The Twins' birthday

Everyone's house will have Vella seedai, Kara seedai, murrukku, thattai and butter. So I thought He and She will be bored of that traditional food !

Nothing can beat a black and white movie for its quality!

I watched this black and white tamil movie "நத்தையில் முத்து" today. I have watched this movie earlier with my parents, here and there. But this time I watched it alone, completely. I listened to every dialogue in the movie.
I must say for a movie made in 1973, it holds true even today. The way the writer conveys his message of how the economy of the country is affected because of laziness, internal fights and how these politicians use this "Divide and Rule" so effectively and take advantage out of this, is so true even today.

There is this song in the middle of the movie "ஆடு ராட்டே, இந்த நாடு படும் பாடை பாத்து ஆடு ராட்டே ". This mind-blowing, meaningful song I feel, conveys everything that the writer wants to convey in this movie.

The plot revolves around a foreign returned Brahmin boy with broad minded outlook who marries a poor, Harijan girl against the wishes of his mother. The mutual sacrifices they make for each other strengthens their relationship. The girl through her beautiful, unassuming, compassionate character soon wins the heart of her orthodox mother in law.

With this as the main story, the way the writer touches so many wonderful subjects in this movie is awesome.
 - He sarcastically points to the plight of today's politics and beautifully explains the value of being self dependent, which could in turn improve the economy of the country!
 - Then and there he exhibits his respect for the Ramayana!
 - Every line in the movie is so piercing.
 - The "Thathuva padalgal" and the Ram Naam in the picture are so soul touching.

A beautiful beginning, meaningful going and a 'visionary' ending.

Apart from the messages conveyed in the movie, the soothing title music (the characteristic of most of black and white movie), the versatile acting of 'Kalaimamani' Varalakshmi and apt expressions of the actors Muthuraman, S V Subbiah and not to mention the excellent story and direction by K S Gopalakrishnan is worth the 3 hours. No wonder he is called the "இயக்குனர் திலகம்". (இப்பவும் இருக்காங்களே இயக்குனர் தங்கம், தகரம், சிகரம் எல்லாம்......தரமான சிந்தனையே இல்லாம ! )

One has to watch this movie to appreciate it.
Here: Nathayil Muthu Full picture (Click here to watch)

P.S: This is not an intended 'Movie Review'. It is just about my likes. 

Give way for ambulance please....!

108 is a great service! Life saving project!

Years ago, one of my relatives, died in an accident. Also I have heard my Uncle's friend died in an accident ages ago. Probably these people would have been saved if there was an 108 service then. From anywhere you call they will be there within 18 minutes. Many people have died in accidents because of excessive bleeding. If they had reached hospital on time, their lives could have been saved. There are so many other emergencies too that require timely attention.

Everyday when I go out, I see atleast one ambulance making that loud siren. "Give way to ambulance" is a rule. It is sad to see when ambulance is stuck in a traffic! I am just wondering the plight of those inside the ambulance at that moment.

Getting stuck in unavoidable traffic on one side, yesterday, when I heard an ambulance behind our car, I moved aside towards left, but to my surprise, there was another car that overtook me on my right!!! What a disgusting, shameful act! Some months ago, when I heard "Suki" sivam talk on a program, I heard him say that, "Today people are selfish to that extent that when an ambulance is heard, they want to hasten in front of it, and use the clear passage that the siren creates." I saw that yesterday. I witnessed this once in Bangalore also. To all those who irresponsibly do not give way for ambulance, listen...."Think how you would feel if one of your close ones is inside that ambulance. A Life could be saved if you are not so selfish. Every second could be precious for the life."

So please GIVE WAY TO AMBULANCE !

Note: Dial 108 in any emergency - be it a fire, crime or accident. It is a 24x7 FREE emergency service functioning in many states in India. They would ask for basic information like
1. The place where you are calling from
2.Type of emergency
3.Number of people injured
4.Caller's name and number

Anyone can call 108 from the place of accident and it is not necessary that the person affected should only call.

Let us help save a life with whatever best we can do.

Raksha Bandhan wishes!

Happy Raksha Bandhan to all my brothers.
I have too many of them. After all "All Indians are my brothers and sisters " .
But still there are only a few close to my heart, who at many instances have showered their love on me that it is impossible for me to verbalise their care for me. If I think of what they are to me, I can only cry in silence.

On this special day, I want them to know that they are very special to me.

To my brother who shares my joy and grief:
You are the most disciplined brother I have in my life. Perfectionism is thy name. I wonder how you accepted a sister like me! Because of your vocabulary prowess, you wrote several lines to me. I preserve them all, although I know I don't deserve any of them. Here is one of those that you wrote to me 12 years back.

