unveiling itself as a reflecting island that slowly started buzzing with life (after the humans started going away). The second was the synergy of all the tour operators working in full cooperation with each other without a sense of competition amongst themselves. I realized that there were at least 250 people on that island, and yet everyone got great pictures without anyone accidentally photobombing someone else’s picture. And everyone got as many photos in as many poses as they wanted; there was no hurry, no chaos, but everything was systematic, friendly, and heartwarming. A big shoutout to all the tour operators and their coordination. (If I can post some heart emojis here:)). Our tour operator was Sky Mirror Sasaran, Rainbow Jetty.

Questions that make me want to go back to the Sky-mirror one more time:

1. What lies beyond the reflecting effect, Why does the island exist? I was quietly sitting on the boat, looking over the vast sea and experiencing the gentle breeze.
2. The presence of crabs, clams, and sea anemones on the island made me think of what will happen when all of us, the tourists, have left the island? What will the armies of crabs do?
3. Will there be birds visiting the island?
4. What will happen when the tide rises again? Will the crabs hide themselves before the water submerges the island? Why does nature create a temporary oasis like this one?
5. What is the role of such islands in the ecosystem?
6. What is the significance of this island according to the local fishermen community? Is there any cultural association or significance?

I wish I could gather all these questions and talk to the locals …nonetheless these questions make me want to go there once again.

On a different note

I took printout of a photo from our tour and kept wondering how come the image flipped while printing?

Only to realize that the image did not flip while printing but I flipped the picture while putting it on the wall.

Yet another funny thing was – Hoping to get a picture of the army of crabs, I searched for crabs in Kuala Selangor on the internet and here are the top results

These results were surely different than what I was expecting. I hope at least some information related to the marine life surfaces on the internet and not just where to eat crabs!

Also if you are visiting this place please do help me find answers. Take only photos and leave nothing behind other than your footprints (remember to bring back your balloons, water bottles, or other props).

Looking forward to learning more about the secret island beyond the Sky-mirror 🙂

UPDATE: Thanks to Wendy from Rainbow Jetty, I have some images of the marine life. My sister sent her a message and Wendy generously shared the following images.

Hermit crab

Squid eggs

Environmentally Conscious Halloween

Halloween brings a lot of fun, especially for kids. It is about dressing up, going in the neighborhood for trick-or- treat and thereby collecting candies, decorating homes, and (until last year) going to a pumpkin patch. During this (Halloween) time of the year stores carry a huge variety and stock of costumes and decorations. It is easy to just go and get something. But if we pause for a moment to think, then Halloween gives an opportunity to think creatively and do ‘Do It Yourself’ projects for costumes and decorations for and with the kids.

To add to the fun of creating something spooky, DIY costumes and decorations are great avenues to use stuff that would otherwise be trashed.

So this year we decided to make a costume for our 2 year old with whatever we had at home. Mostly Amazon boxes and papers! So we up-cycled the packaging material to make a butterfly costume with flapping wings and some cute ghosts with fluttering tails as the Halloween decoration.

Butterfly costume: Wings made from corrugated boxes and painted with water colors,  black t-shirt and black pant.

The flapping wings

Making of the butterfly wings from a white corrugated box

Attaching the wings with rubber bands and strings

Show time!

Making of a cute ghost from a bedsheet packing material 

…and the ghost with fluttering tails

Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs

A Visit to a place is incomplete without trying its famous cuisine. A trip to Sweden is incomplete without eating Swedish Meatballs, Hasselbackspotatis or Hasselback Potatoes, and Prinsesstårta or Swedish Princess Cake.

In the times of the pandemic, we may not get to travel, but we can certainly enjoy the cuisines, obviously by making them at home! I followed the recipes for Hasselback potatoes and princess cake as per the links.

Some changes I made in the recipes: I used 1/4th quantity of the butter as mentioned in the recipe for potatoes and 1/3rd quantity of sugar for the cake, I didn’t use any food coloring for the marzipan of the cake and the shape of course has been changed to a triangle!

Both the dishes turned out super delicious! The Swedish Princess Cake is my all time favorite and have been making it often!

