Saaka? Beka?

As long as in the parent's nest, didn't give much thought to the plate of food, infact favourite food most of the time, that awaited me every meal time! The realization hit only in one's own nest! Most Indian dishes, though delicious, involves tedious work. I can't think of many dishes that are easy to make. Even the basic dal & roti or rice & rasam/curd(in this hemisphere, a degree more or less in the warmth of the milk will result in climate change(d) antartica's melting glaciers like yogurt and not the katti thangam, I mean, the getti thayir that one expects!) involves medium level work! But the worst is that even hard work doesn't guarantee rewarding results. Another proof of this!

So, instead of becoming a beku by slogging with the "kai vidaa" stirring / "ennai kopparai" styles of cooking with average(and below) success rates, I took to the fantastic "fill it, shut it, forget it" baking! With wonderful food recipe sites and amazing food bloggers simplifying & healthy-fying recipes that are easy & rewarding, neither I have to give saaku-pokku to avoid making yummy dishes nor the victims have to give saaku-pokku to avoid my experiments!

So, here are some of my experiments from the www!!

No-bake chocolate & peanut butter cookies - One of my relatives had sent this and I loved it! The recipe is so easy and simple too! Only, the next time I am going to make it as bars instead of cookies.

PB Granola - I love granola bars! With a little chocolate chips, nuts etc. it is better than Snickers! (As you would've guessed, I have got to finish this jar of chunky peanut butter sitting in my pantry!)

Banana bars - Feeding A1 healthy foods is getting challenging every passing day, month, year! She is tired of all the banana breads and muffins. So, I found this recipe. Don't know how long its going to take for her get tired of this too!

As per many commentators in the recipe site, it is too sweet and I cut down on sugar & butter. I haven't tried it with the icing too. Still very yummy either for breakfast or just a snack.

Coconut bun - I used to love these thenga buns. Thanks to the food blogger for posting this recipe. It came out delicious. Only problem was that some liquid from the buns oozed out in the baking process. But that might be because I must've really stuffed the buns!

Nippattu - Seri, seri, atleast one savory dish since its winter!! This came out well only it became a bit soft the next day.

Ada, Raamaa!!!

Good - Healthy diet containing fruits, vegetables

Bad - Junk foods

Ugly - Pesticide/hormone added produce/dairy

Good - Bathing/Showering preferably everyday

Bad - Not bathing/showering

Ugly - Taking showers can make you ill

Good - Natural breeze through open windows

Bad - Artificial air conditioning

Ugly - Keep windows closed, use air conditioning

Deepavali Bonus!

I got my Deepavali bonus! Vi'jai-ho'! ".com" Vaazhga!!

Even though the celebration for Kamalhassan's 50 years in Cinema has been going on since August in Vijay TV, I have been unable to contain myself ever since pictures & articles about the grand event that took place in Nehru stadium last month began emerging!

Atlast, 'kanden kondatathai'!!!

The program was fairly neat and organised, categorised decade-wise, talent wise with oliyum, oLiyum performances in between. K Balachander & AVM Saravanan made short & sweet "oosi vedi" speeches having already said much more in the 'thodarum sarithiram' episodes. The Radhika segment was the "sara vedi"! Rohini's poetic speech & Revathi singing 'inji idupazhaga' were 'maththappu'! The absence of Kushboo, Ambika/Radha amongst his heroines was surprising!

The much anticipated unplugged with SPB & Hariharan was a mini "poochetti". Mini because after the CBE extravaganza 'Kamalum Kadhalum', anything else might seem low-key! Vivek's rocket speech was asusual enjoyable. It was puzzling to see Kamal sitting unusually grim faced almost through the entire time, his expression brightening once in while and notably when Shruthi sang "one is the loneliest number"!

The function-shy Ilayaraja made exception to attend his sahodarar's mega celebration. But the "10000 wala" speech came from Rajni!! He was unbelievably Mr. Perunthanmai-kanth! When Kamal came atlast to the dias he seemed genuinely emotional! Kudos Annathey!! You absolutely deserve this accolade!

In those yesteryear DD only days, 2 Kamal songs in Oliyum oliyums, chitrahaars /chitramalas would lead to big elated discussions. Now after happily drenching myself in the Grand event Kamal shower, it is sad to find all my Kamal fan blogger friends in dormancy/hibernation. Even my best friend and fellow Kamal fanatic is in a non-approachable situation that I had to make this Deepavali release myself!

Iniya Deepavali nalvaazhthukkal!!

Achchamundu achchamundu!

Nope, not a(nother) review of the recently released movie. But ever since I heard about the movie, it's been of some interest to me. Be it the new& nice cast of Prasanna & Sneha, the desi setting of the movie or the director of the movie, Arun Vaidyanathan. In my pre-blogging days, when there weren't many tamil blogs, Arun's blog was one of the few tamil blogs that I followed. He used to post about his short films, movie reviews etc. but had to shut it down because of some nasty commentators. When bloggers(whether you know them personally or not) come under the limelight, it feels the way a friend does. But now having come to know of the theme of the movie, I am all "achchamundu achchamundu"!

Once upon a time, in Damil movies, the hero was the epitome of goodness! Then there was a time when all heroes were anti heroes. Ipellaam, orey the yadhartha heroes dhaan! The perfectly odhavakarey college/high school drop outs, drinking & smoking in every frame! Is that Anbumani Ramadoss saar giving that 'I told you so!' look? But luckily or unluckily, the red carpet - Bangalore ishtyle stories will not make it on Damil screens!

And what is with Jeeva and sodhappal endings? From 'Ram' to 'Dishyum' to 'SMS'... aiyo! yempa ippadi?

Gone too soon!

The only news that penetrated and made us to pause during our vacation was the passing away of Michael Jackson. This past weekend, the news of his fans all over the world performing his songs to commemorate his 51st birthday took me down memory lane too.

My interest for western music started (& faded) with his rise(& fall!). In the late 80s and early 90s, 3 of us friends used to sit glued to the radio sets (rarely together but mostly in our own homes) on Saturday nights to listen to the one and only western music program on Madras B and discuss the songs the following sunday morning. It used to be a competition to learn the lyrics of the songs! MJ's was a particular favourite. Screaming 'Ambey... Ambey' for 'Bad' or feeling goosebumps listening to 'Man in the mirror' or giggling to the 'Girl is mine' seems like yesterday! When cable TV entered and brought MTV home, watching the videos of Thriller, The smooth criminal, Black or white were so awesome!

A (US return)friend of mine in college sort of gave me the idea that MJ wasn't as popular in the US as in India. So, the first time in the US, when someone asked me whose or what kind of music I liked, I wasn't sure whether to say Michael Jackson or not. Then he himself added, "George Michael? My sister used to be crazy about him"! I was about to blurt, 'George Michael, Michael Jackson, I guess all Michaels' and gulped it at the last minute and saved my face for the person talking to me was a Michael too!!

Like most celebrities, once again, in the manipulation contest between the media and the celebrity, the media wins!

RIP, Moonwalker!

