Shaan

Shaan has been my favorite Hindi singer for years now. I simply love his voice.

Have I been tuned enough?

As much as I think sometimes our lives to some extent, is quite programmed, sometimes I wonder why isn't it completely programmed? that would solve a lot of worries and save a lot of energy, don't you think?

Sometimes, I wish my life was completely tuned to the signals set by these norms (set by society or whoever..).

My fav songs...

Talat Mahmood and Hemant Kumar

Holiday time!

Christmas season always brings pleasant memories for me. It used to be busy time at school, with half yearly exams finishing up, the Catholicism group singing carols, the decorative setup of the scene when Jesus was born and finally the school closing for Christmas break. At work the usual lively Christmas parties entertained me in New Zealand. (And then when we were back in the new year the gossip email be published ;)). Now that I have seen white Christmas here in the US, the summer time in the southern hemisphere has a different charm , which one should experience, but white Christmas is just picture perfect :)

Then came the time in my life when New Years eve celebration was a big deal! Secunderabad club was the preferred destination. Days ahead we would decide what to wear, bargain (with parents) for permission to stay up late and created all the fuss as much as we could as young women. Somehow since I have left India I have never ever had as great a New Years as I did back home. I am hoping this time it would be different though!

A statistic

A news channel reports that while Americans spend 10% of their disposable income on food, Indians spend 40% - thats a big gap!

Past week

It was one long week, was such a drag to be home alone!

A nice day, today!

Today is a beautiful day outside. Its not that cold, the trees are very colorful outside my house, in fact they are bright yellow and red. The surrounding streets are strewn with leaves yellow, red and brown. There is a slight breeze that is further scattering the leaves. Just brings a smile on your face.

Snif! snif!

I used to be a very emotional and empathetic kid (I still am, ask my husband), and whenever I sang this poem I would feel bad and weep for the piggy....

Piggy on the railway, picking up stones,
down came an engine and broke piggy's bones,
Ah! said the piggy, thats' not fair,
Oh! said the engine driver, I don't care.

That reminds me that I used to also watch a program on Doordarshan (I was very young!), I don't remember anything from that serial, it was a kid's show, but just the song sequence for which I would cry once again. Its a Telugu play and goes like this:

A tiger is threatening to kill and eat a cow, and the cow is very sad because it has a hungry calf which is waiting for her. The cow pleads and sings (I doubt if lyrics are right as my Telugu is bad):

"puli raaja! puli raaja! champaku, champaku, puli raja,
naak-oka dooda undhi,
daniki paalu-ichostanu.................."

Tiger! please dont kill me, I have a calf, which is waiting for me, I will give it some milk and come....

and if I am not wrong the cow gives the calf milk and comes back and I think the tiger is moved and lets the cow go. Man! that was touching :)

I don't believe I remember this! I wonder if any one else remembers it..? My mom tells me something called bommalla tv used to come on DD and this program might have been a part of it.

And finally the song in Mr. Natwarlal sung by Amitabh himself (snif! snif!); at that point I hadn't even seen this video nor understood the meaning but the song touched me:

A Kiwi ad

Do read the captions...

Prayer

When ever I have been down I have personally re-gained a lot of strength by praying. Well I know each of us have their way of recharging their batteries. But once I pray, the inner - peace that I feel cannot be described. Well I will be lying if I don't say there are days when even the concentration and will power to pray totally died in me, but thats when I absolutely hit rock bottom. But more often that not I have re-bounded from somewhere half way through before touching that rock bottom .

I find it very hard to answer the question whether I am spiritual or religious. I feel I am both.

Vinod Khanna

Me being home alone this week I have been watching movies non-stop. Watched two of Vinod Khanna's movies Chandni and Qurbani and in both the movies he ends up sacrificing his love! sigh!

He is one good-looking actor!

Om Shanti Om - a suprise!

I finally went to see Om Shanti Om /OSO yesterday. I went obviously expecting the worst - Shah Rukh totally overacting and monotony yet again with a bunch of actors (as is common in most hindi movies these days) in that Diwangee song. Obviously the lesser the expectations you have, the lesser disappointed you are. I wouldn't say it was a great movie, but it was above average and a total entertainer.

Shah Rukh didn't seem monotonous to me, didn't show off his six-pack as much as I thought he would, I actually thought he looked good. Deepika Padukone was ok - did her job I guess. Arjun Ramphal looked great in the first half of the movie. I really liked the ending though when all the crew members appeared. And Gauri Khan looked very nice. Very surprised to see Amitabh Bachchan even though it was for a few seconds.

Absolutely stress free movie and didn't have to concentrate nor get all that bored (or maybe the second half was a bit of a drag, but well!)

All in all OSO surprised me. Yet to see Saawariya.

Infectious infections!

If laughter is infectious so is energy. I realized that yet again yesterday. Last evening I had a couple of acquaintances home who were an energetic bunch. And guess what it added that extra something to the quiet evening I was having.

2 minute noodles

What would I do without Maggi noodles? *

A tasty snack back home (so it used to be when times were simple :)) and now my lunch (when there are no dinner leftovers). Yet somehow I am not tired of it as yet. Today my personal record - had Maggi two days in a row - no I am not proud of it! Especially since my husband will be away on a work trip very soon I can foresee a mild eating disorder very soon :(

*Masala flavor to be specific

Talent or big for one's boots?

I saw couple of these on youtube the other day - Boogie-Woogie child talent quest. As much as I thought these kids were dancing very well with great expressions. Something made me a bit uncomfortable, on couple of songs chosen to dance on, like this one:

We need kids with talent to shine yes but not sure if it should be displayed by dancing to some vulgar songs with those *you know what* steps and expressions!

Not sure if I am being critical? Or is this a generation gap - me being conservative?! Phew! :)

The Evergreen English classics

I wonder how boring growing up would have been as a girl by not having watched any English classics. For the umpteenth time I saw My fair Lady yesterday "yes the Rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains", Audrey Hepburn and dashing Rex Harrison. I enjoyed every single scene as always. I believe Sound of music and My fair lady are two of those very basic classics if a girl hasn't seen is seriously missing out on. Now that currently I am doing the Old English classics movie-thon yet again (after a brief session of Rajesh Khanna's last month) I am also watching a few movies which I wanted to but never got a chance to watch before. Well the Guns of Navrone, Butch Cassidy, Mckenas gold et al are all done. But the recent addition to my favorites has been has been Casablanca and An affair to remember - very simple and nicely made doesn't even seem like the movie of the 50's and a must watch. Now the next in line is Gone with the wind - my favorite book!

Unconditional bond

No one can replace your parents - no one can!

A place called New Jersey

Its so happened that for the last couple of weekends we were in New Jersey. Yes the desi adda. I was in plain shock when I visited NJ the very first time or rather I should be specific - Oaktree Road/Edison. Not to mention that every store and restaurant is desi but so are the people of course. I just felt like I was in Hyderabad/India, not one bit in US of A. Do you even need to speak English here? 1. Gujrati 2. Hindi/Telugu is enough to survive :) Last few visits I some how got used to the idea. We enjoyed some great Indian food and also experienced the rash driving (where indicators hold no significance and neither does giving yield). And highlight was that by the time we had come out of the restaurant after a great meal at Ming (served the best Indian Chinese food, slurrp!) somebody had spat on our car door - oh yes the same old pan residue mercilessly dropped everywhere back home or so it used to be. But I wondered what it would be like if I lived in a place that just resembled India but not situated in India.

Hmmm, I think I am personally happy living in the Greater Boston area or a place which is not too far from a Indian ghetto like NJ and San Jose. We can drive up whenever we miss the Indian food and feeling of being in India. Since I have the chance to live outside India for a while might as well experience the foreign way of living instead of being stuck like a frog in the well.

Am I stuck in a maze with no exits?

