Cooking is definitely not my forte. But, when I decided to be a full time mom along with it I have got an additional responsibility, to cook “interesting” food items for the family. The best part is both the father and son are very obliging to be the test subjects.
Unfortunately, I have no confidence in myself and the seven cups that I did this weekend stands testimony. I donno if it is Barfi or Halwa, Aadi being a true fan of amma was ready to have more++.
As soon as my wedding got fixed my mom got me this lovely book on “Samayal”. I had been “trained” to cook bare minimum (Rice, Sambar, Rasam & Poriyal). But nothing beyond that. Idli was always with readymade batter available at foodworld. The only delicacy I had learnt before wedding was mysore pak. With my cooking skills rusting in the past 3 years, thanks to my cook, I am scared to stand in front of the gas stove. I have decided to get a sanction letter from Mahesha to retain my cook. Else he will run the risk of having to eat outside food three times a day.
I get into these wonderful websites that have simple recipes. But the idli I made today can substitute the scud missiles of gulf war. Saradamma gave me perfect recipe for idli last Saturday…But still I am faaaaar away from getting decent idlies let alone malligai poo idli (Jasmine like idli).
R1 suggested I should rename myself as Sarada…Guess you will see me blogging as Sarada soon...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Relationship vs Friendship
Have you wondered why you loved sharing your Tiffin with your bench mate in kindergarten? Always enjoyed the school excursions, which you went in your high school, along with your friends. Wondered why you never bunked college and went for a movie with your brother but with your friends gang? Enjoyed the office dinner more when you sat next to your friends; though sitting next to your boss helped build your image.
Relationships are formed the day we are born. We have parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts the day we are born. It’s a package deal and no bargain allowed. Then, there is a bit of a choice possible when you plan to bring in a new relationship into your life in the form of spouse. But till this date the candidate is scrutinized, cross examined and dissection by your family before the relationship becomes a reality
Once you ( or more likely your entire khandhan) decides who the (un)lucky soul will bear this new avatar of being spouse...then comes another stock of relationships which are bound by the law , Father in Law, Mother in Law, Sister in Law, Brother in Law and what not. So choices are very few in a relationship. Thanks to modern law some may end up in a divorce but still the relationship sticks on...as ex hubby / ex wife and a lot of others EX …Bottom-line choices in relationship = zero.
The lovely thing about friendship obviously is you get to choose. I dint have much of a choice in kindergarten. My neighbor at the class became my best friend. But I always had the choice of being a friend or not being a friend :-). But then, at least one neighbor became my friend. This continued till my early days in primary school. It slowly changed and I soon had friends from other benches and then other sections. Wow! the world is so different when you ride the imagination horse with your friend. Even mugging for exams becomes easy. You can conquer the world when your friend is with you.
But then there are these silly fights you have with your friend and the whole world comes to a naught. Soon the power to make a choice hijacks our brains and we decide to junk some very good friendships. The bond that developed over ten / twenty / thirty years become pain. Trust, honesty, transparency disappears over night.
Is it why god gave us little choice in relationships?? When will we learn the power of making choices and value the friendships we have??
Relationships are formed the day we are born. We have parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts the day we are born. It’s a package deal and no bargain allowed. Then, there is a bit of a choice possible when you plan to bring in a new relationship into your life in the form of spouse. But till this date the candidate is scrutinized, cross examined and dissection by your family before the relationship becomes a reality
Once you ( or more likely your entire khandhan) decides who the (un)lucky soul will bear this new avatar of being spouse...then comes another stock of relationships which are bound by the law , Father in Law, Mother in Law, Sister in Law, Brother in Law and what not. So choices are very few in a relationship. Thanks to modern law some may end up in a divorce but still the relationship sticks on...as ex hubby / ex wife and a lot of others EX …Bottom-line choices in relationship = zero.
The lovely thing about friendship obviously is you get to choose. I dint have much of a choice in kindergarten. My neighbor at the class became my best friend. But I always had the choice of being a friend or not being a friend :-). But then, at least one neighbor became my friend. This continued till my early days in primary school. It slowly changed and I soon had friends from other benches and then other sections. Wow! the world is so different when you ride the imagination horse with your friend. Even mugging for exams becomes easy. You can conquer the world when your friend is with you.
