Dew

"Paruppu Podi" or "Dal Powder" is a South Indian Instant Rice Mix powder. Here's how you make it: Toor Dal : Moong Dal = 3:1 ratio. Spices are Pepper, Red Chillies, and Asafoetida (Change Spice Intensity to your taste) Salt to taste. Dry roast all the items one after the other in a pan. After the roasted ingredients are cooled down to room temperature, use your mixer and grind them into powder form. Some people like it coarse and some like to keep it fine. The Moderately fine consistency is my choice. Now, you must be wondering whatever is this powder used for and how it could be used and why you need it at all!! A popular staple in Andhra based cuisine, this powder is not alien to most South Indian Dining tables. Here is how you use it : Spread steaming hot rice on a plate and add a little ghee or oil ( Gingelly oil is best) to it. After a while, while the rice is still warm, add one or two spoons of Paruppu Podi to the plate of rice. Mix ...

Can you believe that people have the patience and the artistic sense in them to actually dedicate a whole room and the portico for Dusherra Dolls exhibit?? I had a chance to attend one such Golu invite in Coimbatore this year. This post is going to be a phot post of the exhibit. As you enter the house, an old timer independent house if you can imagine with a portico ( Has a neat little dolls set up telling you, you are in for a grand Golu exhibit inside!!!)  leading to a closed lobby also called as Rezhi in Tamil. You see M.S Subhulakshmi first. There is a note that says they are celebrating her, which also explains the love for music in the family. The Rezhi leads to the living room which was full of dolls..  All the dolls cannot be covered in one single frame!!! Dolls of all sizes - tiny to huge; Dolls of all times -  Age old scupltures in clay to today's plaster of paris and fibre dolls.  They have theme based, varnam based, usual golu, sto...

Are you in? If the answer to these questions is "Yes" from the other side, then the next question will be: Can I come over? If it is a "Yes" again,  then the next question will be: What time would be convenient for you? If you are beginning to wonder if this is an official meeting precedence, then stop right there. This is what happens on casual visits to friends' /relatives places too. Implies... that we are beginning to formalize everything and every relationship too. We are beginning to see the other person as an intrusion in our lives because that's why the doubt comes up if it would be the right time to visit someone." What if I go in when they are busy getting ready to step out? What if they are not at home when I travel all the way to their place? What if they are unwell and are not in a position to answer the door-bell at all?? What if I disturb them or their plans??" Agreed, these formalities are important and essential for...

With due respect to the author of the  book, One Indian Girl, I have strong questions to all the women who had given inputs to the author + the author himself as he wrote the book. What is the idea of the book?? Is it one of these ?: -Women can't be intelligent enough to judge a man. -Women who study well, are intelligent and make it to the top of a career cannot have self-control -Women can be easily bought with a few nice words, lots of drinks, and great food. -A "Please come in" invite to a man from a woman is more than just the living room. -A woman who is career-minded can never be a good wife, mother, and daughter -Appreciate a woman's look and she will definitely fall for a man. I am sure you are wondering what this is all about. The story line of the famous Author, Chetan Bhagat's latest book "One Indian Girl" is quite easy to understand. A moderately pretty looking young woman Radhika makes it to the world's most prestigiou...

Everybody has an opinion on everything. That's what makes me write this post. I have an opinion too. This review is based on normal instances and excludes all the untoward incidents happening to women even if they are keeping their best of safety. I leave the judgment of such cases to God's court which definitely is fair!! God Bless All of Us Women to stay safe!! This movie PINK has been on my mind since the date of release. All the reviews I read spoke about the boldness of the movie and of course, an Amitabh movie means " A must watch" for a lot of his fans. I liked the idea of seeing him as a lawyer on screen. That means dialogue intrinsic, so naturally there is going to be a message. The story line is very simple : Three girls Falak, Meenal, and Andrea working in Delhi get into a hassled fight with guys that ends up in a police case. The girls were too modern, yet innocent to have trusted the guys just because they knew one person in the group. The guys tri...

On a chirpy summer morning, in the streets of a serene South-Indian village, an old man sat outside his house on the sit-out also called as ' Thinnai ' or ' Veranda ' locally. Not once his gaze  averted from the road that seemed to have no traffic at all except the cycle bearing milk cans and vegetable baskets. After almost thirty minutes that seemed like eternity to the city-bred onlooker, a young lad crossed the old man's house with a ' Namaste '. The old man asked the boy, "No newspaper today?" and the boy said "No Thaatha ". Thaatha is the tamil equivalent of grandpa. He rushed out of sight soon after and the old man quietly walked back inside the house. In his world and age, the newspaper apparently is the only source of entertainment, world knowledge or a window to the outside world - whatever else you may want to term it as!! And there was no paper is definitely a cause of concern. The old man never had a question. He simply a...