P.S. - And bye, bye Chandrayaan! Some consolation!

Malayala Melody

Our back from India items include all the usual ones like eatables, clothes, memories etc. plus a few children's VCDs everytime. A1 has graduated from 'Amma inge vaa vaa', Thenali Raman/Panchatantra animated stories to music/dance VCDs this time! Enjoy a few samples here. Feel free to suggest any other musical videos featuring children singing/dancing.

In an unrelated note, idhu ennanga combination, Mr India Sridevi - Thayir vada desigan...

Senti-mental!

Summer holidays meant going to paatti/thatha veedu for most Indian kids. Guess, the desis are continuing and saving the tradition now! We made our 'thaai manney vanakkam' trip this summer. It was A2's first trip to India and my first time with 2 kids on the mega flight experience(not bad at all!).

The last couple of months just zipped past packing & unpacking from one place to another, attending several functions(thoroughly enjoyed vazhai ilai kalyana saapadu!) etc. that after my return I had to go thro' the photos to realise what really happened! None of the usual NRI stuff like cinema theatre visit, shopping or sight-seeing this time b'cos of clingy A2! A1 went on an amusement park-adanam in every place with whoever available!!

Atlast people have started to get bored of mega serials and now it is Music/dance shows that rule India. Aaha, enna timing that I got to witness the mega final of Super singer 08 and Surya's sashtanga namaskaram to Kamal in vijay awards!!! And what 'phonnu, cell phonnu, blue toothu, black berry, blue berry.... idellaam dupe... SMS dhaan top!! Chiyaan, nee asathu ba!!

I guess, it's quite common in most house-holds that the porandha veedu and pugundha veedu have totally different lifestyles / pazhakka-vazhakkams! Every trip some stuff gets left behind in India, mostly accidentally & some purposely! It was so funny that on one side, I can dig into all those treasures and more while in the other, even if I came back missing my flight, the stuff would've been donated! Now back home, to deal with all my household collection mountain, I am wondering if I should go my usual 50-50 method of holding onto some as memorobilia and trashing the rest. But now the problem is that there is adidhadi as to which is memorobilia/trash & to who!

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!)

Digital(l) age!

Ever since I heard/saw in the news about television broadcasting in the US going all digital from February next, it's been unbelievable that there are television antennas in this part of the world and that there are users too!! It looks like eons now those good(!) old days in the then, Madras with most houses showing off (multiple, sometimes!) antennas which was crows' kuttichuvar' for their daily discussions. There had been numerous times when we had to dance with those antennas moving it in different directions to get some decent audio or grainy video.

For me, digital age started with those Rs. 35 digital watches. Aaah, those were the days! Now almost every room in our house has a clock with digital display like clock radios, cooking range, cable box etc. that sometimes I doubt my clock reading skills from dial clocks!

When my husband bought his first digital camera, I thought it was an unnecessary expenditure(little did I know, mega pixel count was in competition with mega serials!). Although I agree that digital cameras help us record every smile, every step, every milestone of our little ones, it is no match to looking at a physical photo album. And with the numerous pictures sitting in supposedly organised, appropriately named folders, it's become so tedious to find 1-2 specific ones from the chakravyugam! I fondly remember those 24-36 film roll camera days when finishing a film roll was a big task followed by the wait for the prints('aanandha avasthai'!). The look on our faces at the photo lab - priceless(can be 'Salangai oli' Jayapradha style or that podi payal style!)!

Ragasiyamaai...!

"Can you keep a secret?" asked a (relatively, at that time) new friend. Why and how she trusted me with that big secret which I had to keep for 2 semesters is still beyond me. But the hardest of all was when on the big secret reveal day, I had to pretent as if I was hearing it for the first time infront of the rest of the gang!!

Recently read this in a fwd message

3 fastest means of communication

1. Tele-phone
2. Tele-vision
3. Tell to woman

Need still faster - tell her not to tell anyone.

LOL!! But that's because most Men have communication and/or memory problems! When my friends prided about having conspired with my husband for my surprise baby shower, I was glad he remembered about the party and taking me there!!

I used to be a better secret keeper in my younger days probably b'cos I didn't talk so much then! Infact, I was so good that it upset some close friends later when they found out that I hadn't shared some of the secrets with them!! These days I am having to do a lot of 'mennu-muzhungi' to guard secrets. It is easier if we know how long we got to keep it a secret and if we don't have to mingle/face the concerned parties.

Having said all these and with a blog mostly about me(2), what secret have I got to share for this tag of yours, mitr? :)

Lost (and found) in translation

Isn't it a shame that perseverance like some other qualities like innocence, shrewdness which as children we casually and effortlessly master but let fade with age? It is both amazing and bugging when after lengthy discussions with a child about why (s)he is not allowed to do something or why (s)he is not ready for something or why (s)he cannot have something, the child goes back to square 1 the very next day(and the next day and the next day...) and asks 'Can I have/do it?' just in case Amma forgets and let her/him have/do it!! But then, thinking about it, as parents, we do persevere in repeating some gems handed down thro' generations hoping they would echo like 'அசரீரீ' in their later years just like it did/does to us.

எடுத்தால் எடுத்த இடத்தில் வை(Eduthal edutha idathil vai) - The most common 'asareeree', I guess! Even if you are an organised person, if your spouse/partner is not, then 'searching...' is unescapable!!

கண் பார்த்தா கை செய்யணும்(KaNN paartha kai seiyanam) - If there are things strewn on the floor or water dripping from a faucet or see any unfinished task, my hands will go 'para-para' because of this gem from my grandfather!

Do you hear any (more) of these 'asareerees'?



Cho says in Muhammad-bin-thuglak, 'அரசியல் ஒரு சாக்கடை, அதில் எது வேண்டுமானாலும் கலக்கலாம்(arasiyal oru saakkadai, adhil edhu vendumaanaalum kalakkalaam!)!' Not-so-very-similarly, English language has a lot of kalakkals! Didn't know that a word's language of origin gives clues to its spelling! Kudos to those kiddy bees! Anyway, coming to my point, I'm wondering how some English words got totally different meaning in India. Like how 'smart' got to mean beauty instead of brains. How wild 'assault' got tamed to mean 'casual'? And how 'hold on' became to function as bus' stop chain!!

Truth (sometimes) Triumphs!

Writer Sujatha's passing away was shocking inspite of the knowledge about his poor health and hospitalisations in the recent years. For many of my generation, reading(novels) mostly meant in English language but the limited reading in Tamil would definitely include his works. I really admired the balance with which he dealt with science and religion.

Long time back he did a Q & A in Junior Vikatan. I remember someone asked him about 'maru jenmam'(rebirth) and I vaguely remember his explanation about how it can't be true sighting that the human population has always been on the increase. Now thinking about it, according to Hindu religion, rebirth can be as any creature and not necessarily human, right? So, if we take the total count of all life forms on this earth, will it be a constant no? That all those extinct animals are reborn as humans now?