You wrote to me
"So what if not of same blood
 Tears too prove when they flood"

I can't believe now that we are not of same blood!
Thanks Bhaiyya for being there at all times for me.

To my brother who lent his ears to me:
If I have to talk about this one, the first thing that comes to my mind is this, "Have we agreed with each other on atleast one thing so far...?? !"We always used to disagree with each other. Most of the times we spent in arguing! We were from completely different backgrounds, yet we have spent lot of time together in that home of ours where we actually became "philosophers" :-)! Even today though we are far away, when we talk on phone, we get enough time to argue....! But despite our differences, I must confess you are one brother who cared about my well being. You spent maximum time listening to me whenever I was in trouble.
Thanks for being there, Yaar.

To my brother whom I would call 'my mother':
I spent half a decade of my life in a hostel for the first time. I fell sick too often. He stood at my gate always with those special recipes he made especially for my sick self. If anyone here thinks a formal education civilizes people, we must all rethink. He disproved it. He proved that "Education is hardly required to be good-hearted". Today I am far off from him, but when I think of him, I recollect that he was just an embodiment of my mother.

To my little brother who fights with me, but still cares for me:
This is to that little brother of mine, who finds out reasons to irritate me and keeps bullying me. He is still very small, who has to grow a lot, but behaves at many times like an elder brother to me by his acts of care. Till today, I have never shown any special care towards him. But he still keeps calling me often to check on me and my well being.

There are lot more to mention. My blog pages would not be enough if I show that endless list. There are so many more whom I have been encountering in my life ,who have been contributing to my  growth at several points of time. Some have given their time listening to me, some have escorted me, some have spent time teaching me, some have written so many encouraging letters to me which I preserve still and so on....Some are elder to me, some are younger and some, though elder act like kids   ! My wishes to all of them and my sincere prayers for all their good health and happiness!

Truly,
Your Sister.

The green gram instant dosa

 Every time someone asks me, "what did you have today for dinner?", I used to answer "Dosa..." or "Idli"! I got fed up with this reply. So I started looking for other interesting options. I googled and found out this "Pesarattu" to be such an alternative.

Also, I guess this is a nice and a simple substitute for all those dosa lovers. The best part is, it is an instant dish unlike dosa, where you wait for the fermentation.

Here is how you make it:

1.Take 3 cups of green gram (Paasi paruppu) and 1 cup of raw rice (Pachai arisi) and soak them separately in water for 1-2 hrs.

2.Take this soaked gram and rice along with 5-7 green chillies, a 2 inch piece ginger, salt and required water and grind it into a fine batter in a mixie.

3. Add cumin seeds/ powder to the batter.

4. Spread it on the tawa like dosa with required oil. The batter spreads out nicely.

Tasty, healthy, crisp pesarattu ready!
Serve with chutney of choice.
Simple, is it not?

Note: 
1. 3:1 is the ratio of gram and rice. Since the batter can't be stored for long, you can make lesser amount as required.  I made it in the night and stored the excess batter till next day in refrigerator. The amount of batter from 3 cups of gram and 1 cup of rice could be enough for some 16-20 pesarattu.

2. My mom's friend said that in the original pesarattu procedure, only pepper corns and salt are added to the batter (and not chilly and ginger). One could try that.

3. I preferred it plain, however, you can have interesting toppings like onions or grated coconut to make it more interesting!

A Prayer!

"When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.

When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder."

~Gitanjali Poem 39

(Rabindranath Tagore)

My favourite Rasam!

In the past 10 days, I had been into experimenting several recipes.....Earlier, I had never ever been able to make a palatable rasam! However, now it seems like my culinary skills are improving ! I learnt and tried some 4 different types of rasams (Not to mention, this is also Amma's recipe). They came out fairly well. For a toddler in kitchen, like me, they were really good.

This is the rasam, I liked the most, of all that I tried and tasted!
Here is the recipe:
1) To  4-5 glasses of water, add 4-5 cut tomatoes.

Add 1  table spoon full of Vathakuzhambu powder.

Add salt.

Add 1/2 tspTurmeric powder.

Allow this mix to boil well till the raw smell of tomato, turmeric and vathakuzhambu powder vanishes.

Switch the stove off.

Filter this extract and discard the solid waste.

Set this extract aside.

2) Pressure cook Thuvaram paruppu (thoor dal; without salt). Add the Dal water to the above extract (Try not to add the solid dal, since it will make rasam thick; but you can use the dal for something else in the same day, may be u can make sambhar on the same day or simply eat the dal).

Allow this to boil. As you will boil it will froth. 

Keep removing the froth as it boils (discard the froth).