Ours is a very conservative family where the concept of get-together meant family functions, weddings and other gatherings where relatives met. One of our cousins just expressed that its been a very long time since we all met and another cousin of ours offered to host the gathering in his place. So, that's for the prologue,very much a synopsis of the Whatsapp discussion that happened few months ago. One August Sunday Morning, a group of 25 of us, from different locations in Bangalore, managed to get to Nelmangala which was well away from the city. What was waiting for us was a real wonder!! A mini yoga school - Shrimath Yoga run efficiently by Mrs. and Mr.Krishna Prakash. Here are a few pictures of the place where we spent the whole day.   Nature teaches us many things that words in books cannot. So many trees and a beautiful landscape in a non-commercial set up, maintained and managed by two young people who chose to devote their time and effort to Yoga, is ...

On a casual Whatsapp conversation thread I received a message with a picture of a man taking both his children to school on a bicycle. It was a rainy morning. He had covered his head with a plastic cover to shield only his head from getting drenched. Both the kids were covered completely with a huge plastic cover. Not because I had nothing better to do, but it was a really stirring picture!!! There was no rain coat, no umbrella. Thoughts went rattling off in my head as usual. May be they didn't expect the rain and the plastic cover idea was  just the best idea at that moment. May be they didn't have the money to afford a rain coat for three. May be they forgot the rain coat at home. May be they are used to umbrellas and it was not practical to hold an umbrella this day especially with the many school things that they were carrying.. .. On a parallel track, my mind went on to these questions too : What if the man skids off his cycle given that it was raining heavily ...

Ten years into blogging, it struck me that I must dedicate the five hundredth post to all of you readers and the little wisdom that has dawned on me ( or so I want to believe!!!). If you have been a regular reader of my blog, you would know by now that my thoughts have improved and my words sound less loud. It may be that I am getting older and wiser, or older and stronger, or older and quiet. Whatever it is, it makes me feel thankful - For all the knots it has helped remove in my head; - For all the connections it has helped me make; - For all the experiences it has helped me register; I intended to close this blog and work on a new one, but I guess I will continue to keep this site on for it has helped me big time in my highs and lows over the last ten years. I have not had too much time and mind to blog for sometime now and I am working hard to improve on my time management skills. I will share what I learn from my experience for sure and will continue writing. Thanks...

All thanks to my friend who suggested  very old English movie called 12 Angry Men. The movie is dated 1957. It is a short movie about twelve people talking about a case inside a small room around a discussion table. Liked it for many reasons, the primary one being I have not watched too many English movies over the years plus Never seen a very dialog-packed movie in a very long time. You can find it online, so I am not talking further about the movie really. Here is what it taught me: Think different.  Just believe goodness always. Question the assertively negative sentences u hear.  Every human being is definitely what he is based on a hidden something deep within him. Never hate. Be nice in any argument. Observe emotions. They are hidden all the time.They rule a human being at any point in time. Two people can never have the same opinion unless they take time to reason out and be open to the subject. Always forget whom you are talking to and focus just on...

On one of the Facebook posts someone had shared a story about Siddhartha Gautama who later shined as Gautama Buddha and presently is being worshiped as Lord Gautama Buddha. The life and story of Gautama Buddha like many other great people's life is for us to learn from. There is no right and wrong in all the stories. All stories, real-life incidents, gossips etc., are always opined for or against by many . This post is just a response that I wanted to share based on a small snippet in Siddhartha's life. It is said that "Siddhartha left his home at the middle of night, the night when his wife gave birth to their son". Years later, when they met again, his wife had no complaints about it. She had lived all her life alone for the son and did all her duties right. Gautama became popular and his wife did not, for she did what was asked of her and Buddha did what his calling to the earth was!!! It was just this that makes me write this post. The fact that ...

