Dew

That I am making this time for this post... That I have not been able to make time for myself... That I have not been able to sit and eat my food... That I have not called up a friend in a long time... That I have been able to stay away from emails.. That a little one and a foreign land life style can make me utter the word BUSY and SILENT.. That it is possible to NOT write at all!!!!

There is always someone who knows better than you do, less than you do, and as much as you do. There is always someone who is elder to you, younger than you and of the same age as you. There is always someone who is nicer than you, not as nice as you, and about as nice as you. There is always someone who cares for you more than you know, less than you expect, and as much as you acknowledge. There is always someone who is happier than you, less happier than you, and as happy as you are. There is always someone who is smarter than you, less smarter than you can appreciate, and as smart as you  want to believe. You must just believe that you can be better, elder, nicer, caring, happy, and smart as much as you are capable of. There is no need to really justify yourself as the best in any way. In a tall man's land you may be short. But in a dwarf's land, you may be the tallest. So, its just okay to be what you are, who you are. the way you are, as long as you know you are...

Credit of building the physical Bridge mostly goes to the Civil Engineers often shared by Architects or Structural Engineers. Many contexts to this word - Bridge, all of them intending connection. Two unconnected things are usually bridged with something in common usage.London Bridge, Bridge the gap, Bridge the difference all mean the same but in different contexts. Most important context of bridge comes in real life when we have to build mental bridge with people. Physical bridges have a complexity, agreed, but there is a know-how that is always available. You just have to have a practice and some guidance and it is possible. No matter how much you train yourself or discipline yourself, or learn from others, the matter of mental bridge between you and the other person seems a tough job... Still, may be with age and time and practice it is still possible to stay 80% connected and understanding with most people we may chance to move with. Physical structural bridge cant serve...

I remember reading this in one of the office emails I received one fine morning. There was another email from the sender saying ' Sweets at my Desk. First come first serve'. Now, I was a new joinee and didn't know if you have to know the person to accept sweets from them to share their joy or would it be a dishonor of the invite to just let the email go unnoticed. When I was still deciding, I saw this message from the same person saying he was generally feeling happy. I am quite choosy with the sweets I take and generally keep it minimum unless it is my favorite Gulab Jamoon ( yeah, that is for a later reference for the readers.. in case you plan to send me a box of sweets for some reason... if not anything else, the same ' am feeling happy ' reason ). The email made me go over to this new friend's desk and share the joy..I really liked the second email message.. that's the only reason I went over. Took a Dhoodh Peda and ate it fully for the first time!...

I believed that the word Routine means there is a standard route or pattern which keeps repeating, mostly undisturbed . Now I know that Routine can also mean standard pattern of known unexpected happenings!!! If that is confusing to you, either you are a man and are single, a woman and are not really thinking of babies yet, a married man blissfully unaware of what your baby's caregiver may be going through each day, or a married woman who is waiting outside the gynaec's office without knowing what you have really gotten yourself into!! All said, babies teach you new meanings to old words and given a chance and absolutely free time, after the rest I am waiting to take every chance I get, I might think of putting a new dictionary to the many new meanings I have learnt so far, such as this one word, ROUTINE.

Confidence lesson starts in the cradle.. My daughter thinks the cradle is rocking because she is taking efforts to do it with her constant hand and leg movements. When the rocking stops she looks concerned and kicks harder and stronger and faster. If the cradle still doesn't move, then she lets out her cry, a very mildly expressive one. Last resort is non stop crying.. I wait for her effort and then rock the cradle, so she believes in her own effort. I guess building confidence starts as early as sixty days!!! At least that is what I think.. I want her to know that all efforts pay off in time.. and I guess this translates as confidence later in life. As with all new moms, am super thrilled and I guess I will write more about my new experience in life..though I look forward to writing variety, I think most of my writing may get centered around my little one.

