The best dinner rolls!

This thanksgiving I made the best dinner rolls from KAF recipes along with green bean casserole and fruit cake. The others weren’t much to write home about but I was so impressed with the dinner rolls that I had to brag here

When I took them out of the oven, the shell was hard to touch but after brushing it with melted butter as suggested in the recipe they were so soft! And to think about it I accidentally doubled the quantity of the potato flakes and they were still so good. The recipe listed below is half of the original and it makes 8 rolls.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/8 cup instant potato flakes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons soft butter
• 1/3 cup lukewarm water
• 1/4 cup lukewarm milk

Topping

• 1 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1) Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl, and mix and knead to make a soft, smooth dough. I’d to add some extra water probably because I accidentally added some extra potato flakes!

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased container and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it's just about doubled in bulk.

3) Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.

4) Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Round each piece into a smooth ball.

5) Lightly grease one 8" round cake pans. The buns will be close together and when they bake will eventually bind together this will ensure right baking of their sides.

6) Cover the pan, and allow the buns to rise till they're crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F. When I put the buns for baking they hadn’t risen so much that they were touching each other, even then my rolls came out perfect!

7) Uncover the buns, and bake them for 22 to 24 minutes, until they're golden brown on top and the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it.

8) Remove the buns from the oven, and brush with the melted butter. After a couple of minutes, turn them out of the pan onto a cooling rack.

9) Serve warm. Store leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature.

First snow of the season

Tuesday morning we woke up to the most beautiful sight…here’s a view of our backyard

and the front

I love this photo…the fresh snow glistening under the rays of the morning sun.

My first craft fair

I haven’t been posting much as I’m busy preparing for my craft fair. You can read more about it here. My first craft fair is on Nov 6th and here’s the info:

Woodinville Holiday Craft Fair

Woodmore Elementary School

12225 NE 160th St Bothell WA 98011

Nov 6, 2010 9AM-4PM

Where do I start? How about getting a real estate agent?

I’ve been gone so long and there’s so much to say that I don’t know where to start. Even though it sounds like a trite movie dialog, it quite sums up my feelings at this moment :-).

Primary reason for my absence has been our moving into our first house and all through the buying process I made a mental note to write about all the big and small things/tips that would help a first-time buyer. Though they’re coming back to me, they’re rushing from different directions.

The first and the foremost task at hand for a first time buyer is to get yourself a good real estate agent. By good I mean:

• He/She should be very experienced in the specific area you’re buying the house in.
• You should be comfortable talking to him/her.
• Don’t hesitate to talk to her references.
• He/She should not be pushy.
• He/she should be very patient. They should let you take your time.
• Available for you when you need them. If you want to look at the house on weekends, then make sure he/she is available on weekends.
• Make sure he/she deals in real estate in your price range.

You should interview at least 3 real estate agents and then finalize on one. Whenever you’re selecting any servicemen, three is your magic number. Most of the above qualities you’ll come to know when you interview. If you find yourself not compatible with your agent during the house hunting process, don’t hesitate to switch. A real estate agent can make a huge difference in what kind of house you get and what price you pay.

Since I’m on this topic, I would like to post a recommendation for our realtor, Paula Sanford, for those in the Puget Sound area. She’s absolutely the best realtor one can find! Her experience in this area is simply astounding – which was a huge help. She knew what kind of architecture was prevalent in what decade and what was code then is not code now. The latter is immensely important. One visit to the house and she could tell why a decent house in a perfect neighborhood would not sell easily. Her knowledge of what sells and what doesn’t was very impressive and worked like a prediction during our house hunting process. We know that she always tried to get us the best deal and never hesitated to ask for anything on our behalf however small it maybe. Her philosophy “it never hurts to ask” is what you need in a good realtor. When we wrote an offer, she only gave us advice and left the final word on us and we know how right her advice was all through out. Once our offer was accepted, we never had to worry about the paperwork. She always had everything ready and if we’d to send something she would promptly send us a reminder. Paperwork seemed a breeze with her.Oh and she was so patient with our hunting. Being first time buyers, our requirements changed so much over the period; the house we bought is so different from the specifications we gave her.when we first met. She was always ready to take us to show a house and once she knew what we were looking for she would preview a house to screen it – isn’t that wonderful?!?! Ok, so now you know whom to contact if you want to buy a house here :-)

The Last Song

Author: Nicholas Sparks

For the last few weeks it’s been only food and books on my blog :-). I’ve been busy as a bee (or worse!) for the past few weeks and I think that will continue till at least the end of this month; but despite that a woman’s got to eat and read!!

