Lost my cellphone

I lost my Nokia cellphone last week. The phone was about 2 years old, and the screen cover was already cracked due to the slim phone falling off many times from my shirt pocket. The last time I had lost it, a good samaritan had returned it to me. This time, however, I was not lucky.

It did not take me much time to get the old SIM card blocked, and get a duplicate one. It cost me INR 25.

Instead of a buying a new phone immediately, I thought of using my Nexus S (which till now was being used as an email-checking and gaming device). Luckily, I also had a backup of my contacts / calendar entries which I could import into the Nexus S.

Its quite difficult to handle the Nexus S while commuting (especially in the rains). I plan to buy a plain (sub INR 2K) phone for regular use.

Fate and karma

One of the most confusing aspects about Vedic beliefs is the relation between fate and karma. The general idea is that karma is the reaction of the actions performed by individuals. It is also believed that what actions / decisions we take are the result of our past karma.

This puts people into a quandary: If all that we do is guided by what we have done in the past, then it means that we have no control over what we are doing, and hence no way to change our destiny.

Some guys had also asked me such questions during various spiritual discussions. A detailed and very good explanation of how this works is outlined in this article on the Krishna.com website.

Panchratna Ri Dal

Every once in a while you come across a recipe that you wonder why you did not try it out earlier. This recipe, in the Times Of India in October 2009, by Arvind Singh Mewar, is one such recipe. Since the time we first tried it out in 2009, we've made it at least once a month. The dish itself is prepared from 5 dals (hence the name "Panchratna"), and is quite wholesome. The spices are also not overpowering adding just enough hotness to the dish. The dish tastes wonderful if it is just about thick in consistency, and is best cooked over a slow fire once the dals are cooked.