I am walking down this tunnel, its dark, it could even be an open road. I wouldn't know, as everything is still and pitch dark! I hold his hands and walk. I then see this exit, it seems a little lit up. I thank god for it in my heart, smile and take a turn, pulling him along. Turns out that path doesn't lead anywhere. I hold back my tears, turn and come back to the same path and we continue walking in the hope that one of those exits, somewhere down the road will finally give way, lead to another road.

Gloomy day....!

The entry and exit of Zee TV

With my in-laws around we had taken the Zee channel connection (had no other option for Indian channel). And it reminded me what I was missing (or what I was not). Initially it was very painful to watch couple of those serials. Never ending story line with one very good natured woman and one very bad and cruel woman, always trying to harm the good one (it stirs the feminist part of me actually). Somehow after watching a few episodes I got hooked on to it. Oh! yes (call me behenji all you want - deep down there is a behenji inside all of us ;)) I did. I started watching Saath phere, Saloni ka safar and Banoo main teri, Dulhan. Very soon I was fed up with it once again and thats when my in-laws left. I was about to remove that channel it got a bit interesting with some new twist and again it was back to square one. I realized that, that is simply how these serials run, end of the day not making any sense and wasting our time. And if any of you have watched even one of those episodes, you will know the deadly special effects used. God save you from those special effects when they have to show a crucial scene (which is every alternate one), they rotate the whole character, zoom in and zoom out at various speeds and give you a headache! Phew!

Right now I switched to basic cable which has nothing but the news channel and there are no distractions in the house ..I can peacefully prepare for my certification course.

Time

Time has a mysterious kindness it leaves behind memories and wisdom, yet most of the times tests our endurance.......

I am back..!

It feels ages since I have blogged. With my in-laws around time just flew. Now the house feels empty and all of a sudden I do not know what it is I was doing before they arrived. It was a great feeling to have elders at home, that special feeling of being loved and wanted. But I guess life has to go on, after all as much as they enjoyed staying with us, they have their set routines back in India.

More blogging later...

Eating with your hand - proud or ashamed?

Recently we took the Zee network connection. My in-laws are here and we thought something Indian on TV might just help make them feel at home. Turns out its one of the saddest channels ever in existence. Anyway, in one of those senseless serials that I happened to see, this man/hero was chiding his wife/illiterate wife for eating with hands/fingers and actually making all those gross expressions as if his wife was uncivilized (so happens she is a villager). I was kind of pissed with that whole thing. Somehow I get a little irritated when especially Indians themselves react to eating with fingers/hands that way.

A few people (non-Indians) in NZ questioned me about this too. Its not like I have had Indian food in public especially overseas with my hands/fingers. (I would be outcast by now ;) I agree that you have to be a Roman when in Rome). Somehow I didnt know what else to say other than the fact that its a tradition and there is nothing wrong about it and we enjoy traditional meals that way. But isn't it unhygienic was the next question. How? As if we are that uncivilized that we don't know to wash our hands with soap before we eat. What about all the times when I see some non-Indians lick their fingers after a sandwich/burger and not wash their hands afterwards? Isn't that unhygienic?

The fact is to enjoy Indian food and thoroughly relish it it must be eaten by hands/fingers. I read the following in someone's blog, which we all know, but is well worded:

There is a philosophy behind this Indian practice of eating with the fingers. In India, eating is perceived as being a very sensual activity. The idea is that one should be able to enjoy the process of eating with as many of the senses as possible – taste, smell, sight, and touch.



Source: http://foodsofindia.blogspot.com/2006/02/practice-of-indians-eating-with-their.html

As you sow, so shall you reap

......One does not even have to wait till the next birth, if you believe in it, that is. Right here, right now in this big, big world you will get, what you give. Sometimes I wonder why two people are constantly bickering or two people are so fond of each other. Answer is simple, thats' because its always mutual disagreement or mutual admiration, the same old law - what goes around comes around!

Sanskrit quotation

I had Sanskrit in school (from Class 5 to 8th) as an additional language. We were taught a lot of quotations during the course. One such quotes I remember very clearly is below, which is fairly simple if you understand Hindi:

अल्सस्य कुथो विद्या
अविध्य्स्य कुथो धनं
अधन्स्य कुथो मित्रं
अमित्र्स्य कुथो सुखं

You cannot acquire education, if lazy.

If you have no education, there would be no wealth,

If there is no wealth, you will not have any friends,

If you have no friends, you will have no happiness

I just randomly happened to remember it!

Point to ponder

I read this somewhere; quoted by Dalai Lama; which in different words, tells us how 'what does not destroy us makes us stronger'

“We cannot learn real patience and tolerance from a guru or a friend. They can be practiced only when we come in contact with someone who creates unpleasant experiences. According to Shantideva, enemies are really good for us as we can learn a lot from them and build our inner strength"

Observation

Its amazing how somethings dont change. People still adore flattery, absolutely like it when they are praised even if it is not true. They think people who praise them are good natured. Hmmmm, cant they see that when someone is overly being good in such short duration in a relationship is simply too good to be true? I have always been the overly frank kinds (who is not appreciated for her frankness at times and comes across as arrogant :( ). I need to learn the knack to get through such people who favor pretentious attitude. I thought by now I would have learnt it - Alas! (deeeep sigh!!!!)

Gosh! I am focusing on petty things.; I should come out of it soon! :)

Shakespearean mood

For some reason I miss reading Shakespeare as we did in school. Today especially I was in a mood to read Twelfth night, so ended up reading some parts online due to time constraint :(

The two verses which I will however never forget from Twelfth night are the opening lines by Duke Orsino as below:

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical.

....and Malvolio's line:

" Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them"

Twelfth night, Macbeth, Romeo&Juliet, Hamlet and Othello are some of my favorites! I am yearning to see a play now!!!!!!!
:)

Yay! Inlaws are finally here....

Its interesting how evergreen some movies are. For the nth time watched Manmadhudu and Ninne Peladtha. And yet I was not bored. But yes I guess it eventually wears of (remember Hera Pheri). Today I watched Bawarchi with my in-laws (visiting from India). Yes! the movie spree is on. In-laws finally arrived on Sunday, we had been waiting forever now and finally they are here, which is a great relief :) and a great opportunity to give ....!

Last week did something different with friends - tried Hookah! shaan se we sat outside the restaurant and each of us tried and it was great fun; we actually had people stop by and looking at us. (I miss that attention ;).....received back home). We tried peach flavor among the list of few flavors. Not sure if I will try it again ($30 bucks didn't appeal my purse), but one must try it for the heck of it, its fun.

Journey...

" every one who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill of Difficulty alone, and since there is no royal road to the summit, I must zigzag it in my own way. I slip back many times, I fall, I stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better, I trudge on, I gain a little, I feel encouraged, I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory. One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud, the blue depths of the sky, the uplands of my desire. I am not always alone, however, in these struggles."

Helen Keller - from the Story of my life.

Honesty - still an existing policy?

I was very surprised when I moved to New Zealand to hear that one of our friend's car while left in the street, parked, had a damaged bumper with a post-it note, with the name and phone number of the person responsible for it (this was in 2003). The person was sorry and was willing to get it repaired. On another occasion I had lost my bus pass in the bus one evening. Next day morning reluctantly I bought the bus ticket and cribbed to my mom sitting beside me for having lost the bus pass. It so happened one lady got into the bus, after me, sat next to my seat then gave me one look and pulled my dirty, discolored bus pass from her bag and handed it to me. She said after you left the bus I saw this in your seat yesterday evening, I was sitting next to you yesterday as well. Yay! I thought, joys of living in a small country. Hence I was not surprised to read the following:

"Researchers planted 960 "lost" cellphones in 32 cities around the world. They then rang the phones to see if anyone would answer, and ranked the cities on how many of the 30 phones left in each place were returned to their owner.