Vaimaiye (sila samaiyam) Vellum was my very first attempt in reading a 'thodar kadhai' and not surprisingly it was Sujatha's. Talking of truth, when I read reports about person(s) confessing to a crime in India, I can't help doubting if (s)he is the real culprit? Is (s)he being framed? etc.(too much of movie influence?) Similarly, I can't help wonder why and what prompts people to confess to their crime after many years!

தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்து - தமிழ்நாட்டில மட்டும் சொல்லாதீங்க!!
(Tamil new year wishes - say not in TN!)

Going, going.... green!!

It's been months since I wanted to post on this topic but by the time it got the chance to see the light of day, all these have become old news!! Anyway, better late than never!

Green - never been my favourite colour. Probably because the colour is always associated with raw, dirty etc. in Tamil. The colour's association with our arch rival neighbouring country could have added to it. In my nenavu theriyadha vayasu, Amma tried to get me a parrot green with rose border pattu pavadai but luckily the store didn't have that combination and I ended up with a peacock (neck) blue with rose border pattu pavadai! But in the recent years, the dislike for green has begun to change like tamil movie hero-heroine's modhal-pin-kaadhal style(starting with 'pachai nirame', may be?).

After pillayar suzhi with this, information super highway (mis?)led to very many scary articles about pesticides in produce, rBGH hormone fed cow's milk etc., that I began 'organic-organic' chant. Like (mythological) Markandeyan's parents I had to choose between short life-spaned almost-never-on-sale organic produce or pesticide friendly regular produce. A friend was helpful enough to add to the confusion commenting that since proper regulations aren't yet in place for organic farming, even her garden vegetables can get passed as organic produce. Appo aadha-aadha(adhanga, 50-50!) dhaan!

Next it was time to buy a new washer-dryer. The kathukutty armchair environmentalist was all for the neela nira energy saver tag. For the budget which would have fetched a laundromat size washer-dryer, we ended up with a petite front loading W/D(Now about the comforters... which can't be washed in our petite machine... Should I wash them in non-energy saving-laundromat machines or replace them every season?). Oh, btw, the uncomfortableness and back-ache caused from loading the clothes crouching infront of the machine will go away when visitors' exclaim, "oh, front loading machine-a!". ;)

Now what is the use in having energy saver appliances if one is using environment unfriendly detergents! Chi-chi-chi! Try, try and try again with detergent names starting with eco, bio in Whole Foods or Natural/Organic sections of Supermarkets. With Indian cooking, Curious Georgina(s), any detergent will need some extra help, isn't it?

Since the beginning of the new year, 'Going Green' has become 'hot'(almost topping the new resolution list!!) Like SVSekar says in 'Ellarum Vaanga', 'ella porukki pasangalum namma technique-y follow panranga'! So, in TV, magazines and everywhere there is tips, tips and more tips to go Earth friendly.
First in the list is car pool and/or switch from gas-guzzling vehicles. Except to work, we never let my husband go anywhere without us(hey, he gets to drive peacefully on the car pool lane!) and so what if in place of Accord we have Civic now, it is hybrid!
Next in the list is energy conservation - shut off unnecessary electrics. Hey, we are from a country where it is in the genes like our elders to follow people from behind and shut off lights/fans even when they just step out to get a glass of water! 'Yaar kitte pesureenga', huh!
And then there are those recycle/reuse plastics(anga dhaan naama nikkaromey!), run dishwasher/washing machines on full loads(overload pannamey irundhaley perusu!) etc. etc. on which we don't need any more lessons!
I mostly adhere to and even change my lifestyle if it would mean doing my bit for the Earth/Environment but for #1 in this recent article in RD - Iyaa, mudiyadhaiyaa!!

Taare zameen par

Preschoolers, A1(my older one) & B are good friends. B's mom often complained about this boy, C who bullied B at school. From the teacher, we came to know that C was not only troublesome but a troubled kid too(his parents were in the midst of a divorce!). After learning this, I kind of sympathised with C than with B. Don't know if I would have been as sympathetic had the bullied kid been mine. During one of my visit to the school, C once told me, 'A1 doesn't like me!'. I didn't know how to react. My heart went out to this little boy who for no fault of his, was undergoing stress at this young age. C no longer comes to school. Wonder which parent won custody of him!

Update

I am not done yet, like A1 says! I was in a hurry to publish my post on the special leap day of the year! Anyway, while browsing through the TV channels, I landed on 'Supernanny' programme recently after a long time. I told my mom about this programme and she was appalled at how kids were disciplined. "Manushaal illadhadhanaaley ennannamo seiyaraangapa, indhoorley" was her comment!

When A1 was in her terrible 2s-3s stage, I thought these Supernanny, Nanny 911 etc. would be interesting and helpful in learning to handle toddlers. But after watching a couple of episodes, I realised what a gem A1 was and more, I didn't want her catching me watching it for I feared she might think, 'oh, ippadiyellaam pannalaama!' I've often wondered, how those children captured on camera would feel years from now!

Mahanadhi

Sa...d movies, always make me cry!

அதுவும் மஹாநதி-யை பார்க்க எவ்வளவு தைரியம் வரவழைத்துக் கொண்டாலும் முடிவதில்லை, முழுவதுமாக பார்க்க!

Echo

In those good old DD only days, there used to be a programme called 'Ediroli' where viewers sent in their comments, suggestions about the week's programmes. The one & only highlight of the programme was that the name of the Sunday evening movie MIGHT get revealed! Does something like this exist in any of the Channels these days? Lately, I've been catching up on some of the Tamil channel programmes and my letters to the imaginary 'Ediroli' team.

Watched your(Sun TV) "Koottu Pongal" with Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Nithyasree and Lakshman Sruthi shown as part of the special Pongal programmes. The concept was novel where Pushpavanam Kuppusamy & co sang a folk song and based on its raagam, Nithyasree sang a classical song and Lakshman Sruthi & troupe sang a film song. Only the choice of songs by Lakshman Sruthi was 'naaraasam'!!!

The other musical programme called "Pattikaada Pattanama" compered by Gangai Amaran with Manika Vinayakam, Gana Ulaganathan and co on the Pattikaadu side and Harini, Tippu, Haricharan, Jaydev & co on the pattanam side was quite enjoyable. It started off well with both teams singing songs based on a theme like Bakthi, Pengal etc.(Especially hilarious was when for the 'thaikulam' theme pattikaadu team sang 'ammadi... ponukku thanga manasu' and the pattanam team retorted with 'ammadi.. athadi..'). Kadaiseeley, konjam sodhappal!!

"வாயுள்ள பிள்ளை பிழைக்கும்" என்பற்கேற்ப, இன்றைய தேதியில், தமிழ்நாட்டில் பேசத்தெரிந்தால் போதும் பெரிய ஆள் ஆவதற்கு!!

