Friend’s Day out…….

We are habituated to visit far off places whenever we plan a trip, whether it is pilgrimage or a picnic spot. We might not have seen the places that are close by. Especially when it comes to planning a pilgrimage trip we often visit the far off temples eventhough we might not have visited the temples next door.
When my friends and I planned for an outing each one of us came with a different idea. One said Mysore the other one said golden temple at Vellore and the third one said Chaamundi Hills. None of us were interested to go for a movie.

Many malls have been opened in Bangalore in the recent years. But, we never had the time to visit the malls with family. So we arrived at a conclusion that we will visit the malls and enjoy the day. We visited Forum mall, had the lunch at food court and the ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Altogether it was really a memorable day. Thanks to my friends for giving me a good company. Hope to have many more outings in future.

Eat out/in

Going to restaurants is something I like the most, particularly when I was working. Nowadays I feel it is better to enjoy home made rasam and saadam. Running behind my kid is something I really don’t find entertaining in restaurants. I guess I had to strike a balance and that happened when we found “Jowar Roti Shop’.
The shop has the uttar karnatak dishes like akki roti, raagi roti, jowar roti with suitable side dishes at a very reasonable cost of rupees 3 per roti and the side dish comes for 15 rupees per 250 grams. Other than this the shop has chappathis and stuffed chappathis The Proprietor prepares three varities of side dishes per day. Preparing jowar roti at home is very difficult. I tried it out during one of those off-days and the end result was awful.
Nowadays, we make a parcel and enjoy the food at home leisurely. This is better than eating out.

For a Cup of milk!!!

Everyday it almost takes forty five minutes for me to make my daughter drink her cup of milk. Sometimes it is really irritating for me and I loose my patience and give her a slap. But, giving her a slap early in the morning spoils the day’s routine. Moreover, she tells everyone that she drank milk after getting a slap from amma. (adi vaanginapparum paal kudicchen).
During weekends I was putting the onus on my husband by keeping the cup near him and kept myself busy in the kitchen. Then, we tried the following methods that are suggested by friends and well-wishers.

1 Tried milk with different flavours like complan, milk maid, milk shake etc.

2 Pink milk (strawberry essence added to the milk)

3 Gave her milk in a fancy cup.

4 Milk served in a paper cup (the outer portion of the cup coloured by her)

I tried all these combinations but nothing worked and my fight continues……………..

Duo in Carnatic Music.

The duo singing started from the time of Mukta and Brinda (hope I am correct) and was popularized by the Bombay sisters. After them the successful pairs are the Priya sisters, Hyderabad brothers, violinist Kumaresh and Ganesh, flautist sikkil sisters and the most popular ones in the recent years, Ranjani and Gayathri.
Singing the kritis together is easy to some extent. Even in that singing different sangatis with uniformity is quite difficult. Though the aalapanas are sung seperately, I always wonder that how do they make it with the kalpana swarams. Is that easy to have a similar ‘Manodharma’ which is said to be the vital part of a concert? Even if they sing the kalpana swarams separately, but at one point they have to sing it together. Is that not a difficult task to coordinate?
Personally, I have observed many a times that my sister and me have convergent and coincidental thoughts. May be this is what is genetic advantage that the siblings have. But still I Wonder, How Carnatica brothers do it?

Children and Chaos

I live in an apartment that has more than 200 flats. At least everyday we can see 20-30 children playing in the park, parking area and wherever they find an open place. If boys play cricket then the girls come with the shuttle and we can see the tiny tots moving around without the fear of on coming vehicles. This is the regular scene we have.

The noise and cacophony reached its peak during the holiday season, which lead to objections from the residents saying that they cannot rest during afternoons or students appearing for board exams are unable to concentrate ….. etc..etc..etc….

This problem was taken by the Association and a notice was put up that children should not play in the corridor. This rule came to practice for few weeks then again the uncontrollable shouting in odd hours started. Then again a notice came up saying that children can play in the corridor but without any chaos. Will this be possible? It is like shouting without making noise.

APF

Azim Premji Foundation (APF) has given computers and educational CDs to the government schools and to the under privileged students. I was part of their team in preparing report on the benefits and the improvements that can be made in these schools. I traveled to the rural schools in villages where I saw children who were bright enough and second to none. Things that are basic need for the city born children are a luxury for those village children. In one of these schools, the Principal, was so excited to meet us, that he arranged for some cultural activities for us. A student there, whose parents cannot even afford to get him a pencil box, had a charismatic voice. If he is in the city probably he would have become an ‘Airtel super singer’ or ‘An Indian Idol’. It is difficult to say that Money only decides one’s destiny. I did not know what to do for those needy children. But I decided to donate my remuneration from APF to the needy children…my 2 pennies worth for a great cause.