The Magnificent Mughals....

Hi all...
India was till recently considered to be a land of princes....in fact when we gained independence nearly six decades ago...there were more than 540 princely states that had to be amalgamated in the union....however no other imperial house ever reached the ascedency or wielded power over India as did the house of taimur (तैमुर) or the mughals...but it is not just the power and imperial splendor that invokes awe for the mughals...I can't pin down a specific reason for it but mughals have acquired a special place in the hearts of the Indians...it is a name that invokes nostalgic romanticism still..The house of taimur was founded in 1526 by Babur after the second war of panipat (पानीपत) .....the mughal kings held sway over large swathes of India...in fact they were nothing less than supreme masters of India...atleast till the later half of the 17th century when the maratha power under the dynamic Shivaji (शिवाजी) asserted itself in the deccan....the rise of the maratha power aggravated the downfall of the mughal empire....matters were further worsened after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. The later mughals neither had the expertise nor the resources to hold together the collosal empire which began crumbling soon after...the mughal princes managed to to be in power....though only as titular heads...and as mere pawns first in the hands of unscruplous nobels and then the british...the last mughal emperor Bhadur Shah Zafar II (please refer to the post titled...Zafar's Last Poem) was exiled from India in 1858 to Rangoon where he died in 1862.... However the history of mughals is so expansive and vast that it can't be covered in a single post...will talk about it in future posts...but as of now I will just list down the names of the mughal emperors.....

1. Zahiruddin Mohammed Babur (ज़हिरुद्दीन मोहम्मद बाबर) (1526-1530)
2. Nasiruddin Mohammed Humayun (नसीरुद्दीन मोहम्मद हुमायूँ) (Ist reign 1530-1540, IInd reign 1555-1556 ): also refer to the post King for a day.
3. Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar (जलालुद्दीन मोहम्मद अकबर) ( 1556-1605)
4. Nuruddin Mohammed Jahangir (नुरुद्दीन मोहम्मद जहाँगीर) ( 1605-1627)
5. Shahabuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan (शहाबुद्दीन मोहम्मद शाहजहाँ) (1627-1658)
6. Moinuddin Mohammed Aurangazeb Alamgir (मोईनुद्दीन मोहम्मद औरंगजेब अलामगीर) ( 1658-1707)
7. Bahadur Shah I ( बहादुर शाह प्रथम) (1707-1712)
8. Jahandar Shah (जहानदार शाह) (1712-1713)
9. Farukkhsiyar (फर्रुखसियार) (1713-1719)
10. Rafi-Ud-Darjat (रफी-उड़-दर्जत) (1719)
11. Rafi-Ud-Daulat (रफी-उड़-दौलत) (1719)
12. Nikusiyar (निकुसयार) (1719)
13. Mohammed Ibrahim (मोहम्मद इब्राहीम) (1720)
14. Mohammed Shah (मोहम्मद शाह) (1720-1748)
15. Ahmad Shah Bhadur (अहमद शाह बहादुर) ( 1748-1754)
16. Alamgir II (आलमगीर द्वितीय) (1754-1759)
17. Shah Jahan III (शाह जहाँ III) (1759)
18. Shah Alam II (शाह आलम II) (1759-1806)
19. Akbar Shah II ( अकबर शाह II) (1806-1837)
20.Bahadur Shah II (बहादुर शाह II) (1837-1857)

So these 20 names constituted the entire mughal empire....and covered 331 years.

Hope you liked the trivia...till the next post....
take care
Siddharth-The King of Me!!!

I am in love...

hi all....

It has been some time since I last blogged....but I must let you know that someone very special kept me occupied.....In fact I have decided to proclaim my latest crush in front of all of you...but before I tell you who is the lucky one....ummm...infact I am the lucky one to have her company... :-] ......I know... for people who know me...this might come as a shock...but some things are tied to the inescapable call of destiny and this is one of them...I am sure you would want to know how did we meet ...the very first time...