Auckland tied with Budapest, Helsinki, Prague, Warsaw, and Zagreb in eighth spot "

Cool! I thought thats expected Kiwis will do well! I would be very much interested to know the response in India though - any guesses?

Well! Well! Well! Mumbai did better than Auckland (wow!) Mumbai ranked 5th apparently alongside New York and Manila. (I am almost feeling guilty now for having thought for a second that NZ would do better than India)

Interestingly, "The survey found that parents with children were keen to show the right behavior and women were slightly more likely to return phones than men."

And
"Those worried about moral decay can rest easy - judging by the New Zealand result showing people aged over 50 were more likely to claim the phone for themselves, the younger generations are more honest than their elders."

The smallest city surveyed, the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana - population 267,000 - finished first, with 29 of 30 cellphones returned.

The bigger centres showed they still harboured trustworthy souls too, with Canada's largest city, Toronto, second and the South Korean metropolis of Seoul third.The bustling Asian hubs of Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur shared the wooden spoon, with just 13 phones returned in each city."

So maybe the world is not that dis-honest place after all eh? [The average rate of cell phones returned was 68 percent :)].

In conclusion, I have nothing to complain about - I am glad my motherland and adopted motherland both did well ;)

Source: Auckland's honesty put to test

Finding keepers? not with cell phones, finds study

Honey! Honey!

I was generally browsing through to improve my knowledge on 'healthy eating' and I stumbled upon a write-up on honey. Like most of us I know honey is good for health in general and considered better substitute to sugar and so on. But as I started reading this article I realized honey has way too many benefits than I thought, it can provide relief from certain ailments, improve immunity, an essential ingredient in beauty products and so on. I thought I should borrow the content and paste it here so that more people can read it and gain awareness (spread the word).

Source: http://www.geocities.com/mutmainaa/food/honey_cure.html

Listed below are some common problems and ailments which can easily be cured and avoided from the use of Honey:

Skin
Honey is extremely nourishing for the skin when used as face pack and helps in rejuvenating the skin leading to the elimination of fine wrinkles.
It is a good moisturiser.
Honey has considerable Laxative effect on the human digestion system which in turn helps in reducing skin problem ie (pimples) and other problems associated with constipation, which become revealed on the skin.

Antibacterial and antifungal properties
Honey contains many minerals and vitamins beneficial to man. However, one of the most important properties seems to be its antibiotic action.
Honey has been shown to be superior to certain conventional antibiotics in treating some infections.
This bactericide (bacteria-killing) property of honey is named "the inhibition effect". Experiments conducted on honey show that its bactericide properties increase twofold when diluted with water. It is very interesting to note that newly born bees in the colony are nourished with diluted honey by the bees responsible for their supervision - as if they know this feature of the honey.

Healing wounds & grazes
Honey is of value in treating burns, infected surgical wounds and ulcers. Honey is very viscous, enabling it to absorb water from surrounding inflamed tissue. For example, a study in West Africa showed that skin grafting, surgical debridement and even amputation were avoided when local application of honey to wound promoted healing, whereas conventional treatment failed.
For such wounds or Grazes, cover the wound with honey and a bandage.

Diarrhoea
At a concentration of 40%, honey has a bactericidal effect on various gut bacteria known to cause diarrhoea and dysentery

Allergies
Raw honey is an excellent treatment for 90% of all allergies.

Teeth
Although Honey is sweet, it helps to maintain and protect teeth! Its anti-microbial activity has been tested on several species of dental plaque bacteria. A study shows that honey has been proven to sharply reduce acid production, thus killing the bacteria responsible for dental caries, and blocking the growth of oral bacteria.

Stomach Ache
Take 1 teaspoon of honey, juice of � a lemon with a hot glass of water first thing in the morning.

Colds and coughs
Honey is remedial in cases of persistent coughs and sore throat. The strong antibiotic properties it contains coats the throat and reduces throat irritation.
Mix 6 oz. liquid honey, 2 oz. glycerin with juice of 2 lemons. Bottle and cork firmly. Use as required.
For Blocked noses, Place a dessert spoon of honey in a basin of hot water and inhale fumes after covering your head with a towel over the basin.
For Sore throats, Let 1 teaspoon of honey melt in the back of the mouth and trickle down the throat. Eases inflamed raw tissues.
Uneasiness felt in the mouth & throat due to infection can be relieved immediately with honey, so there is extensive scope for honey in cough mixtures & expectorants.
Honey used for children helps inflammatory throat conditions as it both purifies blood.

Digestion
Because sugar molecules in honey can convert into other sugars (e.g. fructose to glucose), honey is easily digested by the most sensitive stomachs, despite its high acid content. It helps kidneys and intestines to function better. Hence honey is beneficial for maintaining a healthy digestive system as well as combating illnesses such as constipation.
For poor digestion, Mix 1:1 honey with apple cider vinegar and dilute to taste with water.
For patients suffering with various maladies of stomach who consume 10 grams of honey on an empty stomach in the morning & not eat anything thereafter for about 1 hour, will start feeling relief from the disorders within a few days.

Weight control
Honey has a low calorie content. Honey, when it is compared with the same amount of sugar, it gives 40% less calories to the body. Although it gives great energy to the body, it does not add weight.

Rapidly diffuses through the blood
When accompanied by mild water, honey diffuses into the bloodstream in 7 minutes. Its free sugar molecules make the brain function better since the brain is the largest consumer of sugar.

Conjunctivitis (pus in the eye)
Honey dissolved in equal quantity of warm water. Apply, when cooled, as lotion or eye bath.

Blood
Honey provides an important part of the energy needed by the body for blood formation. In addition, it helps in cleansing the blood. It has some positive effects in regulating and facilitating blood circulation. It also functions as a protection against capillary problems and arteriosclerosis.

The Heart
British researchers have discovered that honey slows the oxidation of 'bad' IDL cholesterol, which is responsible for causing arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. So Honey can fight against Colesterol. And the darker the honey, the better.
Pure honey taken with food daily (instead of white sugar) relieves complains of cholesterol.
This is beneficial for those of Old age, sufferers of Heart-disease, Diabetes, High-blood Pressure, Stroke, and others.

Appetite
Honey improves appetite in children suffering from conditions of Appetite loss.

Headaches & Migraine
Take 2 teaspoons at meals to prevent an attack
For Migraines, Take 1 dessert spoon honey dissolved in half a glass of warm water at start migraine. Repeat in 20 minutes if necessary.

Insomnia
Honey helps in nervous disorders including Insomnia and acts as a tonic in recovery of any damage to the human nervous system.
In cases of Insomnia (Sleeplessness) one teaspoon full of honey mixed in luke-warm water (or milk) & drunk before going to bed helps in getting sound sleep.

Stress
Honey in water is a stabilizer - calms highs and raises lows. Use approx. 1:4 honey to water.

Healing
Honey also greatly helps in convalecense as it has properties to make the body heal faster.

Tuberculosis
Honey helps patients suffering from Tuberculosis as it vastly helps in arresting the spread of this disease.

Asthma
Honey helps in conditions of Asthma as many conditions of Asthma respond favourably to Honey.

Fatigue and exhaustion
Honey is best used to increase the physical stamina & energy level of the human body & since honey is easily absorbed in the blood, it is the best ingredient to remove tiredness ad fatigue after hard work almost instantly.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon honey in warm water or quarter honey balance of water in a jug and keep in the fridge. Honey is primarily fructose and glucose and so it is quickly absorbed by the digestive system.

The Old and young
French doctors advise weak, emaciated children & older patients to take honey & cream or honey & butter instead of cod liver oil.
Boiled mild mixed with equal quantity of water & seven percent honey is a fabulous energy packed food for children.