When you have got the required consistency, switch off the stove.

STEPS 3-6 to be done offline, i.e. after switching off stove

3) Squeeze 1 big lemon to the above extract.

4)Cut 7-8 long slender pieces of ginger and add to the above.

5)Cut 1 green chilly in to small round shaped pieces and add to the above. (cut one more green chilly into round pieces and set aside for the step 7)

6) Add curry leaves and cut coriander leaves to the above.

7)Now take a small kadai, keep it on stove, add 1 tsp of ghee to kadai, and add mustard to it. When the mustard crackles completely, add the green chillies in to the ghee. Now add this seasoning to the rasam above.

Tasty lemon Rasam ready !

I love especially to eat the green chilly in the rasam...they are so yummy !

Important note: DON'T add Hing (Asoefitida) to this rasam, it will not be nice. 

There was, there is and there will be no one.......if not YOU!

அக்கா அடிச்சா அம்மாகிட்ட அழலாம், அப்பா திட்டினாலும் அம்மாகிட்ட அழலாம், ப்ரெண்ட் கோபமா இருந்தா அம்மாகிட்ட அழலாம், அம்மாவே பேசலைனா யார்கிட்ட போய் அழுவறது??

பேசாம இந்த பாட்ட கேக்கலாம்:
"Naa Koi Hai Na Koi Tha Zindage Mein Tumhaare Siva"

My all time favourite story...

"Once upon a time in an island there lived all the feelings and emotions : Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to them that the island would sink! So all of them constructed boats and left, except for Love.

Love wanted to hold out there until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love, in a boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?"

Richness answered, "Sorry Love, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat and so there is no place here for you."

Love next asked Vanity who was also sailing by. 

Vanity was also ready with the same answer. "I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat."

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, take me along with you."

"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!", sadness said in a sullen voice.

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so preoccupied with her happiness that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder figure. An overjoyed Love jumped up into the boat. When they arrived at a dry land, Love got down and  the elder went her own way. In the overwhelming joy, Love forgot to ask who that caring elder figure was.

Realizing how much He owed to the 'elder', Love asked Knowledge, another elder there, "Who is the one who helped me?"

Knowledge answered, "It was Time." 

"Time?" thought Love. Then, as if reading the face of Love, Knowledge smiled and answered, "Yes, Time...only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."

My motivation to do physical exercise

Till few months back I was very motivated to do physical exercise and I used to hit the gym regularly. But of late because of lot of travelling (or whatever excuses!), had slackened a bit. Now it is getting difficult to fall into that routine.

I know exercising prevents most of the health problems, I also have experienced that if I regularly do it most of my health complaints also stay far off. I also know that this rigorous physical activity for an hour or two makes me feel fresh for the rest of the day. Moreover, I have witnessed so many publications stating the importance of Exercising in preventing age related neurodegenerative disorders....!
Despite knowing all this, ooooof...this procrastination.....!!

But now I am getting into this routine again.....and  I am amused to see what is driving me!!! It is this...

A decade back or even later than that, if someone on the road or someone in the train or temple would address me as "papa" , I used to be furious....I used to keep telling my mom,"Why do they call me papa? I am so grown up"...and all that...

But now...
When someone addresses me as "papa" in the temple or in train, I feel tickled and delighted! Ironically, I am definitely older than what I was a decade ago....But I feel excited now because, it reconfirms my illusion that I am still young and more than all that it motivates me to exercise so that I stay young for some more years......

What a motivation!!! Cheers!

Beyond imperfections!

I like this song for its lyric and music.
Listen to it here: Angadi theru - music by G V Prakash
This is a beautiful song because its about looking beyond imperfections...
I guess many wonders in human relationships work only because of such a perspective!

Happy Friendship day!

There were times when I used to think that in any relationship, there should be reciprocation, otherwise there is no point in continuing such a relation..., but at that time, you popped up and said "no......even if you don't give me, I am here to give you because I care for you"!

I wish I would never forget this precious lesson that I learnt from you ever.

This picture just reminds me of you Neha!  It just reminds me of that soup you made for me and delivered it at my room when I was ill, inspite of the fact that I was angry with you!
I miss those days of our togetherness!

Happy friendship day dear friend!
Although I have many more friends, I think you are the one who influenced me the most, especially because of your patience. And I think you don't even know it :-)!

But now if you ask me, to describe one such characteristic of every friend I have, I can't.....because if I investigate too much, I just end up realizing that I don't have to have a reason to like someone....I just love my friends because they make me happier by just being there! And yes, with every friend, the best part is the fight we had..!
Don't you too think so friends...;-)?!

Thank you all, for making this life a better one!

Happy Friend's day!