I have finally managed to gain the energy and strength and time to open this page to write..This is the first post I am writing after we got our little one Prakruti, meaning NATURE . It seems like yesterday when I wrote about the Recent Whys s post, that is on the last leg of my pregnancy journey.. It has been about 40 days now that our world has changed completely.. Our little one seems to be in my dreams, my waking hours.. making my days and nights, challenging my patience and confidence, contributing to my laughter and smiles...keeping everyone in the household on toes... making the item called clock meaningless in the house.. making the word schedule totally pointless... and making everyone fall in line with her decision on when to sleep, feed, and play...and helping us realize that God's watching and is THE ONE who can really do something about anything and everything in our life... I wanted so much to write about my pregnancy journey for the benefit of those who would be...

I am only hoping that Blogger will publish the time of this post correctly. In any case here is the time I begin to write this post. 1:07 A.M on 22nd May 2012. Slowly and enthusiastically walking into the 38th week of my pregnancy, I decided to retire early today, which was at 10:30 P.M. Since then, with sleep almost next to impossible like most days, and the aches and pains and restless night time that is supposedly part of the last month of most pregnancies, I just decided to not bother trying to put up with the nightmare of trying to lie down through the night. For lack of better option, I decided to log in to the net to see if the night world has people awake like me for many other reasons though. Here are the lessons tonight: Your computer can fail to start just in time when it is all you wanted to do. All your restart techniques can fail miserably at 1:00 o clock in the night adding to your nightmare of losing your precious data the next day. You have to trust ...

Why do things have to fall down from your hands and not up? Why do the things that fall down always roll to a corner that is seemingly out of reach? Why do you have to drink water often? Why does the phone ring when you are away from it? Why does the door bell ring when you have just managed to position yourself well enough to a comfortable position? Why does talking seem tough chore? Why do phone numbers and names and events seem a burden on the otherwise calendar-marked brain? Why does sitting and standing and walking and lying down - each and all of it at once seems a herculean task? What makes me write this post? Thirty seven weeks along with my pregnancy, I do realize that it is just possible that all these questions  are the most reasonable questions which no one really forewarned me!!! :)

A big finding of the day is to resolve problems just by ignoring the problem makers - issues or people. Does not make sense? Does not sound simple? Let me say how it works. When there is a statement or comment or opinion or advice that is troublesome to you or not in agreement with your policy or simply not your cup of tea, then the best way to deal with it is to keep quiet and not give a comment. When probed once, try to answer as politely as possible. When further disturbed about the point, simply smile and say that it is just your view of things and try to leave the discussion table. This works better than arguing and proving yourself right at times.. which has been the way I was unconsciously operating all these years. Today I observed that 'To Ignore' is the best way to avoid conflicts and stress to our heads with people who are capable of landing you straight to the hospital ward for a blood pressure shoot up. I gave my views and walked out of the discussion not beca...

By this I mean, the many things that run in our heads as often as it takes to spell the word OFTEN. Taking a quick stock of the thoughts that run through our head on any given time frame, I recently figured that most of them are either directly or indirectly related to the "Fear of the Unknowns".   I caught the phrase from a friend's email and am in complete agreement with it. We are generally assured 90% of the times about things that we know and the remaining 10% uncertainty is there even with the most tried and tested facts, practices, and know-hows. So, we discount that 10 percent as 'Exceptions'.   For instance, we know that it takes fifteen minutes to drive from Place A to Place B out of practice or hear say or the map. Almost 90 percent of the times, it should not take us more than fifteen minutes to get to Place B. However, an unforeseen diversion in the route for an unpredicted reason on the road, could cause that unexpected delay of another few ...

I just received a phone call from a cousin of mine. We have not really spoken to each other in a long time, but when we started talking, time just flew. I realized it was late and we then chose to end the conversation. After the talk, I sat back relaxed and happy not because I had any information or any news or anything else significant, but then a complete free and joyous feeling of just having spoken about nothing in particular. I just realized that it is possible for long conversations without a particular serious issue or significant pre- planned discussion.  And to top all realizations related to conversations, is this: All it takes is two people who can speak on the phone for a continuous five minutes without getting bored or driving others to boredom. If you can engage someone on the phone for five minutes without getting bored with their talk, then you will surely be able to continue conversing with them for longer than that... Weather, studies, school, culture, traf...