Swedish Princess Cake

Hasselback Potatoes (photo: Madhuli Kulkarni)

Time to try the Swedish Meatballs but these are vegetarian meatballs. I cannot claim that this is an authentic recipe, but it is an experiment to make a look alike.. err.. taste alike dish with ingredients easily available at home. Does the vegetarian version taste like the actual meatballs? Well, not exactly the same, but about 60% close. The vegetarian version is simple to make and tastes really good. Like my other cooking experiments, the proportions of the ingredients are more of a guess work.

Ingredients for Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs:

Ingredients for the veg meatballs

Soaked and boiled Chouli (black eyed peas)about 2 cups, finely chopped onion (1) and mushrooms( about 1 cup), cilantro, rosemary, semolina (1 tbsp), all purpose flour( 1tbsp), garlic, nutmeg powder, soy sauce, salt, pepper, butter for shallow / deep fry.

Ingredients for the sauce: butter, all purpose flour, yogurt + cream, rosemary, garlic, soy sauce.

Steps:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and mash the chauli well.
2. Once mixed well, make small balls.
3. Shallow fry or deep fry in butter, turn from all the sides is using less butter.

Making the meatballs

Shallow fry

5. For the sauce: heat butter, add finely chopped garlic, rosemary and saute for a few seconds. Add all purpose flour and mix well. Add yogurt + cream mixture and mix well add a bit of warm water, mix well and let the sauce thicken. Add soy sauce mix well. Alternatively you may use any pasta sauce to add to the meat balls.

The sauce

6. To serve place the meatballs in a plate and add sauce over or next to it. Garnish with freshly cut chives.

An Encounter with Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) and Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Credit

I never imagined that I would write  a blog post on taxes and tax credits. However, a recent encounter with filing taxes involved Incentive Stock Options( ISOs) Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), and AMT credit. The whole thing was so puzzling that I ended up going down a deep rabbit-hole, trying to make sense of it. This blog post is a direct result.

In the United States, there are two methods of calculating the taxes of an individual 1. Regular method 2. Alternative Minimum Tax.

”The individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) operates alongside the regular income tax. It requires some taxpayers to calculate their liability twice—once under the rules for the regular income tax and once under the AMT rules—and then pay the higher amount. ” – https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-amt

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

When one exercises Incentive Stock Options( ISOs), Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) method may be required to calculate the taxes. This was very easy to understand and is articulated in most of the websites explaining AMT. With the AMT method, you end up paying taxes on any gains from exercising ISOs. This is true even if the gains are only “on paper” i.e. hypothetical because the exercised options may not be liquid.

Calculating AMT

Let us consider a scenario: A person named ABC has vested ISOs of a Pre-IPO company. ABC exercises 1000 (number) ISOs with a strike price of $1 while the fair market value of that stock was $5 on the day of exercising . Let’s assume the options were exercised on 01 January 2017, but the resulting stocks were not sold until October 2020.

 When the options are exercised, the IRS calculates a gain as the difference between FMV and Strike Price. This is known as the ‘bargain element’. In ABC’s case, this would be ($5-$1)*1000=$4000. Even if the resulting stocks are not liquid (the company is still pre-IPO), the IRS considers the $4000 to be taxable under the AMT method (IRS Form 6251).

Question 1: Does the AMT apply to only the $4000? For example, 4000 x (say) 30 % ? The answer is NO. The calculations are not that simple. In the form 6251 for 2017 there are 27 different parameters (including gross income from salary etc) and possibly a few more parameters in some other forms that need a consideration to find the Alternative Minimum Taxable Income (AMTI), which is the amount that will be taxed under AMT.

Questions 2: Is there a fixed percentage of tax on the alternative minimum taxable income? The answer is No. The tax percentage depends on a lot of factors and hence can be different for different scenarios.

For the sake of explaining, let us consider the Alternative Minimum Taxable Income as $200,000 (this includes gross income and the bargain element of ISOs).   A bunch of additional calculations in Form 6251 will yield what is known as the Tentative Minimum Tax (TMT). If the TMT is higher than the taxpayer’s regular tax liability for the year, they pay the regular tax and the amount by which the TMT exceeds the regular tax (this excess is called the AMT in Form 6251). In other words, the taxpayer pays the full TMT.

