From Shanthi

Hello ppl,
This is Shanthi @ Loga's blog... For people who donno me - I am Loga's friend. We were working together when she was in India. I have come for a vacation to US. And right now I am in Loga's place.

I had some sort of thoughts in my mind like - how is it going to be in her place. I don't know Param much and it is not easy for me to get along with guys easily. Also i don't feel comfortable staying with these couples.

But right from day one things have been different. Param came to pick me up as Loga didn't get a ride from her office. Wasn't i disappointed that Loga didn't come to airport ? But I decided that I should talk well to Param.We had a good chat and i should admit that I just hate the ppl at his office - they expect the onsite co-ordinator to be available in all throughout the day in all the time zones ?

I didn't eat well when I was in Ohio in the previous week. When we reached home there was kind of a surprise.... Loga was making Veggie puffs ! Then there was this veggie paratha and then Panneer butter (or cream ; ) ) masala (?). Hey it was awesome (still in ohio shanthi?).
I generally avoid heavy dinners (naangallaam paal choru chakarai pottu saapdra kudumbam u see :D )

We talked non-stop (naan thoonga poganumnu sonnaenaa paathukongalaen - naandhaan paesa
yaaraavadhu kidaichaa aruthu thalliruvaeney!!) We talked so much !! (not much gossip u see). But was amazed hearing her ask abt some not so important ppl (enakku appodhaan appadiellaam sila paer officela irukkaanganney thonuchu!)

The next days plan was for New York. The dressing up for the fashion city (nagallaam pant pottu palakkam illaadhavanga u see!), bus travel, ilangai dosai (ofcourse - the dosi podravar and her meesai - when all the guys i know took of their mush - this man was straight saying (without words) that we are from asian country u see), the caricatures etc etc...

I will not forget the taxis in New york.

Loga don't worry that we missed Statue of Liberty and twin towers (seri seri sollamaley irundhurukkalaamla naan unakku nyabagam paduthuradhukku badhilaa ?).We are going for sure to both the places and a real New york sky ride (in a chopper) and the famous lion king show (enga managerkku puriyanum that shanthi deserves to earn in dollars and spend in dollarsnu!)

I did get a lot of comfortness and talked out my heart and really felt at home !!!

The cooking I did for her (and the cooking i missed to do for her), the TV shows i saw (and the DVDs i missed to see), the juices i drank (and the water i avoided drinking and drank atlast and abt to get cold!)... hey theres lot more to stay. Let me stop here.

Illai illai one last thing - Ennoda samayal eppadinnu comment adi Loga....
And i am so happy that u guys are really doing gr8 here : )))))))))))))))))))

Love,
Shanthi.

After a break

After a 2 months break, I am back.
I did not mean to take a break for this long, but something or the other was coming up and I did not have interest to write it ...
How did the last 2 months go...Not so good, Not so bad...Celebrated my first year anniversary, Played soft ball for the first time ,Lost 5 Kgs, My friend came to visit me,Diwali went on fine,tried to do Mysore bagu and thanks to this recipe at right time, I did Ribbon pakoda ..
But now, I am planning to write regularly and Here i come ...
Ciao

Bharatanatyam

One of my passions in life is dance....esp Bharatanatyam..

In my 4th std, one fine day I told my Dad I wanted to study Bharatanatyam. He took me to Kalai Kaveri, the school for cultural arts at Trichy...

I have felt and still feel its one of the few places where I feel happy just being there. It is a big campus with trees all around . You can hear music everywhere and see students dancing. Class rooms designed like huts,love birds, students playing veena and miruthangam, a small lovely chapel inside... much different than a regular black board, rows of benches classrooms.

Apart from dance, punctuality and orderliness were given great importance by teachers. I learnt a whole lot of manners from this school. I craved for Sunday classes where we used to dance under trees and recited slogams....

I studied there for 4 years and though this art could not be learnt in 4 years, I learnt the basics thoroughly...And every day I spent in the school was wonderful ...Every day in the class, we learnt dance with utmost devotion..

One of the fond memories of these days was with my mom. She used to wait for me with my dance uniform and snacks at the dance school everyday while I had to finish my regular school classes and rush for my evening dance classes. We did this five days a week for 4 years and we used to always have this mother-daughter talk while returning back...Just chatting with her all the way back is wonderful if I think about it now.