Osteoporosis
1 teaspoon of honey a day helps calcium utilization and prevents osteoporosis. Essential from age 50 onwards.

Burns
Apply freely over burns. It cools, removes pain and aids fast healing without scarring. Apart from being a salve and antibiotic, bacteria cannot live in honey.

Infertility
Honey consumed with milk increases human sperm count to an astonishing degree. Since, basically Sexual Virility is concerned with three fundamental Organs in the male body, all these organs use Glucose and Fructose to obtain energy.
Honey as already mentioned is the best source of the above required sugars. No wonder it�s dubbed the Elixir of life even earning itself clear mention in the Quran as far back as 1,400 years.

Baldness
Scrub the bald area with onions till red. Then apply honey.

Constipation
For patients suffering from constipation as spoon of honey mildly heated with a small quantity of wheat husk added after it is cooled & administered to the patient, gives immediate relief.
Otherwise take � teaspoon honey mixed with � - 1cup warm water 2-3 times a day

Paralysis
The famous physician ibn Sina (Aviccina) writes that licking honey mixed with the extract of boiled rice Wij (Peench in Urdu) helps cure partial facial paralysis.

High Blood Pressure
Take mixed 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon ginger juice and 1 teaspoon cumin powder 2x a day

Anaemia
Honey is the best blood enricher by raising corpuscle content. The darker the honey the more minerals it contains.

Take 1 ripe banana with 1 tablespoon honey 1-2x a day

Hay Fever
Chewing the tops of comb honey stimulates the immune system due to minute amounts of pollen. During the season chew for 20 minutes a teaspoon of bee capping (tops) five to six times per day. Highly effective and useful for asthma sufferers as well

Insect Bites
According to Islamic medicine, for cases of bite or stinging of poisonous insects, a paste made of one part unsoaked limestone, four parts honey & four parts olive oil applied on the affected part will give immediate relief.

Movies watched last week

I managed to watch 3 movies last week, each very different:

1. Jhoom barabar Jhoom /JBJ
2. The Game
3. To kill a mocking bird /TKMB

I watched JBJ cos a friend of ours just dropped the copy at our place to spread the joy (sarcastic!). The movie was silly, tried hard to make the audience laugh and was not successful at least in our home. Though Abhishek and Preity tried to look cute. be funny - they failed miserably. Obviously the low-light of the movie was Senior Bachchan. What the heck was he thinking wearing that costume, middle of the train station in London? is my only question. Followed by Bobby Deol's painful hairstyle and Lara Dutta - no comments.

The Game, if I thought Bollywood makes silly movies such as JBJ, what about Michael Douglas and Sean Penn's the Game - it was lousy. Sean Penn plans a weird birthday bash for his brother (Douglas). Some of the incidents happening as part of the bash is as follows:
- Douglas is thrown from a cab into the water (locked car doors, he cant even get out!)
- lost in Mexico without a passport overnight
- drugged and believed he lost all his wealth (wealthy man that he is as always)
- and finally made to believe he killed his brother (gun was fake arghh!) and he feels sorry for himself and jumps of this really tall building, committing suicide, only to be saved by the air bed already placed by Penn, cos he knew his brother's reaction, when he realizes he killed his brother.

Are you kidding me? We watch this whole movie and then you tell it was just a birthday present - total crap. I know this is an old movie (1997 released) but the other day, a hot afternoon I was lazying on the couch and decided to sit through the movie - what a mistake!

The best movie watched last week, was one of my best books -TKMB. A classic, very simple background, Gregory Peck as Atticus (perfect fit) and the kids - Jem, Dill and Scout were apt for their roles too as was Boo Radley :) Its evergreen movies like this that bring me on track.

Silver lining

Has it ever happened that your very close to achieving something, your about to fold your fingers and grasp it and suddenly due to unexpected reason it completely disappears, and leaves you holding your hands in mid-air totally surprised/shocked not knowing how to react. Well this is something that has never happened to me before. Even though I did feel at times that something was about to fall apart somehow strangely things worked out and fell into place. Hence I always thought, I was lucky that despite some hiccups and hurdles I always got what I wanted. But not any more!

I always considered myself an optimistic person and yes that I am - at every juncture I always expect the most positive thing to happen - isn't that what an optimist should do? (Dictionary dot com describes an optimist as 'a person who usually expects a favorable outcome'). Even the fox from the fox and grapes story (the fox labeled the grapes sour just cos it could not reach them) should be appreciated for being optimistic and not cribbing, but conveniently telling himself it was not losing out on anything by not eating the grapes.

The flip side to being an optimist is your constantly expecting things to work in your favor and your pushing yourself forward. How long can you do this? what makes me question this is the fact that I have survived 2-3 major situations like this in past 1 year, which I thought were important to me and within reach but turned out to be a mirage. I am optimistic but an emotional person, I need to have a good cry to get over something after which I typically use the butterfly analogy and calm myself. (Remember you have those posters with a butterfly being set free by a pair of hands and the quotation : "If you love something set it free, if it comes back to you, its yours, else it never was"). But it so happens, an hour back I have survived through another such opportunity that made its appearance and disappeared yet again, something which was not in my control "yet again": I had a good cry and convinced myself something good is in store for me. But another question troubled me that this is the third/fourth time I have told myself in the last 1 year or so. Will I survive another one? Isn't it high time I should have my share of wish-list granted?

My conscience dutifully told me: yes I would survive. Remember what you once heard it said "What does not destroy you, makes you stronger". One deep breath and I was back to normal. Its amazing how our thought process works and helps us bounce back and move on with life. I hope I always see the silver lining, rather than the dark cloud itself and count my blessings and live in the present. I hope I continue to be strong and remain stoic when the next tide sweeps across. I hope the next one is not a tide, instead I see the dark cloud disappearing, and the sun shining on me through the bright blue sky...

Dr. Shilpa Shetty?

The other day I finally watched the videos available of Shilpa Shetty vs Jade in Big Brother. I know I am way behind, but well its never too late, is it? Below are the two main videos:






Though I do find her a bit fake in this series, Jade definitely over-reacted to the whole thing. I don't think I should waste my time more than this, on this topic. What's interesting is that how her fame has finally led to the newly acquired title - Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK has granted her the doctorate for her contribution to cultural diversity. I need to know how she has contributed?. Apparently Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Yash Chopra are the stars who have already acquired the same from this University. I guess the term 'racist' still makes the Brits uncomfortable eh?.

Go Soya nuggets!

After a very long time, I bought Soy nuggets from the Indian store the other day and made a Soy nuggets curry and we ate it with rotis - it was yum! Somehow since I have moved out of India (almost 5 years now) I have not had it and I actually forgot about its existence. I simply love the taste and I would like to think it looks just like meat (besides Tofu, I can see all you meat eaters rolling your eyes if your reading this :))

We all the know the benefits of Soya by now - rich in minerals, fibers, vitamins, high in proteins yet less calories, but I discovered that it also help fight breast and colon cancer. Though Soya milk, Soya bean oil, Tofu are more poular Soya products I feel nuggets are not as well known; especially in the Indian cuisine.

Soya nuggets is a must try!

पुष्प की अभिलाषा

पुष्प की अभिलाषा
- माखनलाल चतुर्वेदी

चाह नहीं मैं सुरबाला के
गहनों में गूँथा जाऊँ

चाह नहीं, प्रेमी-माला में
बिंध प्यारी को ललचाऊँ

चाह नहीं, सम्राटों के शव
पर हे हरि, डाला जाऊँ

चाह नहीं, देवों के सिर पर
चढ़ूँ भाग्य पर इठलाऊँ

मुझे तोड़ लेना वनमाली
उस पथ पर देना तुम फेंक

मातृभूमि पर शीश चढ़ाने
जिस पर जावें वीर अनेक ।।

I was randomly searching for something on the net and came across this. And wow! I was so excited to read this - reminds me of the good old बाल भारती days. In St Anns right from Class 1 to middle school we had this text. Its one of the books prescribed for ICSE and CBSE board I think, not sure.