Never a great animal lover, but I always have thought that they are  nicer than human beings. I always think that people in the pretext of caring and loving animals unintentionally harm them and curb them of their freedom.. And besides am super scared of animals, whereas never of human beings... ideally it should be the reverse, I know!!! When I was on my usual walk one morning, I saw a cow approaching our main gate. Instinct said that the cow would stop by my gate and it did!!! Surprise of surprises, as for the first time I could guess the move of an animal right in my life. On the cow's eyes, I saw a look that I don't know quite to explain. I just decided that I will go inside to fetch a banana for the cow to eat. Again a bold move according to me.. Also wanted to make sure that the cow does not misunderstand my going in as indifference.. I still don't know where I got this kind of compassion from, but was glad to know this undiscovered truth about myself . I gest...

Advices galore.. That's on what I must eat, how well I must take care of myself, what foods are healthy, what foods are a strict 'No'.. all keep coming my way, over the last few months. I am perfectly okay taking it all and following what I can to the best of my ability.. Day before yesterday, as I was enjoying the last of the oranges in my refrigerator, I could not help thinking about many other mothers-to-be in this world who would not be able to afford the cost of high priced fruits and vegetables. Who would advice a poor farmer's wife to have nuts every day and fruits every day and milk every day?? If at all someone does, would he or she also pay for these things, which are almost luxuries in a poor man's hut? Women have given birth to children even before the stream of medicine called Obstetrics was disciplined into Medical studies. May be many things in the past were not right, many facilities that we have today are not there, lot of awareness that is a...

We have heard this word often. Today, I felt the essence of it truly. It is a practice in Indian families to host a ritual called Shrardham in remembrance of close people who have reached God's abode. Ten years ago, the same day, we lost our grandmother. After all the initial mourning and intermediate outbursts that happen when ever we think of her, life kept us busy... I was away every year when my parents conducted the Shrardham for my grandma. This year, fortunately, I am in India and had a chance to see the proceedings and generally participate when required. The grandchildren have a small role to play in the whole ritual and it was nice to be a part of it, especially when my mind was all lost in the thoughts of the past when my grandma was around. After ten years, I mean ten long years, even as I write this post, I am unable to stop the flowing tears.. and I don't intend to... It was like that in the morning as well when the priests were at home. I walked over to the ki...

Now, for those who are new to this term, here is the definition and few notable characteristics!!! Mega Serials are defined as the television plays that have to last at least till your grand daughter's graduation day in business school. Mega Serials are divided into episodes, each one lasting thirty minutes with twenty minutes taken away by the advertisements of the sponsoring companies. Mega Serials usually have good or moderately rated stories to begin with, but the director and the script writer's job is to make sure that the once nice story is twisted and twirled and confused and flopped big time by the end of the fourth year!!!! Mega Serials usually begin with one story and every character in the family will each have a story line, each line with many sub stories. This is the only formula used to gear up interest in the audience. It is possible to wrap up a mega serial as abruptly as you close the door on the face of a less friendly storm. There would be so much h...

I met someone whose name has been on the gossip rounds in the neighbourhood. I knew a little about the gossip and never really had a chance to think about it. Only point I was sure of is that, most people are taking time off from their own idle or seemingly busy lives to talk ill about others just for a change. I stopped on my track when this lady extended flowers to me. I thanked her. Some gestures, no matter what time of the day, from anyone would make you smile at the first thought. I thanked her for being thoughtful. Our talks were on varied subjects initially and then slowly turned towards the essence of the gossip... and it was the first time I had to face such a situation where the subject at least ten years elder to me, knew that she was being talked about and I was being chosen as her confidante. I knew she was talking the truth because there was no defensive tone to her voice and words. At the end of our talk, I noticed that she had tears in her eyes and it totally s...