So let us assume that the AMT for ABC for 2017 is $32000. This means ABC pays regular tax on salary (ranging from 10% to 39% depending on the tax bracket) + AMT for the year 2017.

Since the ISOs are not sold yet and tax has been applied to the money that has not been actually earned, the AMT amount $32000 is considered an AMT credit which can be used in the coming years. In simple words, AMT credit is like a prepaid tax card (like a prepaid mobile sim card) with lots and lots of conditions on when the money in the prepaid card can be used.

Question 3: How to use the AMT Credit

The AMT credit is like a balance of a prepaid card. It can be used in subsequent years when the amount owed on taxes calculated using the normal method is more than what it would have been under the AMT method. The amount that can be used from this credit for any given subsequent year = Regular tax amount for that year – AMT amount calculated for that year – other exclusions. This means that if regular tax for ABC for 2018 is say $35000 and AMT is $31000 and assuming there are no other exclusions, then ABC can use $4000 from the AMT credit obtained in 2017. So the tax amount owed by ABC to IRS in 2018 is $35000 – (allowed AMT credit) $4000 = $31000.

The remaining amount of AMT credit (in the case of our example it is $28000) will be carried forward to 2019. These calculations of AMT credit are done in Form 8801. (Don’t forget to file 8801 if you have an AMT credit from a previous year).

Question 4: Are AMT calculations and AMT credit calculations as simple as explained in this blogpost?

NO! This blogpost considers the act of exercising ISOs as the trigger for AMT; in reality there could be other triggers. This blogpost is a super simplification. In reality there are a number of parameters and calculations needed and they are different for different scenarios. As mentioned above the calculations are complex and need input from  various IRS forms to arrive at AMT.

Conclusion:

To understand the concept of AMT and AMT credits, I tried reading a number of articles on the Internet. But the concepts were really difficult to understand. So I stared at my tax returns with a calculator in hand and reverse engineered what my tax accountant had done. While I succeeded in figuring out what had happened in my tax return, the complete details of AMT and AMT credits are super super complex and make me dizzy 🙂

Disclaimer : This blog post is merely MY understanding of the concepts. This post does not intend to explain the concepts nor does it claim any relevance to actual AMT calculations. Read it for fun, but for anything serious please consult an authority in the subject, like your CPA.

The links on this blogpost are the ones I referred to understand the respective terms. I do not promote any of the links. No commercials involved.

Deducing The Logic Behind Ganesh Festival

Most people in Maharashtra have an idol of the Hindu god Ganesha in their home. So, why do they celebrate the festival of Ganesha (Ganesh Utsav) by bringing a new clay idol of Ganesha and then immersing it in a local water body after some days?

In the past few years the immersion of idols (mostly made of Plaster of Paris) has lead to a lot of damage to water bodies and destruction of aquatic flora and fauna. Do we ever wonder what could be the purpose of immersing the idol in water bodies?

Other than ‘God’ and religious sentiments, a festival in India usually has more factors to consider – like diet, agriculture, weather, social, psychological, economical, political, and environmental factors. So what could be the factors that influenced the design or the procedure of Ganesh Utsav ? Here is an attempt to deduce the logic from an environmental perspective.

An idol of lord Ganesha made from natural clay also called as shadu mati in Marathi

Ganesh Chaturthi, the first day of the festival falls in the Marathi month of Bhadrapad (around September). Typically Maharashtra receives rain from the southwest monsoon from June to September. A good rainfall in July and August make the rivers flow up to the brim and overflow sometimes. The gushing waters erode the fertile soil at the river banks. In September, the monsoon recedes and so do the floods. The speed of the water reduces and the rivers though flowing up to the brim are now calm. But how does one restore the eroded soil at the river banks?

It would be so difficult for an individual or an organization to add tons of soil on the river banks. So the idea of each family immersing a natural clay idol in the river seems a great idea. Each family contributes to preserve the natural resources. Consider a town with ten thousand families immersing an idol weighing 2 kg, in the river. That means 20 tons of natural clay is added which is subsequently settled at the banks, (at least to some extent) restoring the eroded portion.