Anyway this is the link where I found it:

http://www.prayogshala.com/poems/pushp-ki-abhilasha

Kudos Ajji!

Yesterday, was yet another mundane day. I came home from Red Cross some how very dull . Was lost in my own thoughts and was making Rasam/Saaru for dinner, and the Rasam powder/Saaru podi I was using was what my aunts had sent from India. But it somehow reminded me of my Ajji who used to make the best Saaru I have had when I was young.

Like most kids brought up in India I have had my grandparents influence in my life since childhood. My Ajji especially has been a source of inspiration to me. To provide a bit of background about her, she was born and brought up in this small town of Dharapuram in Tamilnadu and married my grand father, her cousin at a young age. She moved to Udupi, my grandfather's hometown after marriage, then temperorily Chennai, when my Ajja/Grandfather decided to migrate for better prospects and then finally Hyderabad. They have been in Hyderabad for over 50 years now. They then bought a small house in Kothi, Hyderabad and have lived there ever since (and thats how the Karody's landed in Hyderabad) :). Most weekends during my childhood I have spent with them in that very house. And even summer vacations too and celebrated most of the important festivals.

My Grand dad used to teach Chemistry in New Science college in Hyderabad. My Ajji mean while was way too talented to be sitting at home. She was BTW very good in her acads especially math and science. She took up Bachelors degree in English Literature and taught in Reddy college for Women in Hyderabad. To this day she wows people with her intelligence, charisma and English vocabulary.

I always have very fond memories of her narrating Ramayana on hot summer afternoons (summer vacation days that I spent there) and making Paayasam /kheer/Rice pudding for me at odd hours. I simply loved it when she made it. She would make it specially for me in very small quantity and it would taste 'out of this world'. I would relish it to the last drop. I might have probably been 7 or 8 then (my memory is very faint before that). That is how she started having influence over my life - by providing me with simple pleasures in life and most importantly the love and affection that every child needs at that young age. At the same time she always taught me something new, be it mythological stories or teaching values. She was always very devoted to my grand father and never have I seen her rude or moody. She was patience and perseverance personified. )Who would otherwise pursue studies with 4 young kids i.e. my dad and his brothers)?

When my grand dad retired so did she in order to give him company. Both of them then actively participated in Kannada Natya Ranga - a Hyderabad based Kannada community group which primarily promotes Kannada art and literature through networking. My Ajja and Ajji actively directed plays and also brought to Hyderabad Yakshagana troops and other performers from Karnataka. The shows were always a huge success. Thus grew my grand parents fame in the Kannada community in the 1980's, they were very warm and friendly, very helpful and also very social, who loved to be around people.

Ajji has also been the best cook and very active. When so many people would visit their home (mainly related to Kannada Natya Ranga) she would always cook and offer something to eat and drink without ever getting bugged, how many ever people may arrive without notice. In fact she would enjoy serving and simply 'giving'. I remember the two things she has always taught me and still tells me to this day (it rings in my ears) that as a woman I should always be patient and compassionate when dealing with other people. Differences do occur in most relationships but I should not make any rash decisions and react. Whenever a girl behaves rashly fingers are pointed to the way her mother brought her up. This does sound like old school of thought. But it is true that how we behave as adults mostly reflects on how our parents have brought us up. But some how she always told me this and never did I pay attention. Now after making a few mistakes here and there I realize by what she means. She has also taught me the importance of simple living and self respect. Imagine they are in their 80's and still live in their own home and in that small house they own, and on their pension money they earn.

Wow! It is now I understand that a person who is mentally strong i.e. not perturbed by any challenges that life throws, who is patient and compassionate (wishing well for one and all) in thinking, perseveres goals with sincerity can lead a content life. Now after all these years I see her now she has become quite old and feeble, yet what's amazing is the spark that remains in her. Ajji I think your such a wonderful human being, and have always given, given and given to everyone around you by sharing happiness, wisdom and contentment. I really hope I can emulate and adopt some of the values you have taught me and pass it on.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened; vision cleared; ambition inspired, and success achieved.
~ Helen Keller

Emotional abuse

Today at Red Cross (where I volunteer part time) a lady with her child, probably about 2 years old arrived. She was of Hispanic origin came straight up to me and said that her boyfriend had kicked her out of the house, and their daughter, and she was also pregnant and needed some assistance as she didn't know where to go. Today being 5th of July (short work week) the office was just being managed by one Program co-ordinator. I approached her as I had not dealt with such case before. She was a new employee herself and she had to make numerous phone calls to get linked to the right people who could help this lady out. Finally she got in touch with DTA - Government department that provides Transition Assistance.

While the Program co-ordinator was making phone calls (almost took an hour to get to DTA), the 2 year old girl started crying. It was a very heart-rending sight. The girl had entered the office as any other cherubic two year old, happy, smiling and in the world of her own, unaware of mother's problems, asking curious questions. Her mother obviously was bothered by her interruptions and strapped her to the stroller to keep her in one place. Thats when she started crying. She wouldn't stop and she cried so hard that she was gasping for breath. Her mother lost it and started crying herself, this brought tears in my eyes. I was kind of busy talking to couple of others who had come for some other assistance, I wrapped it up quickly and gave the child company, as soon as I would go near her and stroke her hair she would keep quiet. The moment I left her side she would cry bitterly. I was told there were some crackers in the pantry so I offered her which she munched. I told myself how unfair that this little girl should suffer. Finally the guys at DTA asked her to come down by 4pm ( it was already 3 and she had come to us around 2). The co-ordinator got her a cab and they hopped on to it and the girl gave a big wave. She was a beautiful child, unfortunately she spoke only Hispanic so I couldn't really talk to the child.

Later I found out that the DTA guys could provide her immediate emergency relief. The lady had told them that she was experiencing 'emotional abuse' from her partner but not really physical. The DTA guys couldn't provide her relief under the domestic violence category because there was no evident domestic abuse and apparently they do not provide for if its emotional. Hence the service they provided to her was the same as for the 'homeless'.

Some how this whole episode was didactic. I knew that there is an organization called Saheli which helps South Asian Women in Boston and I didn't know about Hispanic women. So now I know about DTA in MA. More over I was also some how not too much aware of 'emotional abuse'. Its typically domestic violence and physical abuse that is always focussed upon, but no one talks about emotional abuse on women. It can be equally scarring, I am sure.

I wanted more clarity on how men might be abusing women emotionally. And I found the following on the internet.

Emotional Abuse of Women by Male Partners: the Facts

In heterosexual relationships, most abuse happens to women by their male partners. Emotional abuse, like physical abuse, is used to control, demean, harm or punish a woman. While the forms of abuse may vary, the end result is the same - a woman is fearful of her partner and changes her behaviour to please him or be safe from harm. Many people think that emotional abuse is not as serious or harmful as physical abuse. Women state that this is not true, and that the biggest problem they often face is getting others to take emotional abuse seriously.

Some tactics of emotional abuse by an abuser are to:

Isolate a woman from her friends, family, cultural or faith community, care providers, and prevent her from having independent activities such as work, English as a Second Language classes or other education;

Act overly jealous or possessive; accuse a woman of having affairs if she talks to another man; coerce her into sexual activity to prove her love;

Criticize a woman constantly - her actions, size and appearance, and abilities;

Use a woman's disability or deafness to demean or control her;

Threaten, intimidate, harass, or punish a woman if she does not comply with her abusive partner's demands;

Use the children to control a woman, for example undermine her authority as a parent or threaten to take them if she should leave;

Make all of the decisions in the family, withhold information and refuse to consult her or about important matters such as where they live, or the family's finances;

Control the money - what is spent, how it is spent, not allow a woman access to financial resources, or conversely not contribute to any of the household expenses

Reference: http://www.womanabuseprevention.com/html/emotional_abuse_facts.html

The above website gives all the details about women abuse and prevention. Its always handy to know your community organizations such as DTA, Saheli etc as even though some of us are lucky and may not experience such hardship at least we would be able to give advise when urgently needed.

