Kaleidoscopic Life :))

Continuous days of boredom.I was like a new entrant in the middle of the academic year,longing to make friends. Recent floods cast a magic spell.No power. Entire Chennai was submerged.In the darkness of the day, slowly the doors became ajar. Irksome smiles on everyone's face.The conversation thus began- "Looks like a curfew.All under house arrest.How long will it rain?" Total blackout paved way for more  family time.We started playing together,drench in rain together,eat together and laugh together(It was fantastic!!).Could hear everybody's voice in the neighborhood(of course not talking over phone),friends playing UNO cards, little ones screaming around oblivious of things around them.Small groups of people gathered news from here and there. Yes,these moments had to be etched. As we entered into third day without power,my UPS too got drained.Back to conventional modes of lighting- candles,lanterns and lamps.Luckily, weather conditions did not require fans. All o...

I enjoyed the privilege of living with 2 pattis (my mom's mom and my dad's mom) until recently. Last year Chellama patti (Dad's mom) passed away and Vedavalli( Mom's mom) a few years before.It would be unfair, if I  forget to mention my munadi aathu patti(Janakammal -my front house patti ,who lived in Ambattur).Each of them were strikingly different in their own ways,yet bringing up their family was the first intention for all. Chellama patti  hailed from a wealthy,big(13 siblings)  and orthodox family.She had lost her husband at an young age. Raising 7 kids without any help is an arduous task( time doesn't matter),be it 5 decades ago or at present.N.K.R Mama(Chellamal's elder brother), was the backbone of the entire family.Until today, the amount of respect that my parents, uncles and aunt show towards him is really exemplary. Chellamal's love for her Anna(N.K.R) is remarkable as she breathed her last in his place. Chellama patti was an voracious r...

It was a bumpy and curvy ride.Hey Wait! I'm not telling about my travel to any resort up the hill. It's about the early morning ride in MTC bus in Chennai. Sweat and shit smell welcomed us @ Koyembedu bus terminus.However, I was surprised to hear an auto driver ask me " Madam, do you want an auto" , in English as soon as  I got from my KSRTC bus." Wow! What a welcome :) , I thought." This is indeed an welcome change since every outsider complains about the lack of courtesy and rude behavior of Chennaites. After a lotta struggle, Anand and I managed to board the MTC vestibule bus from Koyembedu to Thiruvanmiyur @5.00am. The bus was thronging with passengers coming back after a weekend break. We found a place to stand near the juncture. I never realized it was so risky to stand there. Every-time, the driver turned the vehicle , I had to hold tight to avoid a bad fall. Driving past the speed breakers and narrow roads due to Metro constru...

Inspired by the writer more than the book.She attracts readers through her simplistic language, speaking directly through her books.I love her books.She talks about variety of subjects.Lot of moral lessons that we and the generations to come need to learn.Schools and colleges can only impart knowledge about the respective subjects.This book is a collection of short stories and real experiences by Sudha Murthy, as a school-goer, a college student, a employee, a lecturer ,a wife ,a mom,a philanthropist ,etc.She talks about honesty, simplicity, ingratitude and so on. We as parents need to inculcate good behavior by practicing them ourselves. 'How I taught my grandmother to read ' is a wonderful example of this.The joy of education lies in educating the uneducated(granny) without any pride.I am sure many of us laugh when our granny's want us to read out something.(I am proud that both my parental & maternal grandparents can read English at the age of 85.) All of...

Lots of interesting stuff happening in this world apart from our office,FB and daily routine.We need to spend some time to appreciate these as well. Giving you a list of blog and websites which am really fond of. First of all - Yummy Cookbooks(Vegetarian food) .Our tummy needs more attention than anything else ;-) http://www.kamalascorner.com http://iyer-n-chef.blogspot.com http://premascookbook.blogspot.com/ Life is inspired by Nature.A few sites which has info on gardening and organic farming. http://www.purnaorganics.com/about-us.html http://geekgardener.in/ http://www.navadarshanam.org/ http://www.pristine-nature.com/ http://restore.org.in/ http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com People/ Organisations who strive to make a difference from innovative ideas and or philanthropy. http://dailydump.org/ http://www.goonj.org/ http://www.ecowalkthetalk.com/ http://www.natureforever.org/ A healthy body and peaceful mind is essential to lead a happy life. http://www.artoflivi...

Do you still have some childish nature left in you ? Find out for yourself.Here goes the checklist! Eager to catch a glimpse of the small-big airplane up above the world so high ? Jump when you get a chocolate or gems ? Ready to get drenched in a bucket of water and splash all around ? Happy to build sand-castles and get your hands dirty. Want to play on the slide/merry-go-round. Keep licking your fingers after eating a bar chocolate. Enjoy the doodling on your walls and spotting patterns out of it. Excited to watch a cat or a dog and run behind to catch them. Cartoons make you happy :-) Dismantle the building blocks happily in seconds. These are few things I cherish with my kids.I wish my kids remain the same(age) so as to keep my life afresh and active as a child myself.The innocence of childhood smells gr8.Perhaps one of my wishes is to grow young than old.Remaining young at heart is the key to a joyous life :)

Mint / Pudina My Garden Arali poo Cherry Tomato ( I bought this plant) Jasmine Yellow Rose Methi Dish Organic Methi A variety of spinach Organic Tomato and Methi