The fact that some families immerse it after 1.5 days or 3 or 5 or 7 or 10 days could be attributed to the amazing management skills of our ancestors. This method would serve two purposes – 1. The clay deposit is slow (no major obstacle for the river flow) and continuous (ensures river carries the clay and settles it on the banks) 2. Effective crowd management (no traffic jams and stampede).

Interestingly, similar rituals are followed in the eastern states of India for Durga Puja which is celebrated in the month of Ashwin (somewhere in October) and the monsoon recedes at the end of September and rivers get calmer in October. During this festival, an idol of the Goddess Durga is similarly used.

Over the years, for both Ganesh festival as well as Durga Puja, people started making the idols out of Plaster of Paris or similar materials, instead of clay. These materials do not enrich the soil; they only clog the rivers and damage the ecosystem. A good thing is that, in recent days there is increasing awareness of using shaduchya maticha Ganapati (an idol made from natural clay). Most of us make one at home. But do we give a thought to the colours and glitters we use to paint it? Will they hurt the aquatic life and ecosystem?

Survey Results: Parent feedback on online classes for 5 to 14 year olds

It has been over 5 months that the schools are closed in many places due to COVID-19 and the classes are online. We collected feedback from parents of children between 5 to 14 year olds on the effectiveness of online classes in kids’ learning. The objective of the survey was to understand the online teaching -learning method and is there a way in which we (as a community) can help in creating a better, more enjoyable experience for both the teachers and the students.

The survey questionnaire had four multiple choice and one descriptive question.

61 responses from 6 countries (Bahrain 1, England 1, India 7, Malaysia 32, Singapore 1, and USA 19) were received. The results are published as pie charts for the multiple choice along with opinion related to a question if it was received as an answer for question no 5. The opinions are published as received without any editing except for spelling corrections.

Q1. Do the kids enjoy online classes more than school?

Subjective feedback received for Q5 that can be relates to this question :

1. Lack of discipline among students
2. e-learning with elementary school means the parent sitting with the child the entire time. Not possible to work.

 

Q2. Is the screen time in online classes a concern for you?

Subjective feedback received for Q5 that can be relates to this question :

1. Long screen time and sometimes kids use headset, which in the long run might affect their ears too.
2. Eye strain has become high and chances of having optical glasses will be more.
3. Not very effective. Big Health risk.

 

Q3. To what extent do you think online classes are effective?

Subjective feedback received for Q5 that can be relates to this question :

1. Sometimes the teaching is very fast. Not adequate time is given to copy the notes.
2. Kids tend to become less attentive and they don’t understand so clearly what they are supposed to do and parents needs to be right next to the child for the entire session.
3. The online sessions can’t create the learning atmosphere (as in school). It’s difficult for the teacher to give individual attention. Interactive group sessions also not possible to a satisfactory level. The eye contact can’t b established. Online sessions is a good provisional option but not a substitute to school.
4. Concept clarity in students is not successfully achieved. Doubts solving session is not conducted. Teacher cannot cater to students with varying range of attention spans, level of grasping and learning.
5. Hard to focus on current format.
6. For younger kids they get distracted online training. Their ability to focus continuously on a screen is very limited.
7. It has been effective. But, I have noticed that a few times kids have started to chat which sometimes distracts the children from the subject. This has reduced but kids still chat. Otherwise, it is a great method for kids to study.
8. My child is learning more with a distraction free environment, but the lack of interaction on a daily basis has been hard mentally and socially. More daily interaction, even with classmates would be helpful.

Q4. What new method would you /your kid like in order to improve the learning experience?

a. Project with friends / peers

b. Do it yourself kits related to the study subject

c. Audio lessons

d. Computer aided tests / exams / quizzes

e. None of these, existing system is great

f.  Other: Please specify

Oher ideas to improve the teaching – learning experience, parents have suggested following ideas: Less screen time. Rest split into group projects and quizzes, printed material to accompany the videos (especially for kids with special needs), one-on-one tutoring, more teaching aids like more elaborated slides for explaining a new topic…. more solved examples in Math topics

Q5. Any observations / likes / dislikes with the current system that you would like to share?