But after leaving trichy I did not get a chance to continue my quest with Bharatanatyam as I got caught into the higher classes rat-race. Dance slipped out of my routine just like that and would resurface only few days a year in the form of college hostel day parties, office parties etc - not bharathanatyam ;-) Now I am thinking about getting back on my quest for dance.

இப்பயாவது நியாபகம் வந்துச்சே?

Sometimes I feel strange when people react like this "இப்பயாவது நியாபகம் வந்துச்சே?"...This is one of the questions I often encounter when I call my relatives after a long time...Its only a matter of time who asks the question first...Even I can ask the same..Atleast I did call them...Why can't they simply be happy that somebody takes pain to call them?

I always try to maintain relationships, but once in a while when I don't do it, people open their mouth just to find fault in us...A week back when I and my relative had a long conversation, He also felt the same....He was jus telling"Why the hell people find fault in others when we take pains to meet everybody in family gatherings?..I often feel "Not attend the function and jus get a bad name" is far better than "going to functions and still getting hurt"..Only then I understood Its not me but others in my family feel the same, though none of us have the courage to open up even among family members...How strange ??
This conversation made me again realize that "None of us is perfect" and we just have to get along!!

Tagged

All about me :)

I am thinking of whether to switch on the air cooler or not

I said I would nag less and am trying it

I want to be more bolder

I wish I could remember different software versions of phones in market

I miss bhel puri from Adyar ananda bhavan

I hear sound of chimes

I wonder if I write atleast above average

I regret when I hurt somebody

I am more talkative than Param

I dance with my friends

I sing horribly

I cry when someone is harsh to me

I write silly nothings

I confuse right and left turns while driving reverse

I need a coffee right now

I should learn german soon

I finish by saying "OK What to post next?"

July Weekend

Day 1
Raga/ Manju had reached NJ . We had Pongal for b.fast and after a hr ride in bus, we reached Battery Park to take the ferry to Statue of Liberty..engum parthalum kootamm....naamaa kutchi iceii kaila vaichutu....angey ingey parthuturuntha ..intha kodumayana aasai vanthuchu...enna athunu kekkringala?...ithuthaaann


aprama oru valiya, we were at the island to see the lady liberty.... ....

When we returned from Statue of Liberty Island, we walked thru Wall St.,and the next place of interest was the Empire state building.......It was like 4th or 5th time for Param as guide...So now at the top of 86th floor, seeing the city again....Now it comes நம்ம ஊரு kadi, There was picture comparing the heights of various tall buildings, and a person was saying ..."நான் effel tower building la ஏறிருக்கேன், cn tower buildingla ஏறிருக்கேன்..இன்னும் ஒன்னு தான் மிச்சம்" and I was so mean and Ithought of telling"naan effel tower buildinglarunthu oru aalai thaliruken, naan cn towerlarunthu thaali irukken,ippo enna panalamnu" ..aana vantha oorla adivanga vendamenu vituten
We were hungry..so our next stop was saravana bhavan, bayangra kootam, we waited for another 45 mts, here comes the biggest sothappal, the waiter forgot my order , and when we re-ordered , he recommended us to rather cancel it owing to crowd and a possible wait time of 1/2 hr....It was really very bad of them to act this way....


So Whats next?...the place everybdoy likes to go if they are in NY..None other than Times square....So after roaming @ times square, its time to return back to home for the next day trip to Niagra....But, enga sothanaikku bus was 2.5 hours late....
Day-2
We headed towards Nigara...It was a 7hr drive...So after taking few breaks , We were at the city of mists - Niagra....So after having not-so-good-food throughout the day, we were at Kohinoor Indian restaurant..Believe me ppl, the food was so-so and service was the worst....
Pushing all these things away, we walked towards the falls...We were at the perfect time to see the fireworks...But namma luck eppadi ...appathhan malai chonu paiyya arambichuruchu....so we were not able to enjoi it....
Day-3

We were brisk and first stop was Maid of Mist...I was excited to the core...We were at the deck in the corner and got to view the falls up close..We were fully drenched (even with a rain poncho)...and I was visibily excited :-)


Next we decided to do a helicopter ride around the falls..It was a long walk and a pleasant day and we were ready for our first helicopter ride..We the rookies, flew around and over the falls, the view was simply awesome....I thought, they would take more closer to falls,but weren't ...konjam disappontment, but stilll happy

The next one was the Cave of Winds....We got the tickets and after a long queue for around 1 hour, we took the elevator to the base of the falls...Once we reached the base, we walked along the tunnel and reached outside to the base of the falls. It was a breath taking view as if water is falling from sky. Got drenched again, but enjoied every drop...