In Vijay TV, the 'Neeya? Naana?' is the jolly kind of 'Arattai Arangam'. The Kalyanam, Rasipalan topics were interesting. The compere, Gopinath doesn't let any discussion to grow into an arguement. Surprisingly, he speaks good Tamil too! But the casualness that has come to this kind of speaking in public is making people say anything and everything without shame! In the rasipalan episode, one boy proudly told the audience how he scored less than 300 marks in his 12th Std and how when everyone said he couldn't get into any college, one josiyar predicted he would definitely get into a good college. The boy proudly showed off his AMJain college ID card!! "இழுத்து ஒரு அறை விடவேண்டுமென்றிருந்தது. என்னால் தலையில் தான் அடித்துக்கொள்ள முடிந்தது"

New 'A'ddition!

Me too is now Mommy of two! We welcomed baby girl, A2 on Wednesday. Back to blogging has now made it to the New year resolutions list! Anyway, wish you all a safe holiday season and happy New Year!

Pch..!!

Most of the times, it is only disadvantageous to be a person of understanding/adjusting type!!

Second Chance

Have you ever got the feeling that you deserve another chance to do something better/ right? I used to get that feeling after every exam!! Jokes apart, there is this relative of mine, very affectionate but very demanding. In the past, everytime we visited/called, we have had to be on the defencive for something or the other. It was due to her insecurites, I used to reason. I heard that she is now a drastically changed person! Infact, I found out for myself when I called and talked to her recently. The most surprising thing in this is not that the lady is remorseful of her actions but that she is lucky to have got that second chance to mend fences with the people!

And btw, we are getting a second chance in parenting! Yes, the second one is expected to be a new year release!! Talking of parenting, it is a never ending lesson! I learn new/different things from every family. This recent scenerio is one:

Guests arrive. Host and guest's kids go wild after seeing each other. They hyper-actively run around, play/throw ball etc. Guest kid hits the ball and brakes a photo frame. Guest Dad admonishes kid for the act. Guest Mom comes in defense of kid and admonishes Dad for not cautioning the kid before! Host Dad and Mom don't know how to react!! On second thoughts, the Guest Mom seems right in the sense that it was the elders' fault that they didn't stop the kids from playing inside. Then, did it shock because the guest Dad is related to me? Or does it sting me for the numerous times my daughter gets admonished by us in other's houses for little things?

WCTT!

"கழுதை தேஞ்சு கட்டெரும்பு ஆன கதையா", from test cricket to ODI to 20-20 now!! I guess, the 'real' cricket fans wouldn't be too thrilled about this latest version but helps poor souls like me to unglue(!) their spouses from out of the laptop screens sooner!!

From the team line-up, I could only recognise and name a handful of players and wondered if the 20-20 actually meant that eligibility for players was that they should be in their 20s! "ஏதோ கெலிச்சா சரி, அதுவும் பழம் பெருச்சாளிகள் இல்லாமல்!!"

Tring tring!

Recently, my preschooler daughter left a (her first ever!) message on her Dad's answering machine. Oh, what a big milestone we made it to be!! I had got introduced to these answering machine thingies only a few years back and was reminded of those initial years of awkwardness & uncomfortable feeling I had towards talking to a machine aka leaving a message.

For that matter, telephones themselves were among the luxurious items list till recently in India. Around age 10, we had shifted to a house whose earlier occupants had a telephone connection. The instrument(along with the connection!) remained for a few days after our move and it used to be exciting to dial numbers on the huge black instrument, pick up and say 'hello' when it rings etc.

After that it was around my high school time when we were in the then, Bombay that we had phone connection at home. That was a pretty good time as a typical teenager, I used to be on the phone with friends for hours(after just returning from school where we would've already chatted the whole day!), call up from outside(read cinema theatre!) after bunking classes to safely inform mom about it etc. There once was a promotion by a company called Cello(casserole makers) in which if you say 'Cello' instead of 'Hello' when they call, you win a casserole! My Dad used to insist all of us to say cello on the phone. I hated doing it and as luck would have it, it was I who picked up the phone when Cello company called and I said 'hello' and lost a casserole for my family!!

Back in Chennai after a few years and back to phone less days! Though phone connections were getting easier in Chennai, there were 2 schemes in those days. Pay $15000 and get connection in 15 days or pay $3000 and get connection in 3 years! Our rich neighbour got the phone connection in 15 days and all in our colony were happy as if we had got our own phone connection. The phone owner's initial pride started to melt when everyone in the colony started giving their phone no. as their contact no. The phone owners were mostly receiving other's calls and seem running to each house to give the messages the whole day! To discourage this, they stopped giving msgs and even charged $1 for incoming calls!!

Then, came my phone allergy days. That was when almost every Chennai household started getting their phone connections. I never liked attending phone calls for I was bad in recognising voices. I hate when someone calls and asks, "யாருன்னு தெரியலையா?". Even worse was at work, when all of us used to avoid cabins with phone extensions for the fear of being caught by the Boss("Let's discuss the new requirement!") at lunch time or 5 PM!

The phone allergy worsened after coming here, for the new English accent was difficult to decipher on the phone. Ah, the tele-marketing calls!! How many papers/magazines have I subscribed to because of my "can't-say-no" nature to the tele-marketeers!! I fought a(yet another!) losing battle with my hubby in avoiding cell phones sighting radiation fears. But then mobile phones made it convenient when each of us wanted to go to different stores at the mall and India trips. In India, cell phone technology is/was far ahead. Sibling, cousins would come to visit me and would either be talking on their cell phone or text messaging and might talk to me in the gaps! People who meddle with my cell phones would change some settings or change the ring tone and when it rings I would wonder if someone was at the door(most houses have musical calling bells) or someone was backing up their car!!

Now with 2 landlines, 2 cell phones, Internet connection and all, I sometimes wouldn't be able to reach my folks. They would've gone out forgetting to take the cell phone, forgetting to switch on the cell phone and/or answering machine!! And on my part, with all the technology, I don't know anyone's phone no. from memory! With all these technologies around, I've lost touch with many of my friends! Atleast in those early cell phone days, people called from their cell phones at the end of the month, so as not to waste the expiring minutes! Sigh!

Where from?

Years back, on my first sight seeing trip to Boston with some relatives, the tour guide asked the visitors one by one, "Where are you from?" The others were answering 'California', 'New Jersey' etc. and so, when it was my turn, I said, "Massachusetts!". Me in plaited hair, pottu on the forehead etc. the tour guide must've thought, 'really?'!! When it was my relatives' turn, they chorused 'India' almost immediately.

Recently, on a trip to Ruby Falls in Tennessee, again the same 'Where are you from?' from the tour guide and this time I said "India" almost the same time my husband answered, 'Georgia'! The tour guide commented, "So, you guys are not sure, huh?" Oops, I did it again!!

Vegetable Puff

I am (like I've already said in all cycle gaps!) a sweet lover. Any time of day or night I can have them. But the U S of A, with its abundant sweet treats, has even made me crave for some salty/spicy snacks from time to time! Unlike in India, where you can stop by a 'kaiyendhi bhavan' or bakery and have those pakodas or samosas or kara bun or puff, there are not much choices in the light snack variety other than a pizza slice or bread stick here. Then, one of my friend surprised me with those home-made vegetable puffs one day. Ever since, I try to stock up on those frozen puff pastry sheets ready to make these easy savory treat for those lazy afternoons or to trick guests to make them believe that I am a super cook! ;)


Ingredients


Frozen puff pastry sheet - 1

1/2 an onion, diced

Mixed vegetables

(diced potatoes, beans, carrots, peas) - 1 cup

garam masala - a pinch

chilly powder - as per taste

salt - as per taste



1. Make a vegetable masala sauteing the diced onions in a little oil and adding chilly powder, garam masala, salt and mixed vegetables (I used regular potato masala).