I have never understood how people spend a lot of time, in fact some spend the whole of their time reading news papers. With nothing better to do yesterday evening, I was sitting in the veranda of my house, fighting the excess heat and battling with the emotions ( political stunts, useless department and other such thoughts come up!!!) that power cuts usually bring on an especially humid afternoon-evening time shift. I was holding a newspaper as a fan for self help with the heat of the summer that is just beginning in South India. After about fifteen minutes of continuous fanning, I got tired of just sitting doing nothing, so decided to glance through the paper. I had just pulled two sheets from yesterday's paper for the purpose, but the idea of reading through that much of text was alarming.. Anyways went on to see the headlines. Not one.. Not even a single news item was pleasant, positive, worth reading, and knowledge driven!!!! Wondering if people are committing crimes and ...

Pournami in Tamil means Full Moon Day. I was coming back from the temple and the power went out as usual. These days, the power cuts in Tamil Nadu is hitting the newspapers every day, so I wont waste my energy on it trying to tell you how I detest the idea of power cuts in the name of power saving when all it takes is just a little effort from whomsoever it concerns to set it right... Anyways... this is too much by itself.. Lots of energy drain ... The full moon day was fast approaching.. Or was it the same evening, am not sure. The moon shone bright and beautiful as I started walking back homeward from the temple. It had been quite a while since I took this route.. but never in so many years on a full moon night when there was no light at all. Cool evening breeze( Early summer evenings are always breezy and nice in my town.. and I guess so in many tropical places..) and the moon lit night sky made the evening a wonderful experience. The roads were not new to me, but those m...

Of late I have begun to notice that there is always a 'My Way' and 'Your Way' of doing things.. And almost always there are people who claim that their way is the 'Right Way'. It is easy to get into big arguments just because of this simple truth : Forcing your way as the right way and interfering into my way. Will people understand??!!!??

There was this cookery show on TV sometime last week. The lady was just summarizing what she just made and the supporting video showed the procedure in parallel to the voice track.. It was easy to understand how to make the dish, this way. Less text and more understanding.. My mind was just  beginning to applaud the sensible framing of the show... but I was quick to take back my views as one of the instructions was too much to take!!!! here it goes : Now, Open the mixer jar like this and add coconut this way..... Don't you think this is too much of a procedural instruction?? And this show was supposed to  be teaching regional specialities.. Now, to cook regional specialities, you definitely need some basic cooking knowledge of dishes of your own region first, is my take.. That aside, even if you are a zero in cooking, you still would know that to grind something in a mixer you need to open the mixer's jar!!! Heights of procedural instruction!!!! Dear TV folks, please ...

I cant believe this myself, but I must be honest to tell you all this wonderful realization that finally dawned on me this evening about talking, expressing, and speaking at large. Someone I have known since my childhood has been asking me to come over to her house. My mother and I went to meet her this evening. Old age had set in and she looked older than the last time I met her. After some initial enquiries about my side of the world, she went on to talk about many of her family issues most of which seemed very unlike of her nature... and very non-cohesive...and very shocking... Issues are there everywhere, but all those issues that people try keeping to themselves until old age comes out when people feel lonely at old age. Old people need someone to talk to and something to keep themselves occupied. This is the truth that I learnt. Else, talking causes a lot of problems for them, around them. It is easy to get branded as 'Oldies' and stranded in isolated world where ...

This has been a long pending recipe post on my blog. Many of my friends who have tasted this super good South Indian dish, have been asking me for my version of it. This post is part of Simple and Quick Cooking. So here it goes. It takes about twenty minutes including the cutting of onion which is the main ingredient of the dish. Here's what you need: Onions - 2 medium sized, finely chopped. Should take you five minutes, Curry leaves - If you happen to have them in your fridge or backyard or the shopping bag. Not a mandatory item. Tamarind paste - Soak tamarind - about the volume of a medium sized lemon - in say 250 ml of water for a while. Squeeze the tamarind in water as much as you can and you'll finally get a watery or slightly thick tamarind paste. Takes two minutes to three minutes. Mustard seeds - 1 tea spoonful.Said to be good for health.. If you don't like mustard much, you can minimize the quantity. Fenugreek seeds - half a tea spoonful at least. Gram ...