And Worth to mention, was Indian stalls everywhere...Jus Like eatouts at Streets, Lot of Indian stalls...So after having lunch at one of the stalls- Hear the menu- Dahi Puri, Pav Bhajji, Tomato and Peas oothappam, Chilly Oothappam, Masala dosai, Dosai.....
With revived enthu after lunch, we headed towards the most thrilling part of the tour-Jet boat ride along rapids....Its a class-5 rapid(class-1 being the lowest risk and class-6 being the most dangerous)..After having a security briefing and signing a disclaimer form, we were all set with life vests and rubber boots. When the jet boat started the instructor asked us to wear the seatbelt . We were all looking for it, but Oh man, there was no seat belt....



And the ride started taking a 360 degree turn ..and we were towards the Devil's hole....We went across the rapids four to five times, jet boat cutting through the rapids and pumping all water on us.Oh man that was the most thrilling thing I have ever done in my life !!! So after this adventorous sail, we were back to Goat Island (Terrapin Point) at Niagra falls to view the huge Horse Shoe falls. To our luck there were 2 fireworks (15 min each) and we were right on time to enjoy them.

Day-4 We started back to our home This is one of my memorable trips in life :)

Life

Time is 6:40..Bright outside..Trees moving in wind...Nice breeze out..Sky is clear and bright...Windows open....DPH song playing...Sinkla vessels-calling-me-to-clean-them(I don't want to do it now)....Enjoiing thanimai....Life is beautiful !!

Your beautiful moments please....

Tagged - 10 things I miss of Mom’s cooking Meme

I was tagged by Shankari chithi and here it goes

1. Aaavi parakkkum Idli and milagai podi- My mom is known for her soft idlis..

2. Chappati and side dish- The chappatis made by her is so soft .......Yummy ...

3.Bhel puri.

4. Aapam and thengai paal

5. Butter biscuit in different shapes like star, round, half moon....

6.Poli- Every diwali, she used to make it....Its like a favourite of everybody at home and also our neighbours.

7.Sodhi and potato fry.

8.thaalicha moor- When she has no mood to cook, she used to do this...

9. Ribbon pakoda...

10.maangai thokku

The list will go on...but lemme stop it.....I m feeling hungry now...oooh, I need to cook.....

ஜோசியம் பார்க்கலையோ ஜோசியம்!!!

ராசி பலன் எனக்கு பிடிச்ச topic....
சின்ன வயசுல தினமும் காலையில் calendarla, my favourite hobby would be reading my ராசி பலன்....
இது எல்லாம் போதாதா நமக்கு, beach போகும் போது கை ஜோசியம் வேற...உருப்படவே இல்லை

கோவில் போனால் கிளி ஜோசியம் வேற.....

23 வருடங்கலாக ஒரு ராசியை பார்த்து வந்தால் அப்ப தான் வந்துசு இந்த ஆப்பு ....இவ்வளவு நாளாக பார்த்து வந்த ராசி நம்ம ராசியே இல்லை...So Its been predicted wrongly by one of my grandfathers. And all these days I (no my whole family) has been seeing a wrong sign and correlating my life with it

But still, நான் திருந்தலை..now I started looking for my zodiac signs...Gemini

Though my brain warns me "Don't do it", my heart sometimes pursues the other way....Atleast I dont take too seriously nowadays...Guess Old habits die hard

Jus a thought

Is it delicious food?
Is it movies/tv?
Is it chatting with friends?
Is it spending time with family?
Is it going on a picnic?
Is it getting a compliment about cooking/about work?

So Looks like all the above makes me happy :)
Most of them is about environment and people.

But Can we be happy by ourselves, without the environment and people?

Taste of India

I had always looked for Amul's banner whenever I roam around at Panagal Park, The quotes would be more-appropriate-to-hottopic-of-India, but today when I was browsing, I found this ...Added to My Favourites :)

Turning Twenty-Six !!!

One more year come and gone. Happy Birthday to me :)

No parties@ office, No boquets from dear friends, No kesari from amma, No hand made cards from my sis, No vibudhi blessings from appa...This year, It was calm, but more fun when friends and relatives wish from different time zones of the world and a special person getting a beautiful cake :)

Tada My latest possession or rather gift is this black beauty!!