July 4th 2007

Yesterday husband and I decided we would go see the fireworks. The day in Boston was cloudy and by the time it was evening it had started to drizzle. We thought we'd take the subway to avoid parking hassles and especially cos it would be crowded. We went to Alewife station about 10-15 minutes from our place and took the subway to Charles/MGH. We stood on the bridge and saw some great fireworks display. Its really commendable if you consider the co-ordination thats required from the guys actually displaying the fireworks. When it was all over and we were returning the station and the subway was packed. After ages I was seeing such a big crowd.

I remember the very first time I saw fireworks display (overseas) was at Disneyland (Anaheim, California). It was at Thanksgiving and it was packed, average 2 hours wait for a ride, and musical fireworks was on display. It was very beautiful. Displaying fireworks based on the music I thought was a fantastic idea. Its a treat!

Birthdays!

Today is our friend's birthday. Being a holiday we dutifully spent the eve at his place and cut the cake at 12am. It was good. Especially for our friend cos his family - parents and brother's family and all his near and dear were together under one roof. Not everyone gets to have their chosen people on their birthday. He was quite lucky, I thought.

June-July starts the birthday season. June slowly sets the pace and by the time its August you would have wished a person every single day :) Thanks to Orkut it not only found us long lost friends but reminds us of birthdays. Since childhood birthdays have always been fun. In India when I was really young, I remember it would typically begin when I would get up all excited. The previous week my mom would have bought me a dress (frock as we call it) and chocolates to distribute to classmates and then invite all the neighborhood kids I would play with in the evening after school, for a meal at home after school. In school all kids sang the Happy Birthday song and I would distribute chocolates. Later years I received birthday bums and all :) At home again mom would cook good food and neighborhood kids came over and I had fun once again cut the cake and receive gifts and also give some 'return gifts'.

As I grew up we were not allowed to wear new outfits at school to maintain equality among students, school authorities made a rule to come in your uniform as usual on birthdays but you can distribute chocolates if you wish. I am always a strong supporter of uniform (does not create unnecessary disparities at a young age!) so I was happy. Eventually by the time we reached eighth grade we stopped everything altogether. We would carry chocolates and offer only if someone remembered and wished. And by that time we were old enough to go out on our own (as parents decided) we started eating out - just us group of friends and go for a movie. When we were in 10th grade we had started sleepovers etc so we would spend the previous night at the birthday girl's (it was an all girls school) place and cut the cake at 12 :)

Then when P came in my life, I was 17 so since my 18th birthday, birthdays have been so much fun thanks to him. My 21st was the best :) I was working in Juno and he sent me 3-5 bouquets a beautiful watch and just made it so special. Not just the gifts ;) but the feeling of being young and in love - awwwww! :)

Now even after years :) birthdays are always special days; the best when your close family and friends are around. I panicked last couple of birthdays a bit (you know why) but now I know each year there is something wonderful in store for me. Surprises! - some pleasant some not so pleasant - after all life is a roller coaster ride eh?, but definitely all the experiences make us a smarterand mature and appreciate life ....

Etcetera

Yesterday was another normal day. Went for my weekly Red cross volunteering work and it turned out to be very quiet there as well. The mattress and bed is being delivered today so the day will be spent assembling it (or rather evening my husband does it ;) ). And tomorrow is chutti/a holiday and a friend's birthday so tonight would possibly be a late night. However I hope to read today and tomorrow (trying to catch up on some material I have related to my field!) and also read P.G. Wodehouse. Somehow I missed reading it when growing up so making it up now :)

Yesterday I watched Fresh Prince and realized that I have been doing so for the past few weeks on channel Nick. Then my husband happened to tell me how talented Will Smith is. Of course, then I remembered MIB and "Getting Jiggy with it..Nah Nah Nah Nah" Gosh that still rings in my ears from the pubs/parties at Hyderabad. Then on Wikipedia I saw that apparently he not only acts and sings well he was also admitted to the pre-engineering program in MIT which he turned down, interesting! Anyways, Bill Cosby, Fresh Prince and My Wife and Kids are my favorite shows (African-American family based).

Finally, Old habits die hard. I still haven't got over my British spellings (you see it only became stronger in NZ, I am sure I would have lost it if I were in India). I still spell colour, favour, for color and favor and the American spell check dutifully highlights it all, also not to forget the 's' in realise as opposed to 'realize' and though I have got used to the MM/DD/YY I suddenly switch to DD/MM/YY although negligible.

Mundane stuff: Mattress search and so on...

Weekend as usual has just flown. Friday wanted to go for 'Sicko' but somehow we were not able to make it. My husband has been working pretty late and hard last week, yet again. Saturday we went to the temple (our weekly ritual) and post lunch we were invited for Coffee at a friend's place, actually they had purchased a brand new home. It was in Chelmsford (MA) a good 40 minutes drive from our home for us and me was driving and my husband was on the phone continuously with some work related issues. I was very nervous, as I was worried he would not direct me appropriately as he also had not been to the area. I made a couple of minor blunders and we reached safe ;) We had Chai and then other friends left and we continued hanging out at their place. P was on the computer for atleast 1 hour at their place then finally after he got done we watched this Telugu movie Pellayina Kothalo (Jagpathi Babu and some new heroine) some parts of the movie was quite funny. We finally had dinner at their place and got home. BTW the home was very good, when we visit people who have purchased such big homes it feels so good with so much space etc. But end of the day I am so happy with my rented apartment. Imagine cleaning/maintaining such big 4 bedroom homes and then so much stuff you end up accumulating (some how that makes me feel old - the less stuff I have in terms of furniture etc the younger I feel ;)). Nevertheless these guys had a nice deck, big kitchen and 4 spacious bedrooms and over all very cosy place.

Today it was routine stuff, did grocery shopping at Costco and Patel Brothers :) But the biggest achievement was we purchased a bed and mattress for the guest room at IKEA. With my in-laws trip visit round the corner, I was almost beginning to worry about the mattress shopping. Mattress shopping is a never ending saga..... It began like this; we hurriedly bought a Sealy's Posturpedic when I moved here (US) last February (2006). Since I have moved to US I have never ever slept well in the last one year (I am not exaggerating!). I dont know what it is (USCIS has contributed to my lack of sleep I later convinced myself they are not worth even thinking or talking about, hey so can I sue them?), but I like to think its the mattress as the culprit, to begin with, we have been searching for mattresses forever now. We are planning to buy Temperpedic which is almost 3000$ (for a mattress 3K - you think I can sleep peacefully now? ;)) but again someone told its disadvantages and we are back to square one and husband and I are still not able to decide if we should go for King or Queen!

I have no idea what sort of mattress I used in India. Such discussions also would not have come up, Phew! (Yes! I am turning into an Aunty day by day). Life is getting so complicated with too many options and time on hand (again blame the USCIS!!). I slept so very well in India and even in New Zealand for that matter, in fact in NZ I had a sidey mattress yet I slept well. Thus our quest for a good mattress continues....

Question: Why were there such few desis outdoors this weekend?
Answer: They were all at the Lawyer's to make sure their papers (Green Card - what else?)are filed at dawn (July 2nd is the big day right?).
I think most desis spend half their time in US talking/planning about/for H1 and GC (sigh! some times I feel sorry for us!)

High on life or publicity?