It was a sunday evening and I was at the pacific mall......it was then when we both saw each other for the very first time....I would be lying if I say that I wasn't attracted towards her..I was!!......she had a bright colourful face....a sparkle in the eye....slim body...and curves to die for....I was simply mesmerized by her very presence....did not know what to say or do....but I was sure about one thing...I wanted her in my life....and I wanted her desperately....I am thankful to god that she is with me now...and I dont let her away from me for an instant....

Let me share her picture with all of you...



Suprised....are you...but why???....I was talking about my latest love....my nokia 2630 handset....check her out ...you will fall in love as well!!!
Take care....
Lovestruck Siddharth...

Stratagem of Life....

Hi,

( Sun Tzu)

hmm...lets start with the quotes from art of war....if u are new to the blog please visit the last post....The quote for today is....Sun Tzu .....pronounced as Sun Za said ......



" All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

and....Tzu couldn't have been more correct...I know several people friends, classmates, people from office...who practice this art of deception...with such finesse...that nobody comes to know of their plans till the very end...however I must confess...that I am not good at this art....fortunately or unfortunately....but that mind you, depends entirely on how you choose to look at it you might choose to support or differ....however you would agree that nothing is completely right or wrong in this world. If I was choose between these two I would want to be an ideal mix between these two extremes...I mean you cant be bragging about what you plan to do... to every tom dick and harry also if you end up not realizing what you bragged about people...you would end up being the butt of all jokes.....on the other hand you need to ...like I do... share your plans and with your good friends and parents because two brains are better than one......

obviously when this quote would have been written...which was like 2000 years ago....you had your army and that of your enemy's......so you had two choices either be the hunter or be hunted....now days ...THANKFULLY!!....the situation is not that desperate...but I think the crux of this quote remains....you need to be careful and be on the watch out.....and keep your secrets to yourself because people might use it against you... ..plus also choose your friends with considerable discretion....I think that's all that I could gather...if you choose to differ or have another perspective on the quote...do let me know...would absolutely love it...

till the next post....

TC

Siddharth Tewari

The Art of War....

Hi,
Life is nothing but a war...a war to survive, a war to succeed, a war to be noticed....every aspect of our life is nothing but day in the battle ground....of course there are days of intense fighting...interspersed with days that witness a lull....or even sporadic ceasefires....but that's
all part of the war nevertheless....I thought sharing the famous book the art of war written atleast 2000 years before by a chinese general Sun Tzu....would be nice....

I hope you have heard about the book it is so popular...and so very nice....I thought I will go quote by quote...and small paragraphs on each ...that is as much as I can understand and make sense of them....In fact the relevance of these quotes can be gauged by the fact that army's of several countries....still refer to this book...in fact I would also recommend this book to those unfortunate souls who are doing their MBA....b'coz it might be very helpful in making strategies to tackle the problems that we as future managers....might face at our workplace....talk about responsibility!!!

if you want to read the whole book ...i am sure it would be easily available at a book store near you...and it is not so expensive either...but I would personally recommend the net if you want to just go through them....you could also refer to a blog called http://www.siddharthtewari.blogspot.com/ for expert opinion...hehe....so lets start.....I meant from te next post onwards...

so till then
take care and be safe....

Siddharth Tewari

Unadulterated Valour....

hi all,


Indian air force is one of the biggest in the world. I stay in Vaishali a satellite town near Delhi....not far from Vaishali is the Hindon Air Force Base....so we often see the monsterous machines flying over our head.
It gives me great pleasure to see these jets sailing in the sky....espcially after the republic day parade held every year on the 26th of January.

Well....26th January is also the occasion when gallantry awards are awarded to the various defense personnel. The highest award in India for gallantry is the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), (परम वीर चक्र). So after this year's flypast I got thinking about the PVC winner's from the air force. I searched the net and will like to share what I found with you......