மத்தாப்பு சிரிப்பு; சிணுங்கும் சைக்கிள் மணி ஓசை; திரும்பி பார்த்தேன் ஒரு முறை; மின்னல் வேகத்தில் என்னை தாண்டியது... பளிச்சென்ற பல் வரிசை; துரு துரு கண்கள்; ரெட்டை பின்னலின் ரிப்பன்; மடித்து இட்ட துப்பட்டா; மீண்டும் திரும்பி பார்த்தேன்; இம்முறை எனது ரெட்டை பின்னல் காலங்களை.... அழகிய மின்னலாய்  என் மனதில்; அன்றைய நான் தோன்றி மறைந்தேன்!

This is something I never would have said or believed early last year... I do agree that silence teaches things, but also like to say that silence is never completely possible in this seemingly complicated and problematic world... This evening when I was on my regular walk on the pavement of my house, the house where I have spent all my childhood and girlhood days, I simply looked up for no reason when I thought about the ageing factor in me and my parents and the familiar neighbours whose young faces ( phases) I once knew.. True, the old phase, sadly, I never knew or realized until today's introspective evening. The house had been repainted last year and the blue exterior didnt fade in all the rain and storm that my town went through over the last whole year. But then, there were many memories that helped me spot alll that was missing in the once beautiful backyard. Could be due to the Tsunami, the Thane, or the many cyclones and monsoons over the years, when we lost most of...

I have heard this many times in my life so far, at various stages... yesterday when I was talking to a friend, she told me at the end of the conversation, " This is the best time of your life.. Enjoy every moment!!!". This statement made me recollect a few of the many times I have heard the same thing at various stages of my life... When I was in school, someone studying in college had once made this remark.. When I was super bored with the four month gap between my school final exams and college first day, someone in college told me that this gap would be the best time of my life!! When I was in first year of college, a senior made the remark.. When I finished college and stayed home for a few months waiting for the results and a probable job, then some working professional gave the same comment.. When I just joined work and didnt have much to do except observe what is happening on my senior's computer, he told me " This is the best time you can get at work ...

After a very long long long time I flipped channels to stay glued to an English Movie. I want to name it, but deciding against it, as it wont make a difference to the subject I have in mind. I have always stayed away from English movies, mostly because they are loud to me sometimes, the language seems really foreign to me and also because I never grew up watching movies and never had many chances to watch English.. There has been no other real reason. The few select movies that I watched, have always made me wonder, how in the wide world can people think of such simple story outline and make a lovely movie... I am not a movie fanatic but I like to watch good movies.. Now, what is a good movie in my terms ?? Anything that really grips my attention to the screen for longer than thirty minutes. So, it was this afternoon, when I turned on the TV. All the channels, almost all the channels had a movie going on. I kept changing channels and finally glued on to an English movie, because ...

Life revolves around cards - Credit, Debit, Astro, or Tarot. Credit cards give you the satisfaction of paying the fees for something a little late.. but the truth is you have to pay anyway. Debit cards give you the benefit of not having to carry cash, but makes you spend more than you would have wished to, most times. Debit cards make you forget the worth of cash. Credit cards remind you of the same when you write your check for payment. When all else fails people tend to believe in Astro or Tarot cards. It is best to believe them for what they are worth, than arguing why they can't be true. Credit Cards refute the statement: Never postpone what you can do today. When we use credit cards, indirectly we believe in getting something for free at any given moment. When we use debit cards, unconsciously we forget that money exists in this world. Cards seem to make life easy... but remember, they dont seem to make financial management easy. Inspired by the two HDFC cards lying...