2. Thaw the puff pastry sheets.


3. Preheat oven to 350 F(or 400 F)


4. Cut it into rectangles, fill with vegetable masala, close and seal the sides. Poke the pastry sheets with a fork[Alton Brown's(one of my favourite cooks from food network) advice!]

5. Place it in ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 30 mins(or 20 mins)

P.S1. : me - in hiding, this is not going to be a Friday feature. It just happens to be a Friday today!!


P.S2. - I've been looking for 'kara' bun recipe for a long time. Anyone knows of a recipe or a link, please let me know. Any other such savoury recipes(no frying) that you know of can be shared too.

Teenage Turmoil

I'm sure, as a child, most of us would have wanted to grow up fast! Especially, the hype and gloss surrounding the teenage years would've added to the impatience. But like most things in life, what most adults conveniently cover-up or not highlight is about the unwanted but unavoidable aspect of that age, the not-so-simple, beauty spot pimple!!

The timing of its appearance (as a solitary reaper or as a gang) is something one has to awe at! Exactly before a family function or school annual day or the day you get to meet a friend's good looking older brother!! The more people tell about the advantages of practicing untouchability with the 'beauty spots', one would feel like crushing it!!

Luckily, the face is only visible to others and not to ourselves(unless you are a descendant of Snowwhite's stepmom!)! But the disadvantage is, people looking at you start giving beauty tips/remedies for the lovely spots. Apply this cream, that cream, multani-m(a)itti, curd, milk, cucumber, apple or whatever is in season! The folks at home would get all worried that their share of healthy snacks is neither going inside their tummy nor ours!

As a last resort, medical help is sought. Here again there is dilemma whether to go for homeopathy, allopathy or ambikapathy/amaravathy. Homeopathy takes 40 yrs to get results. Allopathy will result in side-effects lasting between 40 days-40 yrs. Not much is known about the effects of ambikapathy/amaravathy! Anyway, by the time, the magical teenage ends, we are left with a moon-like face, complete with craters!! Then, you step into adulthood and realise among the other bigger issues, these pimple problems were really simplest of them all!

Last Friday Melody!

Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee's movies in the 70s are a treat to watch even today. Simple story, elegant execution, lovely songs, natural acting - what a risk it must've been in that era of gory and violent Hindi movies! Listed below are some of my all time favourites.

Jab deep jale aana - Chitchor

Tu jo mere sur mein - Chitchor

Na jaane kyon - Choti si baat

Jane-e-mann - Choti si baat

Meine tere liye - Anand

Zindagi - Anand

Loote koyi - Abhimaan

Tere mere milan ki - Abhimaan

I wanted to include songs from 'Chashme Buddoor' along too even though it was directed by Sai Paranjpe and came out in the 80s but couldn't find any links.

P.S. - Like the title says, this will be the last of the Friday melody series. It started of like this one (last) July Friday and for the past 2 years, it has been fun playing the DJ! I guess, it will be kind of itchy the next few Fridays but I've almost run out of ideas, enthu' (and end it before I run out of audience)! A big Thanks everyone!!

FM

Some recent favourites!


செவ்வானம் சேலைய கட்டி - மொழி

ஏன் எனக்கு - நான் அவனில்லை

பேரூந்தில் - பொறி

உன்னாலே - உன்னாலே உன்னாலே

உன் பார்வை - சென்னை 600028

தாலியே தேவையில்ல - தாமிரபரணி

அட, Lallu land!!

For many years, Bihar in northern India has earned notoriety for being one of the poorest and most lawless states in the country.

Nobel-prize winning author VS Naipaul once described it as the place where "civilisation ends".

But all is not lost, perhaps. We discover five areas where Bihar might consider itself to be ahead of other Indian states.

more...

FM - Hindi oldies

Tera mera pyar amar - Asli Naqli

Achaji mein haari - Kalapani

Aaja sanam - Chori chori

Dil ki nazar se - Anari

Dil thadhap - Madhumathi

Deewana hua badal - Kashmir ki kali

Bandha parwar - Phir wohi dil laya hoon

Manner(les)s!

Sometime back there was a huge outcry when Mumbai was judged the rudest city by a Reader's Digest survey. But I realised it long back that politeness as per the western standards was/is not our cup of Tea. I have never thanked my bus conductor/driver or the fruit/flower seller or sincerely said sorry to a co-passenger on stamping her feet or excused myself on getting a phone call or asked my mom, 'can I have some more sambar, please?' or ... I can go on and on. On top of that came 'Maine pyar kiya' where the hero and heroine's 'No sorry, no thank you among friends' got etched in my mind!! Apparam enna, when there is no necessity for sorry and thank you among friends, why waste it on strangers!!


With all this background, you can understand the struggle I must've gone(still going!) thro' landing in the western hemisphere! Atleast with outsiders I can show a 'don't care if they think me as rude or mannerless' attitude but when kids start to learn manners from school, there is no escape. My daughter wouldn't leave me in peace unless I 'welcomed' her 'thank you' or 'ok-ed' her sorry! But hubby dear hasn't been so lucky yet! On situations even when a sorry from my side is absolutely due, my mouth won't utter them(first of all, owning up my fault-ey nadakkadhey!). Whenever there is a chance to thank him, the words would come till my throat but then 'maine pyar kiya'!!! So, this post is to let him know that atleast those words float in my RAM!

P.S. - 'Please' is getting to be the most abused word in our household. During her toddler days, as part of teaching manners, we taught our daughter to say 'please' when she needs something. Also, to show difference, whenever she used 'please' we tried to attend to it immediately. Now, it has turned the table on us. What do you do when they go 'Amma, more cookies, please please!' or '100 more minutes in the park, please please!'!! :(

FM - Indi Pop

Ho gayi hai muhabbat - Aslam

O Sanam - Lucky Ali

Choodi jo kanki - Phalguni Pathak

Tu jo mila - Alisha Chinoy

Mehndi ki raat - ??

Breathless - Shankar Mahadevan

Afreen afreen - Nusrat Fateh Ali khan

Vaalpaarai - Malgudi Suba


Links are from youtube. The Indi pop of those early days used be interesting and exciting because of its picturisation.

FM - "நிலா"

நிலா காய்கிறது - இந்திரா

நிலாக்காயும் நேரம் - செம்பருத்தி

நிலவே முகம் காட்டு - எஜமான்

நிலாவே வா - மௌன ராகம்

நிலவுக்கு என் மேல் - போலீஸ்காரன் மகள்

(அந்த)நிலாவத்தான் - முதல் மரியாதை

Veyyil

Growing up in Chennai, 'ஸ்ஸ்.... என்ன வெயில்!' ('sss... enna veyyil!') was pretty much the only dialogue/monologue one can hear on weather. So, it felt odd when I was actually looking forward to some warm 'வெயில்'('veyyil') on my first summer in the North-east! Also, the obsession with weather reports was a totally new phenomenon!