THE STORY OF FLYING OFFICER N.S.SEKHON

well we all know about the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971....the main thrust of the war was in present day Bangladesh then called East Pakistan. However Pakistani forces carried out several failed attempts to attack our northen frontiers also....It was one such day on 14th December in 1971...in fact Pakistan surrendered on the 16th Dec. Anyways....that day Sekhon and his fellow air warriors were surrounded by Pakistni Sabre's (it is said that these planes were much superior to the Indian Folland Gnat). Despite the odds against the Indians....the brave young Sikh destroyed two enemy crafts before he attained martydom. It is said that if the enemy aircraft were not offered any resistance they could have bombarded the city of Srinagar at will and could have caused heavy loss to life and property. It is for this gallant act that was nothing but pure courage and valour....backed by the call of duty that Flying Officer N.S. Sekhon was awarded the PVC....the fact that only 21 people have been awarded this medal only underlines his heroism....and incidentally he is the only one from the airforce to have achieved this honour.

It might have been close to 27 years that this incident took place but reading it made my eyes moist and my heart full of pride.....

I would like to take this oppertunity to salute all the ranks of the Indian Defense Forces....we all must remember that it is because of these men and women...that we can live our lives in peace.

(The Folland Gnat)
I have found the photo of flying officer N.S. Sekhon on the web....Let me tell you that the photo belonged to some other website and I am just pasting it here....so that people can get to see a brave hero..... also take a look at the Folland Gnat and the Sabre's. Sabre is towards your right.



till the next post
Jai Hind!!!
Siddharth Tewari

Jalebi...oh so yum!!

An Ode to the Jalebi!

Her thoughts bring water to my mouth,
her smell reminds me of good days I spent down south.

the roundabout golden alleys,
dripping with nectar..melting in mouth..oh so divine!!

It's not a snack....not a sweet....it is nothing less than a masterpiece!!
the good ol' jalebi!!!
(by Siddharth Tewari)
Jalebi....written as जलेबी in hindi is a popular sweetmeat in the Indian subcontinent.It is basically a pretzel shaped prepration that is soaked in a sugary syrup called chashni (चाशनी).
Jalebi is considered to have somewhat humbler origins than most of the sweets made in India like barfi (बर्फी) ,gulabjamun (गुलाबजामुन) , rabri (रबरी ), balushahi (बालुशाही) sohan papri (सोहन पप्री ) etc...because jalebi can be made easily and with much less expensive ingredients.

Well one can have jalebi's anytime you want but mostly they are prepared in the evening. You can be sure to find jalebi...at any halwai shop in India.

Most north Indians like to have jalebi in the evening along with another popular snack called the samosa.....will talk about the smashing samosa in another post!!
A lot of people also cherish eating jalebi with yogurt in the morning...I have tried it but didn't like the taste much....eating day old jalebi's dipped in milk is also a popular way to cherish this sweet.
Jalebi's are usually bright orange or yellow in colour. In South India jalebi is called jangiri, but in middle east jalebi is known as zangoola.....

A similar sweet to jalebi is emarti (इमारती). In fact I call one of my closest friend as jalebi....anyways let me share with you how can you make jalebi at your home....

All that you need is

1. 2 cups maida or all purpose flour
2. 1/4 tablespoon(tsp) baking powder
3. 2 tsp yogurt
4. 2 1/2 of warm water
5. 3 cups of sugar
6. 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
7. 5 large tsp ghee or clarified butter

Method:

mix the flour, baking powder, yogurt and cardamom powder in water and then let it ferment. In the mean time make the syrup by dissolving sugar in water and heating it.

Now heat oil in a kadai or a deep fry pan....and put the batter in in circles. Deep fry the batter till it is golden. Then dip the fried piece in the syrup....let it soak.....just a little bit more.....close your eyes now and take a deep breath... if you are lucky enough you can smell it if you cant it's ok....you just need to master the art....dont worry it will come with time....but anyways.....open your eyes to see the bueaty in all its glory...and enjoy!!

till the next time take care....

Siddharth Tewari

Want to know your Chinese name??

I was surfing the net today when I came across this site where you could find out what would be your name in chinese....I found it to be pretty cool....all that you need to do is enter your first and last name along with your desired essence of the name ( I entered mind and intelligence), gender and your date of birth...click enter and Voila!! you have your brand new chinese name!!

According to this site my name in chinese would be: TAI SHU TOU!

The URL to site is : http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html

So go on and get a name!!!
Till the next post take care...
Tai Shu Tou!!