But then there are these silly fights you have with your friend and the whole world comes to a naught. Soon the power to make a choice hijacks our brains and we decide to junk some very good friendships. The bond that developed over ten / twenty / thirty years become pain. Trust, honesty, transparency disappears over night.
Is it why god gave us little choice in relationships?? When will we learn the power of making choices and value the friendships we have??
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Art, Science, and Pain of Cycling
All my friends know my true feelings about cycling. My first brush with cycling (the two wheeler kind…) was during my high school days. With my father away in Africa and me and my sister not knowing what to do during one hot summer afternoon had a hard look at the only two wheeler, that stood in our house.
My father’s second (or 3rd or …) hand cycle. It was one of the first prized possessions from my father’s initial salary. I always loved sitting on it, with the stand on and do some pedaling. I would day dream riding it to all the great places in the city...Never thought of how I was planning to cycle from my house that was in the middle of nowhere and get to the city which was about 25 Kms.
Anyway, I and my sister got lot of encouragement from my mom and our neighbors for bravely pulling out the two wheeler and trying a hand at it. We pushed it around, in front of our house for 10 minutes and I was already away in my dream land doing the Korangu pedal…I don’t remember what happened after that afternoon, I continued my korangu pedal dreams, but nothing in reality.
After couple of years I was learning all about center of gravity, centrifugal and centripetal force and the famous cycling example. I decided that one day I will discover where my center of gravity would be when I am on a cycle and do the balancing act perfectly.
By then my brother had graduated from korangu pedal to normal cycling and my sister was successfully cycling even in a saree. I was a great pillion rider. I loved sitting on the carrier behind my brother and go around. By then we had moved through the big cities of Madras and Hyderabad.
I then moved into hostel for my PG and again I was successful pillion rider with Di pulling me around with all her strength. I guess our friendship weighed more than me, Di never cribbing. Then started the nightmare...I moved away from kornagu pedal days into normal cycling in my dreams (the one that actually comes in the night when we sleep)…Soon it was a nightmare as I continued to fall from my cycle often in my dreams.
By then reality struck and I realized I will never ride a bicycle in this lifetime. The haunting returned after all these years when I joined this new company which has a huge campus and if you need to move around the best way was cycling. The hot sun made my walk between Building 23 and 44 a true test of endurance. Mahesha went and bought a cycle and was all determined to take me through my physics lessons again. I was not sure to feel happy or sad. I dint want my son and niece to learn the laws of gravity through me. The naughty laugh from them when I sat on the cycle was enough for me to run and hide into my house.
But thanks to a kind hearted thief, Mahesha lost the new cycle within days during one of trips to the public library….poor mahesha was heartbroken & we went to see the movie “Welcome”. A welcome relief indeed.
My father’s second (or 3rd or …) hand cycle. It was one of the first prized possessions from my father’s initial salary. I always loved sitting on it, with the stand on and do some pedaling. I would day dream riding it to all the great places in the city...Never thought of how I was planning to cycle from my house that was in the middle of nowhere and get to the city which was about 25 Kms.
Anyway, I and my sister got lot of encouragement from my mom and our neighbors for bravely pulling out the two wheeler and trying a hand at it. We pushed it around, in front of our house for 10 minutes and I was already away in my dream land doing the Korangu pedal…I don’t remember what happened after that afternoon, I continued my korangu pedal dreams, but nothing in reality.
After couple of years I was learning all about center of gravity, centrifugal and centripetal force and the famous cycling example. I decided that one day I will discover where my center of gravity would be when I am on a cycle and do the balancing act perfectly.
By then my brother had graduated from korangu pedal to normal cycling and my sister was successfully cycling even in a saree. I was a great pillion rider. I loved sitting on the carrier behind my brother and go around. By then we had moved through the big cities of Madras and Hyderabad.
I then moved into hostel for my PG and again I was successful pillion rider with Di pulling me around with all her strength. I guess our friendship weighed more than me, Di never cribbing. Then started the nightmare...I moved away from kornagu pedal days into normal cycling in my dreams (the one that actually comes in the night when we sleep)…Soon it was a nightmare as I continued to fall from my cycle often in my dreams.