I have never believed that I can get lucky to enjoy a benefit without working for it. And still don't believe. May be would never believe. I opened my mail box one day to check this compelling message which said, Congratulations, You have won!!! Knowing today's Internet trends of virus and hacking hobbies floating around the network, the once techie me, decided not to open the email. The same email reached the mail box of my husband and he is fortunately a believer like me that 'Nothing comes for free'... I warned him not to open the mail, only because, where we live it is difficult to vaccinate the computer or format it over again.... We do have an anti virus software in place, still I didn't want to take a chance. When I reached India, I saw the same email again in my mail box.I checked the Anti virus updates and decided to go ahead with the email. The mail promised to send the lottery prize of xyz million dollars to my account if I sent across Rs.12000 t...

Simple and Quick Vengaya Thogaiyal is a South Indian side dish that goes well with Rotis, Plain steamed rice, or Curd rice. What you need: Mixer / Mixie Ten minutes kitchen time Ingredients: Onions - 2, cut into pieces. You don't have to bother cutting them into small pieces. Ural Dal - 1 spoonful Mustard seeds - half tea spoon Red Chilly - 2 Salt - to taste Tamarind - to taste Oil - 2 tea spoonful How to make Vengaya Thogaiyal: Heat oil in a pan in medium flame. Add Mustard seeds.  After a few seconds add the Urad Dal as well. As the mustard seeds splitter, add the red chillies. Gently fry the Urad Dal until it turns golden brown. Add the onion pieces into the pan and fry gently until the color changes to pink or brownish pink. Beware of the charring of the Urad Dal or onion. If need be, switch off the flame and continue frying, so you save the Urad Dal from turning black. Transfer the contents of the pan onto a plate and wait for ten minutes. The conten...

When the last of the guests left the house that evening at 5:00P.M after a very interesting family function which involved pooja, fun and food, I realised that the two day-night continuous work took an instant toll on my balance. It is amazing how we can summon up all the strength that we possibly can and work through the days and nights to get a job done or do something to the best of our ability, and then just drop drained on the floor after the event is over. Where does the strength come from? Is it commitment, or the resolve to give our best?  Is it the self-made promise or the traditional Indianness involving niceties such as hospitality, love and care?? Is it the satisfaction of the Smiles that you want to see on everyone's face that makes you do what you do very well? Could be all of the above, but then when I finally went off to sleep that night, there was an immense peace that took over my senses and I really took that well deserved rest after a very long time.

One of this is true.. Either the advertisement is senseless or it doesn't make sense only to me... and makes perfect sense to the rest of the world and is a value add to the product being advertised!!!! I happened to see this advertisement sometime recently. An expectant mother at about her full term rushes in at top speed into a marriage hall. The scene on the stage is that the bride groom is about to tie the knot. This lady just yells " STOP".. and the people in the full-house hall turn to look at her; the bride groom is forced to stop the sacred ceremony and his hand along with the 'Mangalyam' is in mid-air; and this blessed lady says : A particular pressure cooker company is offering 'Buy One Get One Free' discount... Now, just how important is the discount sale in the middle of a wedding ceremony? Does it matter at all? Wonder where the advertisement makers have their senses? Even if they had thought about keeping to a slight sense of humor, this ...

It has been a wonderful start for us this year... Thank God.. We had a chance to listen to Usha Uthup at a New Bash in Muscat last night. It was a good experience and a great change. I am falling off my chair as I am typing this post, but it is determination that is keeping me awake to write what I want to... The crowd at the venue and in many parties across the world know about enjoying New years day where as my home town Cuddalore has been hard hit by the cyclone Thane.. I wonder about these interesting names though!!!I couldn't help thinking about the other side of the world that always exists and is of course in its own world!!!! I called up home this morning to wish my parents and sister a very happy new year 2012. Since day before yesterday they have not been having power and the last drop of water in the over-head tank in our house got over last night. There are few shops open and some essentials are available albeit sky-rocketing cost. Few people can afford the kind...