Last Song is such a beautiful book! It starts with a teenage girl being forcefully sent to stay with her father over the summer, by her mother. She’s joined by her brother who’s feelings are diametrically opposite to those of her sister’s. She’s the most indolent kid one would’ve ever seen and her father the most patient. Her father and brother spend all the time together while she wastes away her days and often lands into troubles. One fine day, she meets Will and slowly they fall into  love. At the same time, her father’s patience with her pays off and they start getting along. However, that is just the beginning of the story. She’s yet to face an earth-shattering reality and tackle it.

I really loved the father’s character – there was something in that character that made me feel that he was out-of-the-world parent. His silent understanding and trust for his children was beyond measure and gave him that special relationship that he had with his kids. The novel is very “alive” – you can feel the emotions of every character. Another reason I like the novel was because it was in harmony with what I feel – it’s more important to be surrounded by people than to be surrounded by things! As I always say “Stop and smell the roses”, “Slow down and enjoy the scenery”, “It’s not the destination but the journey”…you get it! :-)

Bottomline: Love it!

The Wednesday Letters

Author: Jason F. Wright

I picked up this novel based on a blogger’s recommendation – she raved that she it was a very engrossing and touching story.

The story is about a husband and wife who die the same night and are survived by their three kids. Two of the three kids had rarely come home and it was the death of their parents that brought them together. As they go through the house, reminiscing the good times and the bad, they find boxes and boxes of letters. Their father used to write to their mother every Wednesday irrespective of where they were and unknown to them all these years. Some of the letters are plain janes, some funny, few romantic but all of them reflect how much their parents were in love and there is one which reveals a secret that none of them had any inkling of. A secret that rattles them all.

The story is indeed very interesting albeit filmy at times. It manifests the peaks and valleys of a marriage; and one can learn so much from the characters of the husband and wife.

Bottomline: I like it!

The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

The story is set in Missisippi at the time when racism was at its peak in the US and the white kids were raised by their black maids. Skeeter after graduating from her college comes back to Jackson where her parents are. However, with her liberal thinking she finds herself a misfit for the small conservative town. The treatment meted out to the black maids by their white mistresses always irks her. She’s itching to become a writer and towards her goal, starts writing the daily housekeeping column for the local newspaper. Given the background, a white lady has little knowledge of housekeeping and hence she resorts to her friend’s maid Abileen to help her out with the tips and tricks. One day an editor of a popular newspaper advises Skeeter than if she wants to make it big in journaling/writing she has to come up with something nobody has ever thought of. Skeeter takes this advice to heart and comes up with the most radical plan. To execute this plan she needs the help of many black maids in her town, starting with Aibleen. This plan changes the map of her life. Even though it makes her lose her boyfriend and puts her and the maids’ life at risk, it gives all the participants a ray of hope. It is the only light in their life. The way she executes her plan and the secrets that unfold during the execution are the essence of the novel.

I think the author has done a brilliant job – while reading the novel you forget that it’s a piece of fiction, you get so engrossed. You’re completely transported to Missisippi and with every page, your eagerness to read the next only increases.

Bottomline: Love it!

Eggless Chocolate Chip waffles!

If you were to look at my last post, you would think that I’m on an eggless recipe hunt :). It’s just that I prefer to cook things which require ingredients that I already have and by using eggless recipe I avoid one more ingredient in the house, it is healthier and feels good. Though I’m not sure if I would be able to find recipes for eggless-everything :).

Anyway, before I found this recipe I’d tried making eggless waffles using another one from the net and it was so bad that I vowed to never try eggless waffles again. However, on coming across this one I couldn’t resist :) and had to try it! I’m glad I did because they taste absolutely delicious!! So much better than the regular recipe listed in my cuisinart manual. I can eat these waffles just like that, without any syrup/topping!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 level tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup milk
• Chocolate chips, according to taste. To give a rough idea, I must’ve used 1/4 cup or less.

