The Diary Game- 08/14/2020- Day 14

Date- 08/14/2020

Friday

Which one would you prefer-- Power or Choice. Interestingly "control" stems from the combination of both. But at times, people are forced into a situation where there is a tradeoff between power and choice.

For instance, in an organization, there is a top-down hierarchy with the CEO at the top of the hierarchy and a common employee at the bottom. The CEO has greater control over other people in the organization. Here the power of a CEO position comes into effect to exercise control.

Similarly, when you go to a store and buy an item and you need to choose from 15 different brands. Here your choice comes into a play for better "control". Here power becomes irrelevant. Regardless of whether you are CEO or a common employee of an organization when you move into that store, it is the choice that is giving you better control.

Even in an organization, the lowest-level employee can also be happy with "choice" to have better control in his life. He can switch to a different organization. However, a CEO can also switch. But getting a similar position for CEO in other organizations can be difficult as compared to getting a job for the lowest-level employee in another organization. Here also the choice is making people happy as they better have control in their life(without power).

Simply put, depending upon the circumstances, people can be happy with "choice" only, or "power" only or "both" to exercise better control, but neither of them can not make people happy regardless of what circumstance it is.

I wake up to a wet morning at 4:35 AM, cloudy, overcast, windy, with intermittent rain and drizzle. So it is the straight fourth day of a typical rainy season with heavy downpour each day.

Hazy weather gets me lazy, but I am determined not to be lazy and I can not afford to waste my time especially in the initial 5 hours of the morning.

So I immediately took 2 glasses of lukewarm water and rushed to the bathroom for daily morning routine and then did yoga for 30 mins followed by 10 mins of meditation.

I then cleaned and mopped the floor of the living area, tidied up the things, and this took me another 20 mins to do so. At 6:00 AM, it was time to feed the birds with biscuits and grains.

Then from 6:15 AM, I started engaging with my daily important business, which is "study & prepare hard for my upcoming exam". I continued it until 10:30 AM and then took a break to take a shower and performed daily routine pooja and then I had my breakfast.

In the previous day I had soaked rice and urad dal, grinded it to a smooth paste, and left it for fermentation overnight. After 12 hours when I checked it was well fermented and ready to prepare "idli" and "dosa". So today I had "idli" in my breakfast, "plain dosa" in my lunch, and "masala dosa" in my dinner and it was a complete "idli & dosa" day for me. And obviously that gratified my taste buds.

^{"Idli & Dosa" Batter well fermented}

I had "idli" with "coconut & siki dal chutney" and also another chutney I made today, that is "tomato garlic chutney". It was a delicious breakfast.

^{Breakfast: Idli with "coconut, dal chutney" & "tomato, garlic chutney"}

The best thing about "idli" & "dosa" is that not just that fills the stomach but also healthy & tastes wonderful.

At 11:30 I checked Steemitblog and ANI news for daily briefings. I got to know about a number of contests in Steemitblog updates. And I also found one such contest exclusively for the Indian community. I hope it will bring the much-needed engagement in the diary game of the Indian community.

Without engagement, we can not achieve the true essence of a social media platform in this ecosystem. There are two ways in this engagement-- One is what interests you and based on that you engage. The other way out is guided by monetary motivation and you may cultivate that passion of engaging by striking a balance between monetary benefits and socializing benefits. In time, it will get better and more organic.

At 1:30 PM, I started preparing "plain dosa", it was easy and simple and I served this with "chutney" in my lunch. Once again it was awesome.

^{Lunch: Plain "Dosa" with chutney}

It was 2:00 PM when I finished my lunch and then I headed to my study table again. I tried to remain focused on my preparation for the exam. I am utilizing this bonus time(corona times, exam postponed till further notice), also using the second half of my day in Steem Blockchain for survival.

Life is really tough but it is also a hope. Life is also about choices. But during difficult situations, acute challenges I should not grapple with moral quandaries. I must not disconnect from my moral judgment in real-time difficult situations. This endurance will lead me to success at the end of the marathon.

At 4:30 PM, I took a break again, wanted to go to market, even I dressed up, but suddenly it started pouring in and I had to postpone it for tomorrow.

So I decided to engage in Steem Blockchain, started reading diary posts. I read a number of posts, as many as 18 but engaged with only 12 of them and also responded to those who have visited my diary posts and left comments. I love reciprocating & don't leave it like a one-way journey.

It was 7:30 PM, I took a break once again, and started preparing my dinner. I had to make the stuffing for "masala dosa" with boiled potatoes. I finely chopped onion and coriander leaves. Also made a light gravy using "onion, tomato, urad dal, chana dal, ginger, haldi". Generally, stuffing varies from one place to the other in India. But the kind of stuffing I made is in line with the south Indian "aloo masala" stuffing for "masala dosa".

^{Preparing "Masala Dosa" for dinner}

^{Dinner: "Masala Dosa" with chutney}

It took around 1 hr and 10 mins to prepare "masala dosa". I tried a little different today(experiment) and it turns out to the best so far in the "masala dosa" segment. I had chutney which I prepared in the morning. So I served "masala dosa" with "chutney" at my dinner.

That's all for today. I would go to bed now, as I get up early in the morning. Signing off now. See you tomorrow.

Thank you.