The new routine

The shrieking alarm caused a vibration that made me instantly sit in my bed. It was 6 in the morning. After a very long time in the past 6 months(seriously unsure of the previous time), I came to my balcony and breathed the fresh morning air. The old lady in the opposite flat smiled with a surprise.Oops! It's 6:05 am.I had to rush to the kitchen after a quick brushing.

Should I start with the sambar? No, the cooker whistle will disturb the calmness of the house. Must I cook rice for lunch now? What if it gets spoilt by night? Will it be sufficient if I soak the tamarind for rasam now? Enough is enough. I started juggling with the vessels to check my culinary efficiency quotient by tasting the recipes in accordance with the time taken to cook them.

It's already 8 am, my cut-off time for household chores. I had managed to complete them on schedule. My husband was ready to make a move.

The milk supplier keenly asked, "you are ready so early mam?"
With a broad smile I answered, " yes raju, my daughter is going to school from today".
The curious kid held her hands closer to mine, confused of the new changes.

The helplessness caused because of not able to go for a job seemed slightly reduced by the new routine set by the kid going to the play school.


Dedicated to my daughter Sathvikha.

வெயிலோடு விளையாடி...

"அக்னி நட்சத்திரம் ஆரம்பித்துவிட்டது"; "கோடை வெயில் அனைவரையும் வாட்டுகிறது"; இதுபோன்ற செய்திகள் ஒளிபரப்பாகிக் கொண்டிருக்க, இடைவேளையில் வரும் விளம்பரங்களோ வேறுவிதமாக இருக்கின்றன. "கோடைக் கொண்டாட்டம் தொடங்கிவிட்டது "; "விடுமுறை சிறப்பு தள்ளுபடி" என வெயில் கால சலுகைகள் அறிவிக்கப்படுகின்றன. என்னதான் சூரிய பகவான் தன உஷ்ணத்தை நம் மீது காண்பித்தாலும், கோடைக்காலம், குதூகல காலம்தான்! காரணங்கள் இதோ:



I குழந்தைப் பருவத்திலிருந்து ஏப்ரல் மே என்றாலே நினைவிற்கு வருவது பரீட்சைமுடிந்து பள்ளி விடுமுறை தான். 'கழற்றிவிட்ட கழுதைகள் போல் சுற்றும் நாட்கள்' என அப்பா சொன்னது ஞாபகம் வருகிறது.



II வெயிலின் தாக்கத்திலிருந்து விடுபட இயற்கை நமக்களித்துள்ள உணவு வகைகள் சிறப்புமிக்கவை. தர்பூசணி, மாங்காய் ,மாம்பழம் , இளநீர், நுங்கு போன்றவற்றிர்காகவே கோடையை வரவேரக்கலாம் .



II அனைத்துக் கோயில்களும் திருவிழாக்களைக் கொண்டாடுவதும் கோடைக் காலத்தில்தான். மதுரையில் பிறந்து வளர்ந்ததால் சித்திரைத் திருவிழா பார்த்ததுண்டு. கோவில்களில் விளக்குகள் ஏற்றப்பட்டு, தெய்வங்கள் அலங்கரிக்கப்பட்டு, தேரில் உலா வருகையில் ஊரே உற்சாக வெள்ளத்தில் மிதக்கும். கள்ளழகர் வைகையாற்றில் இறங்கும் வைபவம் பிரசித்திப் பெற்றது .



IV என்னதான் வீடு சொர்க்கம் என்றாலும் , அவ்வப்போது உறவினர் வீட்டிற்குச் செல்வது மகிழ்ச்சியான விஷயம். சித்தியின் மீன் குழம்பு, குழந்தைகளுடன் கும்மாளம், பாட்டியுடன் அரட்டை போன்ற நினைவுகள் நெஞ்சில் நிரந்தரமாய் தங்கிவிட்டது.



V அரசுப் பொருட்காட்சி கோடையின் கடைசிக் கொடை. ரங்க ராட்டினத்திர்காகவும் பென்சில் டப்பாவிர்காகவும் நாங்கள் போக, ரப்பர்பேன்ட் வாங்கவும் டெல்லி அப்பளம் சாப்பிடவும் அம்மாக்கள் போவார்கள். அப்பாக்களுக்கு மட்டும் பொருட்காட்சி பண விரையகாட்சிதான்.



குளிர்காலத்தில் மழையை ரசிக்கலாம். ஆனால் அவை பெரும்பாலும் தனிமைக் காலங்களாகவே திகழ்கின்றன. கோடைக் காலத்தின் வெயிலை ரசிக்கமுடியாதுதான். என்றாலும் அதன் அனுபவங்கள், நம் வாழ்வின் ஆவணங்களாக மாறிவிடுகின்றன. இந்த காலம் கற்றுத்தரும் பாடம் நம் காதில் எப்பொழுதும் ஒலித்துக் கொண்டே இருக்கும்.

TO WOO MEN...

He cleans and cuts vegetables while I cook;
He engages the child while I get her food;
He pays the bills before due date while I go for a FB status update;
He wakes up early for the promised weekend outing while I extend my usual hours of sleeping;

For all the freedom favoured,
For all the independence inhaled,
It's time to tell today's men,
Thank you, thank you, thank you once again!!!