Method:

1. Heat the waffle maker.
2. Mix all the ingredients together except butter and chocolate chips.
3. Add butter. If you add butter in the beginning, it forms lumps with the flour. Even after adding it in the second step, there might be small lumps, that’s ok; but remove all the big lumps, if any.
4. Add the chocolate chips.
5. Make the waffles as per the directions of your waffle maker.

Note: The original recipe asks to keep the batter for 2-3 hours. I never remember to do that but still like the taste of the waffles. I intend to try this next time.

Eggless Banana nut muffin

I found  this recipe at Saffron Hut and the muffin were delicious! I’ve a 6-muffin pan so I halved the recipe and the recipe below is for 6 muffins.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 3/8 cup sugar
• 1/6 cup melted butter
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• chopped walnuts, according to your taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Mash bananas. Make sure to do it properly so that the bananas blend well into the batter.
3. Reserve some chopped walnuts for topping and mix all the other ingredients along with the bananas.
4. Line the muffin pan with muffin cups and divide the batter into the 6 cups.
5. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or till golden brown. You can do the toothpick test – insert a toothpick in one of the muffins and if it comes out clean, they’re done.

Hope you enjoy them!

Twilight and New Moon

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Well, I’m sure most of the readers must’ve already heard about these books and the author. The popularity of the Twilight series as been compared to the Harry Potter series and seems to be the biggest craze in books for the past year.

I’d long avoided reading this series because I never thought that I could like a book whose hero was a vampire. I mean come on – a love story with a vampire?!?! However I caved in and finally started to read the first in the series – Twilight; and I was hooked. Its such a deeply romantic story that you just can’t keep it down. Of course, being a "YA” (young adult) category there were instances where I felt that how could the heroine be so dumb but I was ready to skip over those places and complete the book.

The story begins with Bella, a teenage girl moving to a dull town, Forks, with her father. She disliked that place and had no idea how she was going to adjust to it; but she was in for a surprise. At her school she meets this young handsome boy, Edward, who’s just perfect – the dream guy you can think of – and then she couldn’t think of leaving Forks, ever! All she could think of now was him. However, loving a vampire is not easy – it has its own risks!

New moon: is the second in the series. Edward decides to leave Bella because being with him had endangered her life now and again. This leaves her heart-broken – to an extent which seems ridiculous to me! It is then that she starts getting more and more friendly with her native american friend Jacob. If you thought that the story was now more human-e then you’re absolutely wrong! The author just doesn’t believe in human romance :). Turns out that Jacob is a werewolf and werewolf and vampires are enemies. You can now figure out the complications that would result in Bella’s life!!

I like Edward’s character in the story but have no words for Bella’s character. She’s the most dumb, irrational, ungrateful and stupid heroine I’ve ever seen! But she doesn’t stop me from getting addicted to this series :). So now I’m waiting to get my hands on the third in the series :-).

To all those who don’t belong to the YA category, you must be ready to gloss over some of the stupidity and irrationality. Oh and not to forget, the script is not well-edited. I wonder how they manage to make so many mistakes in this age where we have software like Word. That was seriously very disappointing – considering the popularity of the series! An extra “to” here, an extra “the” there – pathetic!

Bottomline: I don’t why I’m so addicted to this series!!!!

Same kind of different as me

Author: Ron Hall and Denver Moore

This book was very engrossing as well as heart touching! It shows how much difference can just one person make in this world. It is a very inspiring story.

It’s a true story about a black slave, a woman who wants to make this world a beautiful place and her husband who has the midas touch. The story of the black slave is heart wrenching and his life, hard to imagine that it could be real. On the other hand, the husband and wife climb the social and financial ladder so fast that soon they have anything and everything one can think of; but the wife wants something else – to bring a smile on people’s face. So she, along with her husband, decide to distribute meals in their church once a week. Slowly and gradually their once-a-week commitment encroaches the other days of the week. It is then that their paths cross with the black slave and what follows is a story worth reading.

Bottomline: Must read.

