Deepening, darkening Grrreen!!

The economic slowdown, the green shift etc. are making the once termed 'cheap Indian mentality' not cheap anymore! 

Bringing your own bags to stores are welcomed and I see people sporting these store logo-ed green bags everywhere!(oh, I miss being the odd jolna pai!)

I was surprised to see the following printed on Target's plastic bag

10 Ways to Reuse Your Target Bag

1. Tiny Trash Can Liner 

2. Doggy Duty 

3. Water Balloon 

4. Road Trip Rubbish 

5. Soggy Laundry 

6. Ice Pack 

7. Toiletry Tote 

8. Kitty Litter Liner 

9. Tomorrow’s Lunch Bag

10. Care Package Padding

(aaha, appadi vaanga vazhikku!!)

Even my kindergartener has caught up with the Reuse-Recycle-Reduce mantra but her ishtyle is always the unexpected! She doesn't let me throw anything in the bin now(even the flimsy store bakery boxes). After the use of her favourite tools: scissors, glue, colors (Cut & Paste & Decorate) it becomes a "gift for Amma"!! 

Whether I (get to) use or not, I love to clip all those coupons that I find and add to my handbag clutter. But compared to her, I don't know if I will even qualify to be Kadhalikka Neramillai Sachchu style, raanikku saamaram veesum chedi!!! 

It is nice that all newsletters are sent(or atleast have the option) in e-mail saving paper. But isn't  it just light green since electricity is used to power those computers?

People, please stop giving those free T-shirts for anything and everything! Most of them are of gigantic sizes and others have outdated logos(how to wear a T-shirt with prints Digital 1999 or Black Friday 2006!)

Hubby's office celebrated a belated Earth Day recently (on a day he was off!). A few days back he proudly brought back his green kit containing a couple of green re-usable bags(with grocery on the other hand in a store plastic bag!!), a green tips sheet and other pamphlets in logoed plastic bag! One of the green tip was about carrying your own mug to the coffee shop & reduce trash! Everytime we had to get doggy bag/food to go from the restaurant, my hands would itch to get a container of my own but never got the courage(what if aththaan declares, "That's it! No more eating out")! Anyway, like the jolna pai, I'm sure the day is not far away when everyone will come to restaurants with their adukku tiffin box! 

Kaapi & Tea

This post has been brewing in my mind for quite a while now but what with the spring fevers and spring breaks! Next to sweets, the kaapi/tea comes in my irresistible list! I try to limit one of each per day but any bonus is absolutely relished. As a kid, Amma made it more special by banning it for kids. It was an absolute triumph when Amma, vexed with our pestering, lifted the ban! Till date, the thought of hot kaapi  is my boost to the chore-some 'waking up in the morning'! 

For Appa, anything more than 1/2 tsp of sugar in the kaapi is panagam but the rest of us would enjoy the kaapi with a generous 2-3 tsps of sugar. But that made it impossible to enjoy kaapi anywhere outside of home. Especially, in the kalyana mandapams, in the plane, at Starbucks etc. Initially, it used to be embarrassing to ask for more sugar packets at the counter all the while wondering how this sugar crazy land is content with one teeny-tiny sugar packet for the giant lotta of coffee! Also, it took a long time to realise that the little too milky cafe latte is the one which is as close to our kaapi from among the big list of capuccinos & espressos in the coffee shops. 

Even though the filter kaapi wins hands down and it is worth waiting for the thick dicoction to drip & fill the filter, there is no time for these indulgences during the hurry-burry week days. As it is my dislike for microwaved milk has raised a few eye brows. Whatever the beverage, I only prefer the good old pongalo pongal stove boiled milk!

Like the English language, the other British custom left by the British and adopted by some Indian families is the afternoon Tea. With a couple of biscuits and soothing hindi songs from Vividbarathi, it was bliss. The best tea I ever had was at a roadside tea shop in Mettupalayam! Tea is good if someone makes it for you. And making tea for one person is torture! Hubby is from a kaapi and kaapi only family! After several ghajini attempts, this got him hooked onto tea so much so that these days he gets Chai Latte from Starbucks for both of us!! 

Lately the kollywood movies can be categorised into the kaapi or T type movies. Kaapi types are from big banners, big casts, big names and copied/lifted from foren films. (Originali)T types are small budgets, new faces or forgotten faces, too realistic, sad and/or gory! There are few boost/bournvita type movies but don't stay in the mind too much!

Anyway, as per the tradition of including arusuvai (of including veppam poo & mango pachidi) on the Tamil new year's day to signify the ups and downs of our life, I am thinking may be I'll start a tradition of having 1/2 cup of unsweetened kaapi and 1/2 cup of sweetened kaapi! To all my Virodhis and Friends, puththandu vaazhthukkal!!

Vattam, Maavattam!

The Appas, Ammas, Athais, Mamas of desis who come to visit the states spend most of their time converting $ into Rs or vice versa. But as a pudhu ponnu in the states, I appavi-ly use to exclaim, "haiyo, tape recorder 55 dhaana! Vangidalamley?" much to the horror of Hd! Then came the icing, sales tax! Especially with all prices ending with a .99, the final payment always seem a mockery! To my knowledge, I always remember paying either the MRP or sticker or the kadakaran sollara price at stores in India. Or if one is really lucky with no 'no bargain' signs, can even come out of the store with a big grin having saved Rs. 2!! Here in the States, if one is lucky enough to live in a no sales tax state or even in the vicinity of such states then orey the alattals dhaan!! To save 5%, we used to drive 50+ miles in the North East! 