Paris Hilton finally got out of the prison. I wanted to watch her on Larry King Live yesterday but I got busy and didn't watch it. I just caught a glimpse of the program and this was when Larry King asked Paris what is the one thing she would like to change about herself/Paris? and she replies the way I laugh when I am nervous, apparently she gets a bit shrill, she said. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. She sat there with sadness in her eyes (or feigning sadness I should say?) and trying to look gloomy and weak and if all the rest of the responses were as dumb and hollow as that one - I don't think I missed anything. I have definitely been enjoying Jay Leno's comments on her! And apparently according to him the reason Larry King was wearing extra pair of suspenders yesterday at the interview was cos his wife forced him to cos he was the first man she (Paris) was meeting after getting out of prison LOL :)

BTW I happened to read that Eva Longoria is being paid 2 Mil for exclusive wedding pictures of her and Tony Parker at their wedding by some Ok! magazine. (Angelina I guess charged 4 Mil for the pictures of her daughter to be published if I am not wrong). I sincerely hope there is a law passed which requires such type of income to be donated to charity. I would like to call this social waste.

Rozana..

I finally got over my cribby mood last evening with a garam cup of chai. I made some dondakayi curry with papu-chaaru which turned out so yum, husband and I enjoyed for dinner. And we watched this Hindi movie 'Life in a Metro', it was a pretty different movie, and as usual Konkana Sen's acting was very good. I thought Shilpa Shetty looked a bit old (watched her after a long time - but her body was great as usual), And I quite liked the song Alvida. I was yearning for a new Hindi movie for a while and I was glad when I was able to watch this last night. Somehow the way I enjoy Hindi movies I cannot enjoy others except very few Telugu movies. Even though a few friends of mine try to convince me that Telugu comedy is much better, its just something I cannot appreciate as much. I am not sure what it is; but after a long time if I get to watch proper Hindi movies I feel good to simply hear the language.

That makes me wonder the influence of Hindi movies on my life. My parents have been into movies since they were young. So when I grew up the Bollywood movies influence was immense. I used to listen to all the Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi songs - and watch movies with actors ranging from Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, (upto here by dad was mainly in charge) Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh (70's my mom was in charge). With Doordarshan the only channel listening to all those songs on the tape was very common on weekends. And of course the radio would also be playing various songs. I have also watched most of the movies myself. So the trend to watch Hindi movies continued when I grew up. When I was really young Hero and Betaab were my favorite. My mom reminds me how I would listen to those songs continuously. I am sure most of you guys my age group would agree too. I still love those songs!

Then I lost touch briefly with Hindi movies (I don't think I missed anything other than a few Mithun movies). The kids I used to hang out with were evenly spread Telugu and Hindi speaking. So my Telugu phase began and lasted for a short period. I watched few of Balakrishna movies don't ask me why but he was my favorite (Duh! not now when I was I was a kid). Manga amma gari manvadu was my favorite movie and then this other movie Maapela Gopaludu I have absolutely no clue if I even understood the movie ;). Once Tezaab and Ram-Lakhan released I bounced back to Hindi movies and have stuck to it ever since until Ninne-Peladtha, Santhosham, Manmadhudu happened. Actually I think I did watch a bit of Rajendra Prasad also in between.

Hollywood movies of course were watched side by side. My dad was a big fan of Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer, Marlon Brando, Kirk Douglas and a few others so most of the popular movies I would watch thanks to Dad. Once cable TV hit homes then it was easy to keep in touch with the latest movies of course.

I seriously cannot imagine life without Hindi movies, songs, dancing and the drama and of course the gossip!

Tsssssk!

I am so bored and bugged of all the pictures people put up in their Orkut albums - have you seen some of those pictures? - where in husband-wife are hugging each other, husband is kissing wife (bha!), and some depicting their entire life history from the dog they own, to the car they drive. Get a life mate! What is it that they want? Acceptance? People praising them and saying "Oh your so so lucky, you loooook so happy! " Oh please save all that self-love for some other time you needy souls!

Crib! Crib!

Environment

Its simply great that 'environment' in general is receiving attention from organizations and governments. For what its worth from Al Gore's global warming videos, to Australia banning the incandescent lights and plan to switch to energy efficient lights, to the most recent step taken in SFO banning bottled water in government department is simply wonderful. When I read it sitting in RMV yesterday - its so thoughtful, I muttered to myself! Just when sometimes you think things are going haywire here comes a ray of hope. In fact if you have read the Bloomberg-Schwarzenegger article in TIME, The New Action Heroes, you'd be pretty impressed what the billionaires are up to, Bloomberg actually takes the subway to work. Not sure if its one of those publicity stunts but surely helping the environment. I also found this link which gives a few good tips how to make your home green. I guess we can contribute to the environment using this as a starting point. But undoubtedly there must be drastic measures taken especially by larger nations such as China and India - long way to go ..!

License to drive

I finally managed to schedule my appointment for today at the RMV (Registry of Motor Vehicles) at Framingham, MA. Last year I was on a visitor's status to the US and hence did not attempt to take the license. This year I waited for the winter to pass and all the snow to melt. Finally after driving for 6-8 weekends (weekdays husband takes the car to work) I took the plunge.

This morning I woke up a bit nervous not sure what to expect cos I have heard various stories some of them claiming how easy it is to pass the test and other how rigorous it is. In New Zealand I know they were pretty strict which such stuff. I started driving a car from 2003 after moving to New Zealand. I took five classes and with little bit of practice it was a cake walk. However I was only eligible for "Restricted License". As I was under 25 I had to wait 18 months to take the Full license or take the Defense Driving training after 6 months as a short cut and take the final road test. With Restricted license you can only drive from 6am in the morning to 10pm and can only take your family members in the car. That was quite okay with me. Besides with 40 bucks each class I had spent 200 already, the stingy student in me did not want to spend more for the Defense driving and insurance (which is also higher if below 25 apparently). Moreover most of the people told me in NZ that the Full license road test is usually a 30-45 minute affair. They take you on the inner roads, make you do all the possible 3 point or 5 point turns (lol), parallel park, change lanes on motorway (freeway) and then they also ask you to narrate hazards at every stage (to check how observant you are?) etc.

When I called the RMV for the appointment the rep on the phone told me the test should take any where from 5 to 20 minutes. I was happy to hear that for a start. My driving is pretty decent but I can get nervous and flustered at times. I also never parallel parked and recently learnt it, I wasn't too nervous about it though actually I like parallel parking now :) but I was generally worried about mood of the person who would grade my driving - the silly stuff that can ruin my prospects.

When I reached the RMV I saw the inspector and was a bit nervous. Well inspector in uniform what can you expect eh? Anyways I was third in queue on a VW Jetta (which my husband painfully drives everyday cos I made him by the smallest car cos I am still not used to driving big cars), a Volvo in front of me and BMW was the first vehicle. Both the cars had teenage girls in them. The inspector took the girl in the BMW asked her the hand signals and got back in less than 5 minutes, then again the Volvo followed and got back in 5 minutes. That was quick I thought and was happy but there was no one else behind me in the queue so the inspector could spend more time to test my driving skills - shoot!

Anyways inspector came and sat beside me. My husband sat behind. I had hinted him enough times it was not required for him to be there (as two people watching me might make me more nervous). Anyways the inspector asked me the hand signals which I dutifully showed and then asked me to start the car and take an immediate right. I indicated the road was empty, thank god I thought and started driving and suddenly out of nowhere there is this really old Asian (Chinese to be precise) lady with a cart pushing (she even wore one of those Vietnamese/Chinese pointed hats) and walking feebly towards me. Bloody Hell! I thought in my mind thats it - end of story. Where the heck did she come from?. She was carrying some filthy stuff in the cart and looked like a destitute. I waited for her to pass, she acknowledged and waved - poor lady! I thought felt bad for her anyways I continued, indicated and took a right. The road led to a STOP sign with the red light flashing. I waited and he asked me too take a couple of left turns and stop near the kerb. He asked me to reverse a bit which I did. He asked me to take the three point turn. Now this was something I hadn't done for a long time but it was easy. Then I got back to the road from where we started and it was all over in less than 5 minutes. He asked me to take my temperory license (the actual license would be mailed out) and bid goodbye.