Happy Ugadi and Happy Navratri!

Today is the beginning of the navratri and it is also the beginning of the new year - so wish you all a happy ugadi!

Donations

Just like food and yagya, donation can also be categorized as saatvik, rajasik and tamasik.

Saatvik donation is one where the donor considers it to be his duty to serve humanity. He never thinks about what he would gain from this donation either in this life or after. He doesn’t expect anything in return from the receiver. He gives to the appropriate persons, at appropriate places and in appropriate times.

Any place/person/time, in need of what you’re giving is an appropriate place/person/time. In ordinary cases, Kurukshetra, Haridwaar, Mathura, Kashi, Prayag, Naimisharanya and other pilgrim places are considered the most appropriate places. And eclipse day, full moon day, new moon day, sankranti, ekadashi and other auspicious times are the most appropriate times. Apart from needy people, giving to all those as prescribed in the scriptures is apt.

It is our duty to serve those who’ve helped us. So such a behavior should never be considered a part of giving. A true help can never be paid back so the least we can do is to serve them and to make them happy. If we consider that as part of giving, then we’re insulting the recipient.

Rajasik donation is one which is given with some expectation or in return for some help or with bad thoughts/actions. Expectation could be directly from the recipient, could be attain some karma points, to establish one’s reputation, to get publicity, to impress someone, etc. Giving donation to somebody with whom one is involved or expects some assistance in the future is not considered true donation – because one is doing it for one’s own good. Similarly giving to somebody because you there’s other way out – there’s some political pressure or any other kind of pressure – is of no good.

Tamasik donation is one that is given without honor, in a disrespectful manner, to an ineligible person, at inappropriate place/time.

The economy is so bad…

I received this in an e-mail and just couldn’t stop laughing!! So I’d to share this :D

***   The economy is so bad that

... I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

... I ordered a burger at McDonald's and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"
... CEOs are now playing miniature golf.
... If the bank returns your check marked  "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.
... McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
... A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .
... Congress says they are looking into this Bernie Madoff scandal. Oh Great!!  The guy who made $50- Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5-Trillion disappear!

Yagya

Just like food, yagya can also be categorized into sattvik, rajsik and tamsik.

A yagya performed according to the scriptures and without any ulterior motives is considered sattvik. The yagya should be ordained, by the scriptures, to be performed by the man of such a class. The man doing the yagya should not expect to gain wife, children, house, respect, appreciation, reputation, victory or heaven; nor should he do it to alleviate undesirable circumstances or his sorrow.

A yagya performed with faith and according to scriptures but with a motive to gain something or simply to establish a reputation irrespective of faith is considered a rajas yagya.

Tamas yagya is one which is not performed according to the scriptures, doesn’t involve any food donation and is done without any mantras, alms and faith.

Three kinds of food – II

Rajasik food, that is food liked by people having predominantly rajas guna,  is:

• bitter like neem, karela, etc.
• sour like tamarind
• salty like namkeen
• too hot
• spicy like red chilli
• dry like pop corn or anything roasted in the furnace
• daahkarak (sorry don’t know the translation, if you do please let me know) like mustard seeds

Such food causes pain, regret and diseases. For example, after having something too hot you may burn your tongue; on tasting something very spicy you may have water running from your eyes/nose; on easting something dry you may get something stuck in your throat.

Tamasik food, that is food liked by people with a dominating tamas guna, is:

• unripe or half-cooked: produce that is not ripened, food that is not cooked properly.
• devoid of any juices: food that has lost its juices because of various reasons like air, fire, etc.
• possesses a smell: like onion and garlic
• stale: which was cooked the night before or produce that was picked from the farms long back.
• uchistha – ok this is hard to explain in english. It is leftover food that has been bitten into by somebody else.

Get rid of your bad luck

My research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

[source: Be lucky, it’s an easy skill to learn]

How true!

The three kinds of food

I’d always been curious about how is sattvika, rajsika and tamsik food defined. How would I ever decide whether something is sattvik? And this curiosity was fueled by the food items allowed during a fast or pooja. Onions and garlic were always a no-no and I wanted to know why. My mother told me that maybe they left a bad smell in the mouth that’s why; but I wasn’t satisfied. This was one of the questions which motivated me to read the scriptures in the very beginning – I wanted to find the answer in them. So you can well imagine the smile on my face when I came to this chapter in Gita :).