It was a revelation that not just the tax, driving rules, immunizations, speed limits and many other things varied from state to state. And when we moved here, it went another step further,  the county level! With our city lying across 3 counties, it took me a while to understand the county level rules, tax(take the right turn and save 1% sales tax!), school systems etc. Anyway, all this build-up is for my latest bungle. 

As a pudhu ponnu in the states knowing nothing about the big deal about long weekends and the mandatory big plans for trips that one has to make and with an absent-minded professor hubby who might thankfully remember on Sunday evening that the following Monday is a holiday, I took over the holiday planning committee chair(wo)man post. All was well until this past President's day long weekend. With hubby having a holiday, relatives' kids having a holiday, Balavihar on holiday and even the stock market enjoying a holiday, not in my wildest dreams did I imagine A1's school district county would be sincerely working on President's day! Now hereafter, every holiday I will be subjected to the "Are you sure its a holiday for me today?" 

Slum God!

When the hares of bolly, kolly and all the o'llywoods were racing for the os'car', slowly, steadily and smartly ARR has won the 'ஞானப்பழம்' (gyana pazham)!! Congrats to Madras Mozart(!!)! More than all his recent awards, its his acceptance speech with a punch(billion people in GG, in tamil at Oscar)that really was more surprising! "இவ்வளவு முத்து கூட உதிருமா இவரிடம்(Ivalavu muthu kooda odhiruma ivaridam)!!"

I like "கஷாய"(kashaaya-isn't that the opposite of masala?) movies even though I am an emotional party(you know!)! I have been keeping my fingers crossed for our ultimate gutsy கஷாய director Bala's latest கைவண்ணம்(kaivannam), 'Naan Kadavul'. Before I had kids, a couple of dozens of handkerchiefs and I was all set to watch those real movies. But now, emotionally and mentally weak, I have to muster enough strength to sit through those serious stuff. Having not been able to watch beyond 30 mins of 'Slumdog..', severe penance, I mean, preparations are needed to see kadavul, I guess!

Something something!

In our local Indian store, the newest attraction is 'Madras Samosa'! It's only around the late 90s, that Chaat houses started creeping up in Chennai but now there is a local version of the Samosa??  The crust of this new entrant is crispy which makes me wonder if some wrap (tortilla or wanton wraps) is used for the crust. So, does that mean from scratch preparations are punjabi(?) samosas and semi-homemades (Sandra Lee ishtyle) are Madras versions?!! If so, what wraps do they use in Madras?

Sometime back during a discussion with A1(my older one) about eating habits, I happened to mention that my grandma often said kids can & should eat anything & everything and that they are even capable of digesting stones. These days the pulses / lentils/ dals' (especially tur dal) quality has come down a lot.  Either it takes too long to cook(some don't cook very well even after an over-night soak!) or there are impurities in them. So, when A1 discovered a stone in her food once, she asked me, "do you want to test my digestive system, Amma?" 

Repeat-u!

A2 stepped into infanthood from babyhood. A2 is still too young to comment/reject Amma's homemade cakes but for A1 the yummy cake with icing from the store is worth waiting!

December in Chennai is kutcheri season and here in the US, it is 'jingle bells' season. I was remembering how some people used to get tired with the ''oliyum oliyum' team in the DDO(doordarshan only) days for featuring appropriate songs around the pongal, navarathri, Christmas festival times("போச்சுடா! இன்னிக்கு ஒரே பொங்கல்/கிருஸ்மஸ் பாட்டா வெப்பான்!"). Also, repeat programs wasn't much welcomed in DDO days, isn't it? But I am grateful to the numerous channels here which repeat old comedy serials. Even if I've watched it numerous times, some serials like Friends, Everybody loves Raymond, Cosby show, Spin City etc. are so enjoyable that I don't mind watching it again and again! And the entire cast in some shows(Spin city, Everybody loves Raymond) are just too too good!

Once again, its the time of the year, to say goodbye to one and welcome the next. It can be just another year for some or a new beginning for others. Whatever, asusual, wishes for a happy year ahead. Ey meri Guzarish(Asin, you lucky girl! First Surya then Kamal and now Aamir-a!! BTW, the credit shows Javed Ali/Sonu Nigam. Who has actually sung the song?) !

Andrum Indrum

In my grandma's generation, coconuts were got directly cut down from trees in the backyard, then fibres removed, outer shell cracked open, white edible part grated and used in cooking;
In my mom's generation, coconuts were bought from stores and then outer shell cracked open, white edible part grated and used in cooking;
My generation, frozen grated coconut packet is cut open and used in cooking;
My daughter's generation might just read it in the ingredients section of ready-made meals!!

In my grandma's generation, they hardly knew their exact birthday;
In my mom's generation, they were aware of their exact birthday;
my generation knew to celebrate their birthdays;
my daughter's generation start planning their birthdays as soon as that year's party get over!!!

அன்று கிளி ஜோசியம் பார்த்தார்கள்
(Andru kili josiyam paarthaargal)
இன்று டார்ரொ ஜோசியம் பார்க்கிறார்கள்!!
(indru tarrot josiyam paarkiraargal!)