Yes! It was that easy. I was unnecessarily that scared - but yes that Chinese lady still remains a mystery (reminds me of some mythological stories when people would disguise and come to test your values blink!blink!). And my husband is glad to get rid of VW Jetta. That was the story of how I obtained my license in the US of A.

Little Women

Most of us have a strong attachment to the non-details we had in school. I had Little Women in my fifth class. Like most girls at that age I fell in love with that book and still love reading it once in a while. The best part about reading such books is how we get to imagine the characters, the background settings etc. I really enjoy reading especially such classics simply because I like to day dream while reading them. I finally got a copy of the Little Women in Walmart (Winona Ryder (who plays Jo) and Susan Sarandon (who plays Marmie). One afternoon I watched it and simply fell in love with it. It perfectly fell in place - the exact details I imagined as a young girl - all the characters of Laurie, Beth and Meg and Amy...simply perfect! even Hannah and Aunt March.

Moreover even before I saw this movie I had visited Lousia May Alcott's (the author) residence turned museum in Concord (Massachusetts) yes the place is the setting for the story as well.

Orchard House:



Hence this experience drew me closer to the classic.

If you have not already watched this version and your a Little Women fan like me - the movie is a must watch; but yes certain details were obviously cut. But no where did I feel that there was a disconnect. [It usually happens when I read the book first and then watch the movie (Ahem!)] but not for this one.

When you married n drunk, even if you cant walk the walk, you gotta talk the talk!!

Found this old forward when clearing my inbox!

Martin wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table. He sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. Martin looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotless, clean. So is the rest of the house.

He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table. "Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping. Love You!"

So he goes to the kitchen and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Martin asks, "Son, what happened last night?"

His son says, "Well, you came home around 3 AM, drunk and delirious. Broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door."

Confused, Martin asks, "So, why is everything in order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?"

His son replies, "Oh, that! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you said, "Lady leave me alone! I'm married!"

Moral
-----
Self-induced hangover -- $100.00
Broken furniture -- $2,000.00
Breakfast -- $10.00
Saying The Right Thing While Drunk -- PRICELESS

Baale ele-oota/ the Banana leaf meal tradition!

I am not sure how many of you agree with me, but some of the best meals I have enjoyed so far (in my life) has been in a traditional southie style (south-indian), sitting on the floor and eating from a banana leaf (yes! Ele-Oota literal translation in Kannada means leaf-meal) and yes with my hand.

I never paid too much attention to food when I was a kid (I disliked eating, very strangely I was a milk drinker and I still am ;) a large glass of milk without sugar and I would be content, I was thus a poor eater). But once I visited Udupi when I was a little older and visited the Udupi Shree Krishna Temple and we all had a meal at the temple, and it was on a banana leaf. I remember rice and some curry and usual pickles were served and then came this piping hot saar/saaru (Rasam in Kannada and Konkani and chaaru in Telugu). When I mixed it with hot rice and ghee (clarified butter), SLURRRP!!!!! it was heaven on earth. The most tastiest meal I ever had. Finally it dawned on me that food is much more than for merely surviving, its an experience that can teach you to live for the moment (I seem to be dwelling too much in my past and/or present these days tsk!). Then my chickamma (aunt) explained to me that what adds taste to the meal is actually the banana leaf itself not just the tasty piping hot saaru. She showed me this mini experiment at home - in hot rice she added hot saaru and the color of the leaf actually turned lighter because of the heat from the food. Wow! I was enlightened, (Hmm so I guess the chlorophyll adds taste then eh?) and from that day I have been a great fan of food served on banana/plantain leaf. And you know what you have to develop the knack how to eat on the leaf else your saaru will be flowing outside your leaf and can get messy.

I am not sure how many people are aware of this but there is actually rules for serving the items on a banana leaf. The below diagram would describe in detail what a traditional Udupi-Kannadiga meal reconstitutes of and the arrangement on the leaf.

Source: http://www.udupipages.com/home/recipe/banana.html

Learn the traditional way of serving food on plantain leaves in the traditional Udupi style 1. Uppu (Salt) 2. Uppinakai (Pickles) 3. Chutney Pudi (Chutney Powder) 4. Kosumbri (Green Gram Salad) 5. Kosumbri (Bengal Gram Salad) 6. Kayi Chutney (Coconut Chutney) 7. Beans Pallya (Fogath) 8. Gujje Pallya (Jack Fruit Fogath) 9. Chvitranna (Lemon Rice) 10. Happala (Papad) 11. Sandige (Crispies) 12. Kadubu (Steamed Rice Cake) 13. Anna (Rice) 14. Thovve (Dal) 15. Sihigojju (Raitha) 16. Saru (Rasam) 17. Uddinahittu (Black Gram Paste) 18. BadanePodi (Brinjal Pakoda) 19. Menaskai (Sweet And Sour Gravy) 20. Goli Baje (Maida Fry) 21. Avial (Vegetabel Mix) 22. Gatti Baje (Ladies Finger Pakoda) 23. Gulla Koddel (Brinjal Sambar) 24. Chiroti Milk (Sweet) 25. Gojjambade (Masalwada Curry) 26. Kayi Holige (Sweet Coconut Chapati) 27. Vangi Bath (Vegetable Upma) 28. Bharatha (Sour Ginger Gravy) 29. Paradi Payasa (Sweet) 30. Mosaru (Curds) 31. Majjige (Butter Milk)

My grandparents are very passionate about food in general. Whenever there were any functions in our family we had a patented cook who would come and cook for us. We always made sure we had our meals in banana leaves and ate it sitting on the floor. Grandparents insisted thats how a traditional meal is enjoyed. Even to this day they do not use a dining table (They believe thats what actually keeps them flexible too which is true cos my dad struggles to sit on the floor now and prefers a table). BTW an advantage of using banana leaves is also that there is less dish washing to do :) (later days when the servant maid would bunk we would eat on the leaves to save ourselves from dish- washing ;)).

Finally, it also dawned on me (post enlightenment phase) one of the advantages of attending weddings besides enjoying all the dressing up (and keeping in touch with our contacts) was also to eat a good Kannada meal from a banana leaf. Unfortunately the trend slowly declined and now I am sure even in smaller towns in Karnataka people do not sit on the floor like before or don't quite use a banana leaf too. Gosh! Its almost dinner time and I am talking about food and especially about that tasty saaru on a banana leaf, my mouth is watering.
Long live the baale ele-oota / banana leaf meal tradition!

Continental airlines fiasco

Did everyone hear about what happened in that Continental Airlines flight. The flight from Amsterdam to New Jersey witnessed the most horrible sewage flow/seep and poor travelers had to sit through it. Can you imagine the torture. If your like me who flies through Economy and simply cannot sleep on the flight and struggles for leg room (Ah! my long legs) and dislikes the flight food. Ok what is it that I like about flying? Nothing! I hate it -in addition to all this imagine the stench! Urgghh!

My sympathies from the bottom of my heart to all those passengers. Apparently the flight stopped over in Ireland 'supposedly' got the loo repaired and in running condition, only for the problem to start all over again. Awww! what a shame! Continental apparently apologized that the travelers had to sit through human waste and gave them a 500 dollar gift voucher. Your kidding me! I totally agree with a passenger who says he felt physically abused and neglected. (Hmmm! I learn new forms of abuse each day besides my daily doze of Law and Order).

Now for the Jay Leno question of the day. Media was referring to sewage on the flight as 'raw sewage' ; so what other form of sewage exists? (cooked ?)