The kind of food you like is also influenced by your nature.

A sattvik man likes food that has the following characteristics:

• Increases longevity.
• Cleanses and sharpens mind.
• Improves physical as well as mental strength.
• Brings satisfaction and happiness to the heart.
• Increases the feeling of love.

Some of the food items that have the above qualities:

• Those that have pith like milk, sugar, etc.
• Oils extracted from sattvik sources and butter, ghee.
• Those that stay in the stomach for long. There are no specific recommendations but my mother always used to say that whole-wheat roti stays in your stomach. So I’m guessing whole wheat would be one such example. And one could extrapolate this to other whole grains too.
• Those that bring a pure thoughts in the mind and not dirty or impure.

Faith, Conscience and Devotion

You actions build your inherent nature and your inherent nature resides inside your conscience. Hence, your nature determines your conscience. Your conscience influences your faith and your faith, your devotion. Ultimately, its your actions which decide your faith and devotion.

I’m a little confused about this – I would’ve thought that your character determines your actions but Gita says the other way around; and it uses the verb “builds” your character. So the more I think of it the more it makes sense, one may be born with a character but one can always build it through his actions all through his life. That is what is being stressed here – your character develops based on the actions you do and your character influences your decisions on what is right and what is wrong. And this ability leads to faith in something. So the most important thing to do is to do good deeds.

Faith

Depending on his faith and following of religious teachings a man’s destiny can change.

• If a man has faith in religious teachings and follows them, then he can either do it without any desire for the fruits of his labor or otherwise. In case of former, he achieves moksha while in case of latter heaven is his destiny as he is a sattvik person.
• If he follows some religious teachings but doesn’t have faith in them then he will not get any fruits for his labor.
• If he has faith but does not follow any religious teachings for lack of any knowledge of them then he has sattva because of his faith as well as rajas and tamas guna and he will be rewarded according to his karmas.
• If he neither has faith nor follows the religious teachings then he’s a tamasik person and he will go to hell.
• If he sneers at the religious teachings then he will not get any fruits of his good deeds but he will have to bear the consequences of his bad deeds.

Have a little faith

Author: Mitch Albom

Awesome is just the word for this piece of work! I loved reading every word of this book and I would highly recommend it to everybody!

In concept it is similar to “Tuesdays with Morrie” and is a true story too. The author is asked by his rabbi if he would write his eulogy, to which the author has no choice but to agree. To accomplish that he must learn more about the Rabbi and so begin his tete-a-tetes with the Rabbi. With some hesitation he began this journey and little did he know how much he would learn on the way. He also comes across a pastor during this period with whom he gets associated and even though the Rabbi and the Pastor were so different – one was the leader of Jews and other that of Christians, one was a black and the other a white – there were so many similarities in them.

As the title says, it’s all about what is faith and what it can do; but not in a philosophical manner but in a more story-telling manner. There were so many dialogues in this book that were worth writing down but then I realized that if I did that I would be copying half the book in my post :). There is one that has left an indelible mark on my mind: the rabbi says to get happiness one must “Be satisfied. Be grateful”. So true! I always knew the satisfied part but on reading this line that it is so important to be grateful of what you have. It is only then you realize how much you have and the importance of it. How many of us thank God for having a wonderful and loving family? In fact for having a family? For a good job? The food that we eat and the house that we sleep in? For our five senses, two working hands and legs?

When I list them down, it looks like a laundry list and one would argue do we really need to list each and every thing? Well yes, we do. That’s the whole point. We take everything that we have for granted and keep wishing for/complaining about/comparing all those things that we don’t have. What we don’t realize is that there is a whole gamut of people out there who don’t even have what we have. Trust me - we’re all so lucky in what we have!

Ok coming back to the book :), as you would’ve realized this book is on a topic that is close to my heart – faith and is simply beautiful! I can go on and on praising it but I would rather that you read the book :).

Bottomline: Awesome book!! Must must read!