So, farewell to 25 and a fresh start !!!

Memorial Day Weekend

This long weekend, We planned to travel to Washington D.C.. (One of my colleague commented "D.C" stands for "Don't Come" :-D).. Saturday, we started off at 8:30 AM after having a strong coffee... We visited Baltimore's national aquarium first after parking the car at a multi-storey garage.

உள்ளே போனால்...அவ்வளவு கூட்டம்...அவ்வளவு மக்கள்...திருவிழா கூட்டம் போல இருந்துச்சு...அதை விட, நான் நிறைய இந்திய மக்கள் பார்தேன்....guess everybody is enjoiing the weekend..

I saw a lot of variety of fishes....Stingray, shark, peacock fish, yellow fish



And suddenly I saw a big crowd swarming a tank....I was also curious...It was none other than our Nemo fish (clown anemone fish). I have seen it in "Finding Nemo" - it was beautiful.
On the entrance to the aquarium, I read the following "If there is anything called magic that exists, its underneath water", that's true..So many colours :)


I liked the below photo on the walls of the aquarium.



Then we went to the most exciting part of the aquarium -Dolphin show ..But this time, our camera batteries went dead. It is sad we could not catch it in our cameras. It was too good, Dolphins going past the ring, playing with balls, dancing, whistling...It was a good show :)

So after the show and having a not so tasty lunch , We came out and decided to ride a boat on the small lake..We had our life vests on and then rode the electric boad for around 40 minutes in the bay....ஆசை மட்டும் இருந்துச்சு, ஆனா ஓட்டும் போது, எனக்கு பயம் மட்டும் தான் இருந்துச்சுசுசுசுசுசுசுசு :)

Then after a hour drive took us to Washington D.C., ...Citykulley nulainchavudan, after driving driving for around 40 minutes, we found a parking lot :( It was 7 pm and immediately we refereshed and stepped into a tour bus for 'After Dark Washington Tour'. So we saw lots of places from bus at night, all lit up...Lot of monuments and memorials (Lincoln, Washington, Jeffferson) throughout the city and other memorials to commemorate World war-II, Vietnam war, Korean war etc.. Sure this city is all about memorials, museums and buildings.

I saw Washington monument, Lincoln memorial, World war-II memorial..The best part about all these buildings were they were all in a straight line and a pool in between all these building to show the reflections of the buildings


The next day, after having a breakfast at McD, We jus decided to walk around all places, This time we had our new batteries, So we went clicking all the way :) We saw the White house from outside the gates....



And after walking around all the memorials, we decided to go to the famous group of museums- Smithsonian museum. We decided to visit space museum first, where we saw an IMAX film -Roving Mars. An excellent 40 minutes film, that tells about NASA efforts to send robot to Mars to confirm whether there was water and proof of earlier life in Mars.




But after a quick lunch we were quite tired of walking around the entire day and decided it is time to return back home. And here comes another highlight of the tour !! I drove on freeway for 160 km (approx 1.5 hrs). Quite exciting for me :-)

Overall it was a peaceful unplanned trip, we did not visit many places, but enjoyed it our way :-)

This is how I am not a doctor.

Caste Reservations for College seats!! I have read so many posts regarding this and wanted to share my experience with it.

When I was in my 12th...Though I managed to get not-so-excellent-but-good-scores at 12th, I did not get a medical seat..I lost my medicine seat because my cut-off was less than 1% from the required. On the other hand, few classmates who were having 6 to 7% less than mine were able to get medicine seats because they were reserved for them!! Our medical board (as though they were going to give seats to all qualified) conducted a counseling to 1,00,000 students when they had only 1000 empty seats. Was it logical? I also attended the counseling and was given waiting number 111 (nammam thaan!!!)

I heard Ambedkar recommended reservation for 10-15 years. But it seems to be around for much more than that ! I have seen some of my friends who have taken advantages of these reservations, They would be Christians , but as per government records they would be maintaining their Hindu caste so that they can enjoy reservations!!!

Let the people who need assistance be given financial support for studies even in school level, but I feel they should compete with everybody and win their seats.These are changes I sincerely hope should happen so that my children also do not crib about reservations later !!!

The birthday cake :)

I saw this recipe on Pushpa's blog...and wanted to try this !!
I learnt my lesson ...As an immature cook, I should not have tried baking!!