Note: Belated women's day greetings and message

PUMPKIN HALWA

PUMPKIN HALWA




INGREDIENTS REQUIRED:

Yellow pumpkin - 250 grams
Milk - 1/2 litre
Ghee
Sugar
Raisins
Cashewnuts

Cardamon powder

PROCEDURE:

1. Remove the skin and seeds of the pumpkin and grate it

2. In a kadai, add 1 tablespoon of ghee and fry the pumpkin till the raw smell disappears

3. Add the milk and keep stirring once in a while till the pumpkin absorbs it making the mixture thick. It might take 20-30 minutes

4. Add 4 tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of cardamon powder. Add 1 teaspoon of ghee as well

5. Add raisins and cashew nuts fried in ghee

Serve the hot halwa happily!

MUSHROOM PEPPER FRY

MUSHROOM PEPPER FRY



INGREDIENTS REQUIRED:

Button mushroom - 400 grams
Garlic finley chopped - 4 gloves
Onion finely chopped - 1 large size
Capsicum finely chopped (optional) - 1 small size
Lemon - half a size
Salt
Pepper powder


PROCEDURE:

1. Wash the button mushroom thoroughly in running water to remove the deposited particles and cut it lengthwise

2.In a kadai, add two tablespoons of oil and jeera to it. When it starts to crackle, add the garlic gloves

3. When the garlic starts turning brown, add the finely chopped onion and fry till it becomes translucent

4. Add the chopped capsicum and fry for a few minutes

5. Add the mushroom and close the lid of the kadai leaving a small gap for a minute

6. When the mushroom is half cooked, add salt and pepper

7. After the dish is fully cooked, remove from flame. Squeeze half a lemon and mix it well

Serve the dish with either rice or roti.

CULINARY CONCERNS

For the first time in my blog history (i see u caught me smiling sheepishly at my last two words :), I am here trying to post something about cooking, a topic which I never ever expected to write about!



Last week had been so adventurous for me as I was testing my culinary skills by trying new recipes from the internet. My sources of reference had mostly been limited to my mother or mother-in-law as far as food preparation was concerned. When I tried preparing new food recipes all by myself this time, I was baffled at the umpteen number of recipes available in the internet for a simple sidedish! As I kept reading them, my doubts doubled, confusions multiplied. Somehow I concluded on the recipes to try out and prepared a few dishes. To my surprise, out of four I managed to dish out three recipes to my family's satisfaction.

Note: As these dishes were prepared on different days, donot get perplexed at their incongruity.

Dishes tried: Lauki pudhina raita, mushroom pepper fry, oats upma, pumpkin halwa
Dishes satisfactory: Lauki pudhina raita, mushroom pepper fry, pumpkin halwa


On the request of my friends, I would like to share the recipes for mushroom pepper fry and pumpkin halwa. Of course, ample number of them are available in the internet but the minute differences do matter. If interested in knowing my version, please check them out in the coming posts!

Am I joking?

I have always wondered why women were tagged as having little sense of humor despite their ability to break into a roar of laughter at the slightest provocation. The recent watching a of television commercial set me into action to probe further.

The teenager in the ad is cosy with her sanitary napkin at all times, be it the ritual of Indian bride- bridegroom meeting before marriage or a photo screening prior marriage. she terms the latter 'window shopping' and I couldnot resist my lips curving into a smile. When I shared it with men in my family, I found no response. Later I realized that most of the humor we come across are usually meant at women, for men, and not the other way round. Here are some interesting facts on this gender difference in humor:


I. Eric Bressler, a graduate student at McMaster University who is studying the role of humour in personal attraction, discovered in a survey of 150 students that to a woman, "sense of humour" means someone who makes her laugh; to a man, a sense of humour means someone who appreciates his jokes.


II. Women choose men who produce humour 62 per cent of the time; conversely, men choose women who appreciate their humour 65 per cent of the time."

III. One of the reasons why men don't like female comedians may be that humour is seen as a masculine thing.



As Mark Twain had stated, humor is tragedy plus time. We either laugh at somebody's misery or missed opportunity. So it is important to ensure that it is not evoked at the wrong person, at the wrong place or at the wrong time. I am reminded of the Tamil poet Vairamuthu's verse on humor which reasons out the misplacement of humor sense for the birth of Ramayana and Mahabharatha. Ramayana was born because of the inability of Kaikeyi to smile and take things at a lighter side when Rama was to succeed the throne, while Mahabharatha was the result of Draupadi laughing at Duryodhana when he slips and falls down.
To read the full poem, click on the link: http://kezhil.blogspot.in/2010/11/vairamuthu-sirippu.html


You are doomed for life if you cannot laugh at the right joke or forgetfully smile at the wrong one.. How true!

Be it whatever, I feel that we all need to agree with Mahatma Gandhi's quote on humor which goes so:

“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”

TO START WITH

Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach. - Aristotle


After 2 years of completing management studies, one year of babysitting and countless days of helplessness felt for not being able to work, I got an opportunity to be associated with a college as a part-time lecturer for a short period of time ( phew, quite a long sentence:) ).

I was excited as this was my first job and yes it was teaching!! I was one of those thousands of little girls who imitated their school teachers right from kindergarten and aspired to be one.




Waking up early in the morning , finishing household chores and running to reach college on time was an entirely new experience. As I was teaching soft skills and job skills, most of the classes were fun-filled learning for the students. Games, presentations, role plays made me feel better than my boring days at home.

Although the initial few days were tension-filled and tiring, the satisfaction of doing something more than my usual household stuffs made me consider that all was worth it. The support of my family needs a special mention here.

When I received the not-so-heavy paycheck in my hand, I knew that my gratified soul which has cherished the truth that I had enlightened a few with the radiance of knowledge, would compensate for it.