Is it only me or does anyone else feel that even the high 80s and low 90s degree F (25-35 C) feels a lot more hot than it does in our hot Chennai? Is it because of the low humidity? Or is there any truth to theory that in US unlike India(which is near the tropics) the radiation is more because of its geographical location? Another thing is, a couple of days of 90+ degrees F and there usually comes those really noisy thunderstorms cooling the place down. The weather reporters(Todd Gross of Seven News was my favourite!) on TV have numerous times explained why it happens but I never understood it(*sighing* Whatever! Why doesn't this happen in India!). Another weather phenomenon which I awe at and wish happened in India is how rain clouds have enough punch to sustain from Texas coast to the North-east Coast whereas in India, the storm force loses power going from AP coast to TN coast! Ofcourse, Atlantic & Pacific oceans are giants compared to Bay of Bengal & Indian ocean.

Anyway, all this veyyil/weather puranam is because this is my first summer in the south. Only this time, there hasn't been any April showers to bring May flowers and we are in official drought('Namma enge ponaalum namma specialty-um koodave varum poley'!). Ofcourse, the 'drought' here is different('don't water the plants or face court!) from our drought(alternate days water supply, thanni kodam, Metro water lorry...).

Lastly, வசந்த பாலனின் 'வெயில்' மனதை சுட்டது! Who is to be blamed, the father or the son? Even though the punishment given to the boy was harsh, I could relate to the father's anger! On one side, there are children toiling in match box/fireworks/loom industries yearning to go to school and on the other side, there are children whose parents toil to educate them and they bunk schools, smoke or run away to chase colourful dreams! Like I wrote before, it is tough being a parent especially, a father! Pasupathi(Annathey's find!!), asusual is brilliant! And kutti paiya, GVPrakash, urukittiye, pa!! Producer Shankar seems to do the prayachitham for all the sins of Director Shankar!!

FM - "மாலை"

மாலை என் வேதனை - சேது

மாலையில் யாரோ - சத்ரியன்

மாலை எனை வாட்டுதே - பூக்களை பறிகாதீர்கள்

மாலை கருக்கயில் - நீதியின் மறுபக்கம்

மால கருக்கலிலே - எங்க ஊரு காவக்காரன்

மாலை பொழுதின் - பாக்கியலட்சுமி

Remake

Happened to watch a few scenes from the original 'King Kong' recently on TCM. For a movie of its time, it is really something!! That got me thinking. If Billa/Kulla could be remade, why can't someone remake the classic 'Maya Bazaar' (good chance to show off our compooter graphics!)?




My vote for the role of Gadodhgajan (played by Rangarao) is Prakash Raj.




After 'Godfather' spl. role, think Ajit might suit the role of Krishna? ;)



And IMO, Vivek might be good choice for Illakkana Kumaran, the gaurava prince played by Thangavelu.






Is there anyone now in Kollywood to do role of Vatsala played by Savithri ?

FM - "அந்தி"

அந்தி மழை - ராஜ பார்வை

அந்தி வரும் நேரம் - முந்தானை முடிச்சு

அந்திநேர தென்றல் காற்று - இணைந்த கைகள்

அந்தியிலே வானம் - சின்னவர்

ETFN* - III

Asusual, a flashback incident after reading this post. We had been invited for lunch at my husband's (American) colleague's house when our daughter was around 9 months old. Like all Indian mothers, my daughter's feeding time was made into a big event by me! After initial chat, when everyone got ready for lunch, I excused myself saying that I had to feed my daughter first. The colleague had a girl just 6 months older to ours who was made to sit on the high-chair and served whatever was cooked. By the time I was done with the feeding session, everyone else had finished eating too and so I ate while everyone else watched! The next day at work, the colleague was quite cross with my husband as he thought my husband practised the good old Indian tradition of letting the wife eat only after the husband and hence the feeding the child ruse!!!



* - Embarrassing Then Funny Now (I and II)

FM - "மூங்கில்"

மூங்கிலிலே - ராகம் தேடும் பல்லவி

மூங்கில் இலை - பெண்மணி அவள் கண்மணி

மூங்கில் காட்டோரம் - பூக்கள் விடும் தூது

மூங்கில் காடுகளே - சாமுராய்

FM - "மா"

மாம்பூவே - மச்சனை பாத்தீங்களா

மாஞ்சோலை - கிழக்கே போகும் ரயில்

மாமரத்து - ஊமை விழிகள்

FM - 'ஓ!!'

'ஓ மானே மானே' - வெள்ளை ரோஜா

'ஓ வானம்பாடி' - சாதனை

'ஓ வசந்த ராஜா' - நீங்கள் கேட்டவை

'ஓ பாபா லாலி' - இதயத்தை திருடாதே

'ஓ பேபி பெபி' - காதலுக்கு மரியாதை

'ஓ மனமே' - உள்ளம் கேட்குமே

FM - "மலை"

"மலையோரம் வீசும் காத்து" - பாடு நிலாவே

"மலை கோவில்" - வீரா

"மலையோரம் மயிலே' - ஒருவர் வாழும் ஆலயம்

Tomato Sambar Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tomato chopped
1/2 onion chopped(optional)

1/2 cup Mung dal

1 or 2 tsp sambar powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal (optional)
1 red chilli (optional)

3 and 1/2 cups water

Method:

Boil mung dal in 1 and 1/2 cups water. Mash and set aside

1. Add 1 tsp of oil to sauce pan and temper with mustard seeds, curry leaves, urad dal and red chilli

2. Add chopped onions and fry till soft

3. Add chopped tomatoes and fry a little

4. Add 2 cups water, salt, sambar powder and turmeric

5. Boil in high till it starts frothing

6. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes

7. Add the boiled mung dal, stir and let boil for another 5 minutes

8. Add chopped cilantro/coriander

IMO, this sambar goes well with dosais, adais etc.

and with rice & kaara/fry curries

P.S. - For a milder sambar, just add chopped tomatoes to water and follow from step 4. Temper with mustard seeds at the end.

Mung dal makes it quite bland. For variation, you can substitute Tur dal.

FM - "தாலாட்டு"

தாலாட்டு - அச்சாணி

தாலாட்டு மாறி போனது - உன்னை நான் சந்தித்தேன்

தாலாட்டும் பூங்காற்று - கோபுர வாசலிலே

From the news

Power station harnesses Sun's rays!!

Looks like science fiction! But to be able to use the tremendousness of Solar energy!!


Media should focus on battles of poor: NCERT director

Media, are you listening?


Bollywood star to take husband’s family name!!

Nothing like reading a newspaper along with morning coffee! Ingey coffee-yum waste, paper-um waste!! The space and importance given to World/International news in local newspapers here is really something. And the above news making it to a local GA paper is... what can I say!