By then reality struck and I realized I will never ride a bicycle in this lifetime. The haunting returned after all these years when I joined this new company which has a huge campus and if you need to move around the best way was cycling. The hot sun made my walk between Building 23 and 44 a true test of endurance. Mahesha went and bought a cycle and was all determined to take me through my physics lessons again. I was not sure to feel happy or sad. I dint want my son and niece to learn the laws of gravity through me. The naughty laugh from them when I sat on the cycle was enough for me to run and hide into my house.
But thanks to a kind hearted thief, Mahesha lost the new cycle within days during one of trips to the public library….poor mahesha was heartbroken & we went to see the movie “Welcome”. A welcome relief indeed.
What’s in a name?
My creative side of brain doesn’t work when I have to name something. Don’t ask me if my brain works at all, even if it does at times, its hardly creative. I was telling Rita today that being a second born I am excellent at copying and zero in originality. Originality overwhelms me. It took me several weeks to name my son…I zeroed in on the name as his naming ceremony was scheduled next day. When his pediatrician finally heard his name (it was difficult to be called as b/o so and so all the time), he asked me why I took 3 months to decide on such a simple name :-(.
Unlike many families I dint have any pressure from my parents or in-laws on the name to be selected, and he was the first grandson in the family…So again originality overwhelmed & I called him Aditya. Every class has two Aditya and two Sidharth. That was the statistics from the pediatrician. The only criteria I had was a name starting with A. Of course, Aprameya was another name I had in my mind but donno why I zeroed in on Aditya. I call him Aadi, meaning first…(not half). All my decisions are made by keeping him first in my mind.
I remember I had to name my group in many team building exercises and I always drew blank. Women are supposed to be the creative lot…but names, a tough subject. I have a very unique name (though people call me Latha). I am sure impressed with my Mom’s creativity. My parents name is also something that amazes me. My Mom is Padma Rao and Dad is Padmanabha Rao. Cool isn’t it.
So, why am I fussing so much about names. Well I thought I was brilliant in naming my blog as Jasmine Summer. I was so excited about having my own blog and all that stuff. I called my friends and family to check if they checked my BLOG. I just heard them saying yeah…we are waiting for your post some stuff; there is nothing but a brief on the blog name.
Well, I wanted a shower of praise on how innovative I was with my blog name. r1 as usual was the encouraging soul who knew my plight about names…she told it was a great name.
Well what’s in a name???
Unlike many families I dint have any pressure from my parents or in-laws on the name to be selected, and he was the first grandson in the family…So again originality overwhelmed & I called him Aditya. Every class has two Aditya and two Sidharth. That was the statistics from the pediatrician. The only criteria I had was a name starting with A. Of course, Aprameya was another name I had in my mind but donno why I zeroed in on Aditya. I call him Aadi, meaning first…(not half). All my decisions are made by keeping him first in my mind.
I remember I had to name my group in many team building exercises and I always drew blank. Women are supposed to be the creative lot…but names, a tough subject. I have a very unique name (though people call me Latha). I am sure impressed with my Mom’s creativity. My parents name is also something that amazes me. My Mom is Padma Rao and Dad is Padmanabha Rao. Cool isn’t it.
So, why am I fussing so much about names. Well I thought I was brilliant in naming my blog as Jasmine Summer. I was so excited about having my own blog and all that stuff. I called my friends and family to check if they checked my BLOG. I just heard them saying yeah…we are waiting for your post some stuff; there is nothing but a brief on the blog name.
Well, I wanted a shower of praise on how innovative I was with my blog name. r1 as usual was the encouraging soul who knew my plight about names…she told it was a great name.
Well what’s in a name???
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Finally there
Fianally my own blog..thought of various names..Thair sadam was my favourite...then thought what brings me joy. It is childhood days,when I used to pluck Jasmine from the backyard during summer hols. I love the smell and the Good ol' times..so it is Jasmine Summer. Hope this will be a good site where I can meet my friends who I am leaving back as I am becoming full time mom..
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