Its been an interesting morning today. I visited Sri Sathya Sai Hospital, Whitefield, Bangalore. I was an attendant to my ailing relative. Little did I know when I set out from home this morning, that today is going to be a very important milestone in my journey of life. All the spiritual meetings and books keep telling that every day of life is one step ahead in the Journey of life that actually is very short. This has been too philosophical to me until today. I asked the person at the security desk about the procedure to go for a consultation in the hospital. They gave me a quick procedure which I followed. At every desk, I saw old men and women or middle-aged ladies who were volunteers working through the day at the hospital, doing whatever little they can for the community, which is for "People they don't even know". I looked at the token given to me. It read 563. I took it to the reception desk and they directed me to another calm lady seated at the corner of th...

I thought she forgot to wear her dress over her super neatly done white cotton slip. Then the sling bag, a pre-teen xerox copy beside her and her careless seeming careful make-up confirmed that she was 'dressed' up. I waved off my usual questions like.... why white?? how do u manage to walk like no one's looking at you? won't your daughter mimic you someday too?... and the like....because I had my son running around and my daughter sprinting to catch him and I obviously had to park the cotton slip lady aside in my mind. I was busy minding my own business which is ensuring my kids were in my line of sight anytime, in the Sunday- crowded mall today. What is about Sunday crowds? people come over to just spend time... and its quite true. Nice place to window shoppe, bird watch, meet n greet, and also spend a lot of money....one such shopaholic comes out of a shop. Nothing unnatural about it.. until u look at her dress..dress again!!!. She forgot to put on her jeans!!....

Board Exams have begun for the Class X and Class XII students. How does it matter to me? Nothing until I saw an advertisement today on one of the lamp posts. It read: CRASH COURSE FOR CLASS X AND CLASS XII STUDENTS DURING THE SUMMER VACATION!!!  CLASSES START ON APRIL 1ST AND END ON 31ST MAY.  100% SYLLABUS COMPLETION AND GUARANTEED RESULTS!!!  HURRY!!  FEW SEATS LEFT!!!! I actually stopped on my tracks, read the board again and went on my way.  What are they trying to say? The class 10 exams are a joke and no longer need to be seriously taken as they used to be?? And what makes people believe that class 12 syllabus of today can be covered in two months??  What is the intention of a crash course anyway? Why are we rushing the kids in an already racing society? Anyway, that is what they will also be doing in life.. running after a bus, train, jumping signals to work, chasing deadlines at office, racing against or with the clock never ...

Of late, I have been thinking about this phrase : Going Blank! A ''Fill in the Blank'' question in school.. A blank white paper.. A blank greeting card.. A blank cheque.. A blank Word Document.. A blank Compose page on an email window.. A blank canvas.. All these blanks have definitely posed as a "scare" or a "feel of void" or "don't know what to say feeling" to each of us more than once in life. More scary is the feeling of going completely blank in the mind!!!! From a recent read, I learned that : friends, books, movies, television, games, hobbies, cooking, travel, spiritual and emotional quests, children, work, and even crossword puzzles or Sudoku keep your head from going blank and insane!!! Lets devote time for things totally out of our tangent in life at least once a week to remain sane.  

Cart full of groceries, Bag of money, Cashless benefits, Wallet full of rich cards, Plentiful eats, Endless shopping sprees, Exotic vacations... These are normal in moderately luxurious households.... I recently met a middle aged lady who is into home nursing service .. I got to know that she is part of the management team of a Home for the desolates and destitute. She and sixteen of her friends run the place with their salaries. Each nurse sends all or most of her salary towards funding this place.  These home nurses talk about their initiative to their contacts and funds come in. The lady I met earns 10000 per month and sends all of her salary to the cause. When asked if she needed money what she would do, she quickly says "Why would I need money? I live and eat in the place where I work as a home nurse. My travel is taken care of by the house where I live or the Agency. In the rarest of rare situations, when I may need money, my children will spare ...

Vayu Vajra, the air-conditioned buses that ply in Bangalore. It was a moderately sunny day in Bangalore, last week. I decided to step out on a long journey. Journey from Whitefield to Koramangala by bus is definitely a long one especially if it has to be two hops in between. A Vayu Vajra came by and I decided to just take the bus. I knew it was a longer route but I always prefer taking the first available bus than waiting for long hours in the bus stand. If I do, my patience battery generally goes low and I am known to invariably take an auto. This day, I didn't want to take an auto soon enough. The best thing about this bus is its very spacious, or so it mostly seems. Less crowded in the off peak hours as it is quite expensive. Students and working professionals are the usual passengers in this bus. This also means a lot of things : You get to see fashion, trends, technology trends, styles, and books. I took an aisle seat which I never do if I get a window seat ...