FM - "சின்ன சின்ன"

சின்ன சின்னதாய் - மௌனம் பேசியதே

சின்ன சின்ன ஆசை - ரோஜா

சின்ன சின்னக் கிளியே - கண்ணேதிரே தொன்றினாய்

சின்ன சின்ன வண்ண - மௌனம் ராகம்

சின்ன சின்ன ரோசாப்பூவே - பூவிழி வாசலிலே

Books Roundup!

My recent fascination for cross-culture/multi-culture stories led me to read quite a few books. Interestingly, only after starting this post I realised that all in my listing were written by female authors!


Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - Sister of my heart

A very engaging story of two girl friends almost brought up as sisters. Anju and Sudha join my unforgettable characters list. The mothers, the aunt, the early Calcutta life described are all so realistic. The sudden but deep relationship of Sudha and Ashok felt so bollywoodish and the unnecessary Sudha-Sunil angle was a dampener(especially after the cute first encounter between Anju and Sunil)! Can be made into a nice mega serial (especially because of the portrayal of Sudha's MIL!). After reading this, I went on a Chitra D. B. novels reading spree but none of them were as good as this one.

Samina Ali - Madras on rainy days

Ofcourse, it was Madras on the title which made me pick the book in the first place. Even though the story's significant turning point(supposedly, even though one can sense it all along!)happens in Madras, I was disappointed because of my expectation from the title! The story is quite unusual in the sense that it is about an American bred Indian girl getting (arranged) married to a Hyderabadi guy. Inspite of having lived in India for quarter century, the life of Hyderabadi Muslims portrayed in the story was as foreign as the life of Afghans as described in Kite Runner. Anyway, it was quite different and serious natured than I had expected.

Laura Fitzgerald - Veil of roses

The gist at the back cover got me interested in this book. It is about an Iranian woman who comes to visit her sister in the US with the intention of finding a suitor to marry and settle in the states. The story started of very interesting that I found it hard to put down the book. But as the story progressed, it began to feel like Mills and Boon novel! Tamila Soroush, the main character of the novel didn't seem to have any depth even though there were some affecting bits about Iranian life(like that of Tami's parents who send both their daughters away to the US hoping for a better life for them inspite of the fact that they would never ever get to see them or the little freedoms like music, friends, strolls that one cannot enjoy in Iran). Timepass!

Pearl Buck - The Good Earth

A pulitzer award winning novel! It is the story of a Chinese farmer in the turn of the century. I was surprised at how culturally similar Chinese life was to that of Indian. The story reminded me of old b/w melo-dramatic Indian movies! The description of the life of farmers depending on nature once again brought back the plight of our farmers and all farmers around the world!

FM - 'குயில்'

குயிலே - கவிக்குயில்

குயிலே குயிலே - ஆண் பாவம்

குயில் பாட்டு - என் ராசாவின் மனசிலே

குயிலே குயிலே - என் பொம்முக்குட்டி அம்மாவுக்கு

குயிலுக்கு - Friends

Any(thing)body out there???

New 'super-Earth' found in space

Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface.

Read more

Boo-boo!

Like Mother,

Like Daughter!!

FM - "மீன்"

"மீனம்மா" - ஆசை

"மீனம்மா"- ராஜாதி ராஜா

"மீன்கொடி தேரில்" - கரும்பு வில்

Banananana....

On imse's anbu thollai, I've succumbed to the temptation of doing a recipe post!

(Eggless) Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 cups Flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

1 and 1/4 cup mashed banana
1 tsp oil
1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tsp vanilla essense (optional)


Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F

Grease with butter (or use non-stick spray) a 9 x 5 inch Loaf pan

Mix dry ingredients

To mashed bananas, add oil, buttermilk & vanilla

Pour mixture into dry ingredients & mix

Add walnuts & stir

Pour batter into prepared pan

Bake 45-55 mins

P.S. - Wish I was an illusionist(very much enjoyed it!)! Should atleast try & learn some photo tricks!

FM - "காடு"!!

காட்டுக்குள்ளே பாட்டு - இதயத்தை திருடாதே

காட்டுக்குயில் - சின்ன மாப்பிள்ளை

காட்டுக்குயிலு - தளபதி

காட்டு வழி - மலையூர் மம்பட்டியான்

Trio

I remember vividly in my KG days how all visitors to our house would ask(or prompted to ask!), "who are your friends at school?" and every time I would proudly answer, "Shanta Kumari and Mary Vasanthi!"(I hardly remember anything about SK now but I vaguely remember visiting MV's house which was at walking distance from my home). Thinking in those lines, I realised that I've had 2 close friends at all stages of my life making us the mumurthi'gal' gangs. The other day I was watching 'Clifford the big red dog' (along with my daughter, ofcourse) and I realised how Clifford too has 2 doggie pals, T Bone and Cleo. 'Dil chahta hai' was about 3 friends, 'Friends' serial had 3 male and 3 female friends.

On further analysis I found that every trio has a level-head(Clifford, Sid, Chandler, Monica, my friends R/J/R), a show-off(Cleo, Akash, Ross, Rachel, my friends S/P/V/G) and a silly-simple joker(T-Bone, Sameer, Joey, Phoebe, my friends S/P). There always will be clashes between the level head and the show off with the joker[me (too) in most cases!] caught in between unsure as to who to support! The idea to this post came about when, continuing in the tradition, my daughter recently declared that Kayla and Kyrene are her best friends in school!! Now I will continue the tradition of prompting everyone who visits us to ask her about her friends!

FM - "மயில்"

மயில் பொல - பாரதி

மயிலே மயிலே - கடவுள் அமைத்த மேடை

மயிலிறகே - அன்பே ஆருயிரே

(தோகை இள)மயில் - பயணங்கள் முடிவதில்லை

(Pla)sticky Matter

Plastic bags ban!

Plastic entered our lives through soap boxes, mugs, buckets and graduated to milk packets, biscuits etc. as far as I can remember. But the recycle 'rajas' and 'ranis' that we are(were?) every smelly milk cover was collected and sold to the plastic-paper-karan(?) and we lived guilt-free. Atleast a majority of my life in India, one had to carry their own bag to vegetable and grocery stores or risk carry the items in newspaper packets. Even by the time, every 'potti kadai' began generously giving out polythene bags(one cannot find tinier bags than those!) I hardly knew about the non bio-degradability of plastics and its effect on the environment. My first jolt came when cattle consuming these polythene bags from the rubbish bins made news!

When I moved abroad, the use and throw mentality was so hard to digest, me from the 'recycle kingdom' and all!! When we first moved, my husband couldn't believe his eyes at the mound of grocery bags, the yogurt cans that I had hoarded(which were eventually trashed much to my dismay)!! Later I found recycle bins in our community and just when I was laying back satisfied in doing my bit, came the crashing news that the community could no longer support recylcing!! It took another few months for me to find about the recycle center in our town and took another few months to locate it only to find that it needed membership!