1. Kids like to go to school n learn cos school has proper environment n they learn many things with practical experience
2. We are in public charter school (Summit) so they pivoted pretty fast to help kids maintain their grades and interactions
3. It’s very important to introduce technology to the learning system and expose our kids to the latest developments happening around the world. But, at the same time it is equally important to introduce sports and socially engaging activities to them where they can exchange, compete and assist each other and learn various aspects of life too. Organizations that are thinking to develop systems in this space must consider both the avenues and then build a sustainable educational system.
4. As per kids safety online classes are good.
5. Projects with friends and social- emotional development is missing! Rest all good.
6. Online classes or offline classes we are still putting our kids in the rat race. Not giving them time to be themselves.
7. There is lot of disadvantage with current online system, yet we are not ready to send kids to school until we know we are in safe environment.
8. The current online learning system is not in fact a learning system. A teacher should be online daily giving actual instruction for assignments rather than one a week for 30min and giving a weeks worth of work where the children/parents need to look up and research how to get things done or follow a PowerPoint. Honestly, I feel that it has been more “self taught” than online learning. Not very efficient at all. Much more engagement and hands on needs to come from the teacher as well as projects/assignments with peers in groups.
9. I think we all need to invest in better technology – whether it be cameras, lighting or mics. Even electronic while boards if need be. Without those, we really are limited in how much learning actually happens. We also need to encourage sharing our videos because without those it will become very hard to make social connections.
10. Like : safety of staying and learning at home. Dislike: long screen hours for children, Unable to understand and identify the talents of the kids by the teacher ( those who are having the skill).
11. Current system is improving with time and India is becoming global, but costs are pretty high and not worth considering the return. Reason behind this is may be govt. withdrawing from education system and private sector is money oriented. So we should have a fair system for all class of society from rural to urban to metro!!
12. I felt that there could have been more teacher instruction for the younger child. Classroom meets were really geared toward socializing and sharing (which was also great), but the academic instruction came mainly from various websites. My older child had excellent instruction each day, but for a short period of time. He was basically done with all of his work in under 3 hours every day.
13. Kids will like virtual learning more if they’ve live interaction with the teacher and their peers while following the school schedule.With current setting there is no structure and time manner.
14. I would like more Social Studies and Science. I would also like more school.
15. While online classes is currently taken as there is no option, however in long term it should be kept for emergency only. If it is made as way of life then it will have undesirable effects especially on children in their initial age.
16. Children play Games on computers and addicted.
17. Too many same emails floating around and many lost emails in the process. Possibly due to teachers who are non-tech.

P.S. : Ideas for education without screens- https://youtu.be/bn6btx4IMdY

Vegetarian Fish Curry

I love watching this TV show called Raja Rasoi aur Andaaz Anokha of Chef Ranveer Brar on EPIC channel. In one of its episodes Kayastha Kitchen he showed how Kayastha people would cook meat dishes without the meat, interestingly they would substitute the meat with its closest vegetarian option (in today’s terms – mock meat). One recipe he showed was a fish curry using raw bananas. I don’t know why but the show does not share a written recipe or if it does at least I am not aware of it. So it is more of knowing what goes in a dish and then using our guess to decide the quantity of each ingredients.

Vegetarian fish curry served with hot phulka 

I tried his recipe and it was super delicious, very close to actual fish curry but best part was it made the raw bananas very very delicious. His recipe involved deep frying the banana coated with chickpea flour. The second time I wanted to make the dish I thought too much work of deep frying so I gave it a twist and here is my experiment on making a veg fish curry. This is no way any authentic recipe but a juagaad to save some work. I took some inspiration from tandoori chicken for marinating the fish – raw bananas and from butter chicken for the gravy (just inspiration ;)).

I never measure the ingredients so here I cannot really say how much of an ingredient goes in the dish, however the process..or the hack is interesting.

List of ingredients

Raw Bananas, onion, ginger garlic paste, tomatoes, kitchen king masala, tandoori chicken masala, turmeric powder, kashmiri red chili powder, cumin seeds, butter, peanut oil, kasuri methi, cilantro, lemon, water, and salt

Process

1. Cut the bananas into two parts and boil till soft inside. Not too soft otherwise it won’t hold the shape and will fall into pieces.

