DesiReflections

Discovering Authentic Tibetan Thupka Last year, I visited Kailash Momos  Restaurant on Woolwich Road in South London and enjoyed its’ authentic Tibetan cuisines especially Thupka. This is one of the eating place in London where you can  have authentic Tibetan cuisines such as  phingsha, laping, thentuk, tingmo, momos and of course thupka. In simple words Thukpa is nothing but a noodle soup prepared with  authentic Tibetan herbs and veggies. It is  usually served with meat and is really delicious with lean chicken, but the restaurant also serve its vegetarian avatar. "Thuk" means heart in Tibetan dialect , they believe that Thupka  is a heart warming dish. Wherever Tibetans moved from Tibet after Chinese aggression , they carried their culinary art, thus making Thupka popular in their adopted city . You may find authentic Thupka also in Maclodeganj where Dalaï Lama moved in early sixties. It is also equally popular in Nepal, North Eastern States of India....

Digital Storage on Internet Is Not Absolutely Safe …. In case you feel that whatever you have created or stored on internet , you are living in fools paradise. It may well be time to hit the panic button.  You will be surprised to know that the things keep on vanishing from the internet, to be forgotten forever. There’s no accountability, no culpability; very often,there’s no record of their existence even. The Mint reports that last month, Google announced wiping out accounts that have been inactive for two years in the coming months. If you haven’t had any activity on your account for a while, it will be killed, starting December this year. Google isn’t only the email account where you ping-pong “gentle reminders” back and forth till one person drops dead of inertia. It’s your everything account. Photos, YouTube, address book, travel map, this site, that app—all of it. It could all be junked owing to a policy change. This announcement led to fevered speculation that YouTube, part...

Canal Boat People of London                  Text and images - Pradeep Gupta  When the cost of an apartment in London skyrocketed to £ 1 million in the recent years , it has gone beyond the reach of even a middle class  Londoner. He had two options left, leave his very own city where he was born, raised and shift to some distant small town , or try to find out some alternate to apartment dream.  The solution came out of the long canal system of the city particularly in the Hackney Wick , Upper Clapton · Hackney Marshes, Tallenham Marshes areas. So, many city dwellers who could not afford a flat have purchased a boat at one fifth of the price of the flat. Yes of course buying a boat isn't as much of a lifestyle choice as it is a necessity. If it is a choice, it’s one made between living on very little to make ends meet on land, or the willingness to take on the leaks, the nights spent plumbing, the hassle of moving the boat ever...

Next Revolution in Computing: Apple’s Vision Pro …….                  -pradeep gupta  Get ready to enjoy an experience right out of Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One or a Black Mirror episode. It is called Apple Vision Pro , a revolutionary wearable spatial computer device  that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. Vision Pro creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice.  But all good things come with a big price tag, roughly  $3,499 or  Rs 2,88,700. This mixed reality headset will be available for sale early in 2024 in India. Vision Pro allows  users to interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically presen...

Papad , Badiyan Aur Achaar : Summer Ki    Bahar  I remember my childhood days, summer time used to bring a different kind of fun in    Western UP cities, towns, villages. During this season, like most of the women folk my Grandma was very busy in making achar of mangoes, red pepper, lassode, carrots, cranberries , papad of potatoes,rice, urad and moong dal, badiyan of urad and moong    dals , organic vinegar of sugarcane juice, jamun for rest of the year . It was a kind of festive ritual as ladies of my grandma’s    age from neighbouring houses also actively participated in this ritual. As the    summer used to be a long vacation time , we all kids were also    instrumental in helping them.  Similarly, in Maharashtra where I currently live , the summer season is meant for preserving produce for rainy season . The whole idea is to preserve vegetables and fruits to ensure sufficient stocks for the long monsoon period...

मेरा पहला गंभीर इश्क़  आज ही के दिन पचास साल पहले इस महबूबा से मुलाक़ात हुई थी . भव्य , सजीली , सुव्यवस्थित और अपराइट,  देखा तो देखता ही रह गया. पहले इसने मुझे खूब परेशान और हैरान किया , सताया , कई बार मुझे गंभीर न पा कर अपने पास से भगाने की धमकी भी दे डाली . धीरे धीरे इश्क़ परवान चढ़ने लगा , दिन के आठ नौ घंटे उसके साथ कैसे बीत जाते , पता ही नहीं चलता था. हाँ, हर रविवार और छुट्टी के दिन अपने बाहुपाश से छोड़ कर इधर उधर घूमने या फिर मेरे रिश्तेदारों और मित्रों के साथ समय बिताने के लिए छोड़ देती. फिर भी अगर मेरी ज़रूरत लगती बीच में ही बुला लेती . उसके इस इश्क़ के चलते ही मेरे परिवार ने मुझे विवाह के बंधन में बांध दिया लेकिन फिर भी मैं एक वफ़ादार प्रेमी की तरह दर रोज़ वही आठ नौ घंटे गुज़ारता रहा . नई नई शादी हुई , तब भी पत्नी को इतना समय नहीं दे पाया जितना कि वह हक़दार थी . पत्नी को इस सौतन से बहुत परेशानी थी , इस को लेकर हमारे बीच में बहुत खींचा तानी भी रहती थी. लेकिन पत्नी बेचारी क्या करती,  घर का खर्च भी यही सौतन चला रही थी . बच्चे हुए , बच्चे बड़े होते चले गए लेकिन उनको भ...