After all the setbacks, I decided to carry my own bags wherever I went and not use the plastic bags. From my India trip, I had got special jute bags for that reason! My husband walked a safe 10 feet away from me whenever I was with my gunny bag! And he preferred waiting in the car when I stood in the billing counter ready to rattle the cashiers who are used to the 'scan-drop in bag' routine with my 'no bags, please' cry! Even my friends who came to visit, scared to listen to my 'green' lecture, hid plastic bags in their cars and hand carried all their items!

Then, we moved again! This time we found ourselves short of plastic bags during the packing process and my husband was so satisfied to have got the chance to hit back at me for the state I had brought the house to! Then, I began resusing the bags by carrying old bags back to the store which didn't seem like a good idea as people began to suspect I was trying to shop-lift(though once the cashier paid me 3 c for each bag for reusing and it happened infront of my in-laws!!)!

It's not just plastic bags, I am equally averse to storing/heating food in plastic containers after being scared by articles like these! I have a collection of tiny stainless steel containers which I use to store food, send lunch to my daughter etc. After a few weeks, my daughter's teacher suggested that I buy lunch boxes available in stores as there was not enough room for my containers in their lunch table(and it was then that I saw that most kids got lunch in disposable brown bags and ziploc bags)!!

To encourage my daughter to drink more water, all sources point to keeping a water bottle in a prominent place which will tempt/remind about drinking water from time to time. I, as usual, was at the mercy of the internet to research about any 'safe plastic' bottles to store water in. The debate about plastic safety still going strong, I am now wondering if water from plastic bottle is better than no water at all... Any ideas?

FM - "பொய்!"

"பொய் சொல்லப்போறேன்" - திருட்டுப் பயலே

"பொய் சொல்லக்கூடாது" - Run

"பொய் சொல்லலாம்" - HNRAI

"பொய் சொல்ல" - April மாதத்தில்

Yaam Petra Inbum...!!!

Kamal (Malaysia) Interview - I - Seems an old interview nevertheless delightful!

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI


Coffee with Anu - Prakash & Prithiv raj

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

FM - "மலர்(கள்) - II'

"மலர்களே மலர்களே" - Love Birds

"மலர்களே" - புதுக்கோட்டையிலிருந்து சரவணன்

"மலர்களில்" - கல்யாண ராமன்

"மலர்களை போல்" - பாச மலர்

Restriction

IIT (Mumbai) to limit Internet access! - Ada paavame!!
Ever since we switched from dial-up to high-speed internet, computer has been my all in all(friend, newspaper, TV, telephone...). The only thing I am still not comfortable is reading novels online.

My inbox showed new mails in double digits one day last week! I hurriedly opened to see who the mails were from and boy, was it a surprise! All Spam comments!!! Only consolation was that atleast none were the usual 'gumbaloda govinda' forwarded messages!! Now I wonder whether to remove anonymous commenting option or to add word verification(any suggestions?). Yerkanave comments-kku lottery! Idhule, idhu veraya? mocked my mind. During my early blogging days, one of my friend commented(offline!) how blogging is all about getting comments. I retorted then like a cinema Actor about how I would go on blogging(Kalai chevai!) even if no one comments on my posts! But like how they say "aadina kaalum, paadina vaayum..." now add comments vaangina blog-um!

My bulk mails are overflowing with mails wanting to make me rich lately. "Final notice for you collect your lottery money" screams some and many from the African continent are waiting to transfer their brimming bank balance to mine!! Ada pongada!!

FM - AK Spl

Dil chahta hai - DCH

Ruth aa gayi re - 1947 Earth

Yuhi kat jayega safar - HHRPK

Papa kehte hai - QSQT

Yaadon ki baraat - YKB


Earlier spl here!

Menu Vs Buffet

Eating out used to be a rare/ special occasion thingy back in India. It took me a long time to digest(!) the fact that here many don't take lunch box with them to work and almost always eat outside!

Anyway, both my husband and I love the buffets at restaurants. Guess, it kind of give us the feeling of having to taste a variety of food instead of telling each other, 'Can I have some of your channa batura?'!! Somehow I thought that everyone else would prefer the buffet to Menu too and so when I found a few of my friends don't feel that way, it was quite surprising. I thought like in addition to having a variety of foods to eat, it is cheap compared to ordering from Menu and unlimited too! "What's not to like?" like Joey says in 'Friends'!!

After much thinking(romba important!), I've seem to have arrived at the reason behind my buffet preferance. I mostly come up with a menu for the whole week so that I don't have to break my head as to what to cook every day. Probably b'cos the daily food is no surprise to me, I find the buffet interesting. Whereas those of my friends who like to order from menu, surprise themselves everyday by cooking from what is available in the fridge. So, they seem to go planned with what to eat at the restaurant! Eppadi namma conclusion!!!


P.S. - An old versus here!

FM - "நதி"

'நதியில் ஆடும்" - காதல் ஓவியம்

"நதியா நதியா" - பூ மழை பொழிகிறது

"நதியே நதியே" - ரிதம்

Orkooting!

First it was email, then yahoo groups/blog and now orkut. Whether or not it is useful/interesting, one has to have an account in these nowadays. Otherwise you are outdated! Atleast it was 'all are welcome'(so far!) in the former cases and so anybody could create an account, forward, post or let it expire. Orkut is only for the privileged! Only by invitation!

Anyway, I got invited too and joined the group! Initially, I felt odd in the orkut community as it seemed like a 'chinna pasanga' community. Then, I shed my inhibitions and barged in! It was getting to be a friends & family affair adding friends, friend's friends, siblings, cousins, cousins' cousins as 'friends' and rating them as 'good', 'bad' and 'ugly'. Email-ey adikka mudiyadhavanga kooda apappa scrapping!

Then 'the orkooters' boasted about finding long lost friends in the community. Aah, how can I miss out on that! So, once again plunged into the orkut ocean only to realise how with common South Indian names one can get lost in orkut like getting lost in Kumba Mela! The search spits 1000s of results. Even if you know whether the friend uses her maiden name or married surname, the search result comes down to 100s. Tottally pissed off with the numerous page scrollings, I tried school, college, office communities. Again, numerous results. Every community has 100s of members. Most of the members are of recently passed/joined, freshers category! So, once again, came to the same old conclusion - orkut is 'chinna pasanga' community. So, I am going to orquit!

FM - Hariharan spl.

மஞ்சள் வெயில் - வேட்டையாடு விளையாடு

காற்றில் வரும் கீதமே - ஒரு நாள் ஒரு கனவு

மூங்கில் காடுகளே - சாமுராய்

காதலை யாரடி - தக திமி தா

செல்லமே செல்லம் - ஆல்பம்

ரகசியமாய் - டும் டும் டும்

மழை துளி - சங்கமம்

அவள் வருவாளா - நேருக்கு நெர்

குச்சி குச்சி ராக்கம்மா - பம்பாய்

கொஞ்ச நாள் - ஆசை

ஏதோ ஒரு பாட்டு - உன்னிடத்தில் என்னை கொடுத்தேன்