Banana: Boiled and peeled

2. Peel and slit the bananas into half along the length, gently press them to make a bit flat, and marinate in tandoori masala + peanut oil+ lemon juice + salt mixture and keep aside for 15 – 20 minutes. (I was in a hurry so I didn’t allow it to rest, instead went to the next step and the dish still turned out yummy).(Secondly in this step Chef Ranveer Brar coats the bananas with chickpea flour + spices batter, whereas I marinated them)

Bananas marinated with tandoori chicken masala + lemon juice + salt + peanut oil

3. Put some oil in a non stick pan and shallow fry (with little oil ) the marinated banana slices. (Chef Brar deep fries the coated banana slices).

4. Flip and after completing the other side, take them out in a plate and keep them aside.

Flip

5. In the same pan add finely chopped onion and saute for a few minutes, then add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw aroma of garlic goes away.

Saute onion + ginger garlic paste

6. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Adding salt at this stage helps tomatoes to cook faster.

Tomatoes and salt

7. Let the tomatoes cook properly then take the mixture in a blender and make a fine paste. (I realized later that I could have skipped this step if I used tomato puree instead of chopped tomatoes). If you want a rich gravy you may add soaked cashews to the mixture before grinding (I didn’t).

Cooked onion – tomatoe paste

8. In the same pan add a little butter, then splutter some cumin seeds and then add the onion-tomato paste to it and saute for a few minutes.

9. Add turmeric powder, kitchen king masala, kashmiri red chili powder and mix well. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Then add water and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

10. Now add the ‘fish’ – shallow fried banana pieces to the curry, cover and cook on a low flame for 10 -12 minutes. Then add kasuri methi and cilantro, serve with hot roti or rice.

Veg fish curry ready!

P.S. What I found interesting in this cooking experiment is one can use raw bananas as a substitute for fish (only in texture and feel) and there are infinite possibilities of cooking a vegetarian fish :).

झटपट घडीच्या पोळ्या करायची पद्धत

मराठी माणसांसाठी घडीच्या पोळ्या त्या घडीच्या पोळ्या. अगदी साजूक तूप लावलेले गरम फुलके पानात वाढले तरी घडीच्या पोळी चे सुख वेगळेच. म्हणून खास झटपट पोळ्या करायची ही पद्धत, छयाचित्रांसह !

कृपया नोंद घ्यावी:
-“माझ्या पोळपाटाशिवाय मला पोळ्या जमत नाहीत” अशा समजुतीच्या लोकांसाठी ही पद्धत नाही.
– नवीन काही प्रयोग करायला ज्यांना आवडत नाही त्यांच्या साठी ही पद्धत नाही.
– कणिक व्यवस्तीत भिजवली असावी, अति घट्ट किंवा अति सैल नसेल तरच ह्या पद्धितीचा प्रयोग करावा अन्यथा कणिक भिजवण्याचा आधी सराव करावा आणि ते जमल्याखेरीच ही पद्धत अवलंबवावी.

कृती

१. कणकेचे गोळे करून घ्यावे. एकमेकांपासून साधारण ३ -४ इंचावर जितके बसतील तितके गोळे तुमच्या नवीन पोळपाटावर (cutting board) ठेवावेत.

२. गोळे साधारण ३ -४ इंचाच्या वर्तुळाचे होई पर्यंत एक एक करून लाटावे. चांगला सराव झाल्यास एका लाटण्यात २ गोळे देखील लाटता येतात. तवा तापायला ठेवावा.

३. सगळ्या लाटलेल्या वर्तुळांवर अर्ध्या भागावर थोडेसे तेल लावून घ्यावे. नंतर, तेल लावलेल्या भागावर चिमटी दोन चिमटी पीठ घालावे.

४. मग त्या सगळ्या वर्तुळांची अर्धवर्तुळ होईल अशी घडी घालावी. सरावाने दोन्ही हात वापरून पटापट घडी घालता येईल. अर्धवर्तुळांच्या अर्ध्या भागावर थोडेसे तेल लावून घ्यावे. नंतर, तेल लावलेल्या भागावर चिमटी दोन चिमटी पीठ घालावे आणि अर्ध्यावर्तुळांच्या अर्ध्या (साधारण त्रिकोण होईल अशा) घड्या घालाव्यात.