Sweet pongal

This time when I made pongal for Sankranti it turned out just perfect, DH simply loved it and so I decided to record the recipe. Even though  it is from Chandra Padmanabhan’s Dakshin and I have this book, I like to write down what I did because I’m sooo going to forget how I made it when it’s time to make it next year!

The way to remember the proportion of ingredients in this recipe is to benchmark them with respect to the volume of rice. You don’t have to use 1 cup rice, you can use 1/2 cup rice and change the other ingredients accordingly.

I used 1/2 cup rice and it yielded enough pongal for around 4-6 people.

Ingredients

1 cup rice

1/2 cup split yellow moong dal

2 and 1/2 cups water

1 cup milk

3 cups jaggery and 3/4 cup water

cashew and raisin, in quantities you like

1-2 tbsp ghee for roasting the dry fruits

Method

1. Pressure cook dal and rice with the milk and water and without the weight. Remember to not put the weight, this is very important as using the weight boils the milk. I checked the cooker now and then to see if the rice and dal were cooked. Since we’re not using the weight, it’s easy to open the cooker again and again. Rice and dal should be cooked and should’ve absorbed the liquid. If it’s just moist then that’s not a problem but too much of liquid and you have a watery pongal.
2. Dissolve jaggery in 3/4 cup of water by cooking on low heat.
3. If you think your jaggery has too much of impurities, strain this liquid. I skipped this step.
4. Thicken the jaggery mixture a little. Add the cooked rice and dal to the jaggery and stir. If the consistency is like you want then you’re done otherwise you can cook it a little to thicken it.
5. Shallow fry the dry fruits in the ghee and add them to the mixture.
6. Delicious pongal is ready!

Happy Makar Sankranti!

Happy Makar Sankranti/Pongal/Lohri/Bihu to all of you!

Sankranti marks the northward movement of the sun and this period is known as uttarayan; while the karkasankrant (the onset of the zodiac sign cancer) marks the southward movement of the sun known as dakshinayan. This day is considered considered very auspicious and hence people are encouraged to make offerings. [Source: Hindu Jagruti]

{Place holder for the photo of my pongal :) – yes I made it!}

How do we celebrate it? We make sweet pongal and ellu (a mixture of coconut, jaggery, sesame seeds, etc.). I did make sweet pongal but forgot to make ellu this time :(

Tell me how do you celebrate this day!

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Author: Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

The main focus is to provide financial intelligence to people. It has some unconventional teachings. The byline of the book is that if you like something and you can’t afford it, always ask yourself how you can afford it. Similarly he says that from your monthly salary you should take out your pocket money first and they pay the bills. Not because he doesn’t think paying bills is important but so that if you’re short on money and still have to pay bills  you’ll exercise your mind to earn more money. The book is filled with examples of how he used every opportunity to his benefit.

I think it’s an excellent book to read! On the financial aspect it was too aggressive for me to absorb but I felt that those teachings could be applied to any dimension of your life. And of course if you were keen on getting some financial gyan then  this is the book for you. Apart from hard work, the only other thing that I’ve found common in the advice given by all successful people.

Divine or Demonic?

All human beings on this earth are furnished with either divine disposition or a fiendish one.

Described here are the symptoms of a man who’s disposed towards the demonic.

They have no knowledge of their duties; they do what they like, without caring about what they must and must not do.

They do not believe in the existence of the Supreme one – the one who’s the creator, generator and destroyer of the earth. To them the world was created by the union of man and woman and that is what will keep it going.

All their decisions are driven by desires and sensual satiation. They harbor desires for indulgence and vow to fulfill them however impossible it might be. Thus manifesting their ignorance.

They take refuge in worldly anxieties which have no end and will exist even on their deathbed. In their opinion, the only happiness that they can get is from worldly objects and they spend their life aggregating those.

They are trapped in hundreds of gallows of worldly desires and have thus becomes subjects to the vices of anger and sexual desires.

Their goals and achievements are marked by “I have gained object X” and “I need to gain object Y”; their thoughts are mired by “I’ve so much wealth and I need so much more”.

They think they’re supreme and have all the required powers. The world is because of them, they can do whatever they want to anybody in the entire world. Even when they give, they do so to establish their reputation and not as a deed offered to God.