Disaster Memorial

Our final stop in Ireland was at an Air India Disaster Memorial at Ahakista. The flight from Montreal to Delhi via London was blown up in the Irish space in 1985. There is a beautiful park created in memorial of those 329 people who died. It was suggested to us by a local so we decided to drive down. It was around 40 mins drive from Dunmanway and a very small and beautiful coastal place. People from India, especially the relatives of those who died still come here to pay their homages, it seems and the people in Ahakista put them up in their homes during their stay. What a nice gesture.

 

Why I don’t invite people over for food

You might want to give this a read. It is a one-off post about my cooking skills. I don’t think I have ever penned a post about it and I don’t think I will do one in the near future. 

Yesterday I found this in the supermarket when I was there to buy some essentials. Since I dont have a microwave or an oven, this sounded cool and to make a chocolate cake using the cooker, how difficult can that be.

After all there are only three steps to get this done. I do have an idli cooker (a very small one) so it is all good. Right?

Wrong!
First off, I was trying to measure the amount of milk they had asked me to add, but I was actually holding water in the packet instead of milk to see how much it would need and then before replacing it with the milk I directly added it to the cake mix. The only ingredient I had to add to this mix was Milk and I ended up adding Water :shock:. Now that it was already messed up, I decided to just ago ahead and try with other modifications I thought of to salvage this. I added one egg so that it would be a little fluffier. Then I had a Hershley’s chocolate syrup, a 50 gm packet, with me. So for a good measure, added that too. And finally added the mix in my idly cooker. Placed some almonds in the center and sprinkled dessicated coconut on the top and left it to steam for 30 mins.

This is the result. It wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be. I thought it would be sweeter, but it was very mild. It was more chocolate-y. That is acceptable. But by the end of all this I was totally exhausted. It wasn’t a total damage or a waste of my efforts, I should concede to that fact. But what was supposed to be a three step process turned out to be an experimental gig. And what was supposed to be an eggless choco idly cake, turned out to be egg-ed one. 🙄 This is how most of my cooking efforts go. That is why when I invite people over, I order food instead of trying and cooking for them 😛 Its a win-win anyways, considering I am not a big fan of cooking and they would anyways enjoy the take outs more than my experiments.

Spirit of Adventure

I was watching this movie ‘The Everest‘. Ever since I saw the trailer during one of the other movies, I wanted to see this because of the recent Mount Everest disaster related to earthquake and avalanches. Spoiler Alert This is not a movie where you finally see all the people coming out of the disaster successfully. Nope. It is about people who tried and failed. And people who thought they lost and yet finally made it. In short, it is just about life , out there against the most formidable opponent of all , Nature.

That got me thinking. Why do it ? Not just climbing the the biggest mountain on Earth. Anything that involves risk, going against nature and trying to win it. I have done a couple of adventure myself, nothing too risky so far. But a little bit risky none the less. I have tried Parasailing (twice) and Sky diving. As I had already mentioned some time ago, I do it because that is my way of conquering my fear of heights. That doesn’t mean that I don’t get these weird imaginations about how the rope that ties me to the parachute that takes me up to the height during my parasailing might get cut or what happens if a bird decides that the parachute is very cute and decides to peck it. Even in fact, during my recent parasailing with my friend in Bali, there was a small disaster that got averted. My friend and I decided to do it together, the one where max of 3 people can go at a shot. Since there were 6 of us in that ride, they did 2 person each. When they did finish fixing my ropes to the chute, they went and fixed my friend’s and the guy gave the go to pull it up. But then he noticed that it was not tight and it almost came out such that my friend might have fallen if we had taken off. Thankfully, he noticed and called it off and went to fix his and then once he was assured that things were tight and nice, he gave the thumbs up for the lift off.

For a second, it was like, ‘what the heck happened’ and then we went up , I took the photos, made sure to take some of my friend’s (it was his first parasailing adventure) and kept my eyes opened to see the scenery below (because there was nothing much above 😉  and unlike last time, I saw it with both my eyes & got pictures to prove it too) and enjoyed the ride. It was total fun. We survived 😀 Even during my Sky diving, since I did it tandem, it was all good. I let go of my fear and put my whole trust on the guy who was gonna help me with the experience and that, for me is a big thing. Trust doesn’t come easy, especially when you have been through a broken one that had hurt you so bad. My Sky diving adventure was not just about the adventure, it was about trust, it was about letting go and seeing if I could still make it without having a fit. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t scared. I was a lot scared about how I am gonna get down and not break my ankle (again), what if the parachute didn’t work and in a moment of blind scare , I don’t listen to the guy and risk both of our lives. Trust me , those things have happened and that is why they make you sign all those documents with so many clauses, so that you don’t end up suing those who help you get you an experience.

Next on my list is Bungee jumping. This sh*t is scary because there is no one to guide me. I have to take the fall, if I decide to go with it. They would push me if I don’t do it (I think so , at least) but then it is entirely up to me to take my life in my hands and make that fall into the unknown. I am not sure when I will get to do it, but I wish I am strong enough to do it. And I really want to. And there is this another one thing I want to do in my life. Do the trip to Lake Manasarovar. No idea when that place got into my head. But it has been there forever. May be my love for everything related to Shiva made me fall in love with that idea. But now I want to go there. Not quite easy with my breathing issues (which I am fixing slowly) and all the altitude related sickness that can scare you. But with lot of help and modern facilities that are available, I think it is worth the try. And I will.

It is the same thing with these mountaineers , the person who does the walk between the canyon’s or any thing related to adventure , even if it is in a small scale. There is a risk in everything we do. But why go in search of it? What if we fail ? I guess Mallory puts it very clearly when he said

What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for.”
― George Mallory, Climbing Everest: The Complete Writings of George Mallory