५. सगळ्या त्रिकोणांना सगळ्याबाजूने पीठलावून ठेवावे.

६. एक एक करून त्या त्रिकोणाच्या जमेल तितक्या गोल पोळ्या करून घ्याव्या.

७. तवा तापला असल्यास त्यावर पोळी भाजावी, बाजूच्या पोळपाटावर जमेल तितक्या पोळ्या लाटून तयार ठेवाव्या.

जर नेहमीच्या पद्धतीने १० पोळ्या करायला २० मिनिटे लागत असतील तर या झटपट घडीच्या पोळ्या करण्याच्या पद्धतीमुळे १३ -१५ मिनिटे लागतील. तुम्ही जर ही पद्धत करून बघितली तर १० पोळ्या करायला तुम्हाला किती वेळ लागला हे आम्हाला नक्की कळवा ;).

टीप: झटपट पोळ्या करायच्या या पद्धतीने पोळ्या गोल, कमी गोल किंवा वाकड्यातिकड्या होत नाहीत. पोळी गोल होणे किंवा न होणे हे केवळ पोळीकरणाऱ्यावर अवलंबून आहे. 

5 Samskrit Shlokas for My Day

The Sun rises at a certain time of the day and there is light everywhere but I see that light only when I wake up… This statement is too philosophical. Practically this is what happens –  My part of the earth is now facing the sun( I don’t remember the last time I saw the rising sun), the day begins, but the light enters my eyes and the world is visible to me only when I open my eyes (I may not be awake).

What is the first thought that comes to my mind when I open my eyes in the morning? Most of the time it is Oh! I want to sleep for some more time or what time is it? or where is my phone? or something similar and unremarkable.

What if the first thought after opening my eyes is –

“Just as you eliminate darkness in the world with your light, O Sun God eliminate the darkness of ignorance in my life by the light of knowledge and wisdom.”

The above words are meaning of a shloka (verse) from Rig Veda which is known as Gayatri Mantra:

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः (Om Bhuur-Bhuvah Svah)
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं (Tat-Savitur-Varennyam)
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि (Bhargo Devasya Dhiimahi)
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥ (Dhiyo Yo Nah Pracodayaat ||)

Second shloka I like is karadarshanam:

                                             Karadarshanam Photo: https://heb.org.sg

कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मिः करमध्ये सरस्वति । (Karaagre Vasate Lakssmih Karamadhye Sarasvati |)
करमूले तु गोविन्दः प्रभाते करदर्शनम् ॥(Karamuule Tu Govindah Prabhaate Karadarshanam ||)

The translation of this shloka is – on the tip of my fingers resides Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, in my palms resides Sarasvati, goddess of knowledge, and at the root of my palms lives lord Krishna, the one god or god of spirituality. I like the idea that the lord has given all the abilities and it is in our hands to use them in a righteous way or why should we fear if the lord resides in me and I can see his power in my own hands.

The third shloka which is also recited in the morning expresses gratitude and requests forgiveness from mother Earth.

समुद्रवसने देवि पर्वतस्तनमण्डले । विष्णुपत्नि नमस्तुभ्यं पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्वमे

(Samudra-Vasane Devi Parvata-Stana-Mannddale |
Vissnnu-Patni Namas-Tubhyam Paada-Sparsham Kssamasva-Me ||)

I feel very very very small when I recite this shloka. Mother earth gives us everything yet we seldom respect it and take care of her. The shloka says (O! Mother Earth) O! Devi, You who have the ocean as your garments, and mountains as your bosom, O! wife of Lord Vishnu, salutations to you; please forgive me for touching you by my feet.

The fourth shloka is not in Samskrit but in Marathi and is recited before having food.

वदनी कवळ घेता नाम घ्या श्रीहरीचे। (Vadani Kaval Gheta NaamGhya Shrihari Che)

सहज हवन होते नाम घेता फुकाचे ।।(Sahaj Havan Hote Naam Gheta Phukache)
जीवन करी जीवित्वा अन्न हे पूर्णब्रम्ह ।(Jeevan Kari Jivitva Anna Hey Purna Brahman) 

उदरभरण नोहे जाणिजे यज्ञकर्म।।(Udar Bharan Nohe Jani Je Yagnya Karma)

The emotions and attitude in this shloka are difficult to express in words. Written by Samrth Ramdas Swami this shloka tells me not to eat to just fill my stomach but look at it as a Yajna karma – offering to sacred fire. So whenever one eats a morsel of food, take the name of god thanking him for the food. Taking the name of the god will not just digest the food but will nourish ones body and mind. This food helps us live as it becomes the energy that drives us hence know that it is not just for filling stomach but an offering to the sacred fire – अग्नि that resides in our stomach.

The fifth shloka is for book ending – at the end of the day just before I sleep.

करचरण कृतं वाक्कायजं कर्मजं वा । (Kara-Caranna Krtam Vaak-Kaaya-Jam Karma-Jam Vaa|)
श्रवणनयनजं वा मानसं वापराधं ।(Shravanna-Nayana-Jam Vaa Maanasam Va-Aparaadham |)
विहितमविहितं वा सर्वमेतत्क्षमस्व ।(Vihitam-Avihitam Vaa Sarvam-Etat-Kssamasva |)
जय जय करुणाब्धे श्रीमहादेव शम्भो ।।(Jaya Jaya Karunna-Abdhe Shrii-Mahaadeva Shambho ||)

Translation of this shloka – O! Lord Shambhu ! Mahadeva victory to you. O! Ocean of kindness please forgive all my faults (sins / mistakes) whether it is done by hand or feet, whether by speech, body or action, whether by ears, eyes or mind (thoughts), whether knowingly or unknowingly, please forgive them all. I feel this is one of the most important shloka to make us humble. Even a blink of our eyes can kill hundreds of micro organisms so now I am guessing how much harm I create to other organisms. The detergent that I use, the plastic waste or the vehicle I use! My words may hurt someone, I can curse someone in my thoughts, knowingly or unknowingly I commit all these sins. Is is not worth to request forgiveness from the almighty and be aware of our actions and thoughts to be a better person?

 

Reference links:

https://greenmesg.org/stotras/bhoomi/samudra_vasane_devi.php

http://truthnothingness.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-is-meaning-of-sloka-samudra-vasane.html

https://greenmesg.org/stotras/shiva/kara_carana_kritam.php

https://maharashtratimes.indiatimes.com/editorial/column/health/how-to-eat/articleshow/60912249.cms

Samskrit Bharati Shiksha Book Page 116.

सोम्या गोम्या चे फेसबुक पोस्ट आणि भिडेबाईंच्या कॉमेंट्स

नवीन पिढीला संजूनघेण्यासाठी ७७ वर्षाच्या भिडेबाई फेसबुक वापरूलागल्या. जे काम हाती घेतले ते अगदी चोख पार पडायचे हा त्यांचा स्वभाव. अर्थातच फेसबुक वापरण्यातसुद्धा त्या एकदम “Pro” झाल्या. कडक शिस्त आणि साधी राहणी उच्चं विचार असलेल्या भिडेबाईंची ही फेसबुक वरची कामगिरी.

मुलांवर लक्ष ठेवा पासून बर्थडे पोस्ट्स पर्यंत भिडेबाई सगळ्या मनोरंजक पोस्ट वर आपली प्रतिक्रिया देतात.

भिडेबाई गणिताच्या उत्कृष्ठ शिक्षिका होत्या. कदाचित म्हणूनच मोजक्या शब्दात मार्मिक उत्तर देणे त्यांना जमत असावे.

विनंती: या ब्लॉगपोस्टमधील सगळी पात्र काल्पनिक आहेत. त्यांचा कुठल्याही व्यक्तीशी काहीही संबंध नाही. जर कुणाला व्यक्ती आणि पात्र यांच्यात किंवा व्यक्ती आणि त्यांचे फेसबुक पोस्ट यामध्ये काही संबंध आढळ्यास तो केवळ योगायोग समजावा. हा लेख केवळ विनोदाच्या दृष्टिकोनातून वाचावा हि विनंती.