Few things..illai major things which I missed out
I did not use bread flour, instead used all purpose flour ..donno the difference
The amount of strawberries and flour quantity were not proportionate.
I used less quantity of sugar and it was not so yummy

Instead of coming out like this

Pic courtesy: Pushpa's blog

My cake was like this

I'll not try again atleast in near future !!
P.S. This was a gift to P for his birthday and so made some modifications.
His thoughts were "Enna kodumai ithu , athuvum birthday annaikuuuu"

This weekend........

This weekend watched The Davinci code..Ok I am not going to write a review ...
Went on Friday , but all tickets were sold out..There was a group of youngsters protesting the film...I was doubtful whether I should see the movie..But still,aasai yaaarai vittuchu, the next day, we booked tickets in advance,went for the film without any expectation

Probably I should have read the book and then watched it..Though I could enjoy the film, I could not follow the story well....

On the contrary when I was discussing about the film with my colleague today , he told me its not like book, portraying historic details...Another colleague of mine told me that the French accent of Sophie is too good...I was not able to appreciate it, but she could,being a French

But on the whole Its a nice film to watch and One Film would not change any religious beliefs...

What happened?

Its been few days since I did not blog..Random things going on in my life...

I did not like the new apartment in the beginning, but now I feel its pretty good and comfortable..Guess I did not like the change initially!!...There is a beautiful landscape out and Its a beautiful sight from the window
~~~~~~
I like my job too..I was very apprehensive earlier about how am I going to work at office.But Its not that bad as I feared. I am picking up the pace, though maybe I am the boring girl in the team of people with varied interests like mountaineering, opera watching, playing in bands, playing soccer...
~~~~~~
Learnt few words in German
~~~~~~
Tried to join a dance class, but could not ..."No dance classes in weekends for adults !!!"... Oops I am a grownup :)
~~~~~
Found a wonderful Indian restaurant near by ...
~~~~~
I was konjam upset about the split of LokParitran...I did not want this to happen!!
~~~~~~
I am looking forward to watch Davinci code, Over the hedge,Vettaiyadu vilaiyadu (long time wait)

Coffee with Honey

Daily at cafeteria, I see a person who adds honey instead of sugar to coffee ...Have you ever seen somebody else having this combo? I wonder how it would taste...

Sad Melody

Last Night, I was hearing this song...My mom likes this song so much and its always one of her favorites .....She has sung this song umpteen times that I started liking it....

Shot around 43 years back..But still One of the best songs of Susheela

கண்ணா கருமை நிறக் கண்ணா
உன்னைக் காணாத கண் இல்லையே

கண்ணா .. கருமை நிறக் கண்ணா
உன்னைக் காணாத கண் இல்லையே
கண்ணா .. கருமை நிறக் கண்ணா
உன்னைக் காணாத கண் இல்லையே
உன்னை மறுப்பாரில்லை
கண்டு வெறுப்பாரில்லை
என்னைக் கண்டாலும் பொறுப்பாரில்லை

கண்ணா .. கருமை நிறக் கண்ணா
உன்னைக் காணாத கண் இல்லையே

மனம் பார்க்க மறுப்போர் முன் படைத்தாய் கண்ணா
நிறம் பார்த்து வெறுப்போர் முன் கொடுத்தாய் கண்ணா
மனம் பார்க்க மறுப்போர் முன் படைத்தாய் கண்ணா
நிறம் பார்த்து வெறுப்போர் முன் கொடுத்தாய் கண்ணா
இனம் பார்த்து எனைச் சேர்க்க மறந்தாய் கண்ணா
நல்ல இடம் பார்த்து சிலையாக அமர்ந்தாய் கண்ணா

கண்ணா .. கருமை நிறக் கண்ணா
உன்னைக் காணாத கண் இல்லையே

பொன்னான மனம் ஒன்று தந்தாய் கண்ணா
அதில் பூப் போன்ற நினைவொன்று வைத்தாய் கண்ணா
பொன்னான மனம் ஒன்று தந்தாய் கண்ணா
அதில் பூப் போன்ற நினைவொன்று வைத்தாய் கண்ணா
கண் பார்க்க முடியாமல் மறைத்தாய் கண்ணா
எந்தக் கடன் தீர்க்க என்னை நீ படைத்தாய் கண்ணா

கண்ணா .. கருமை நிறக் கண்ணா
உன்னைக் காணாத கண் இல்லையே
உன்னை மறுப்பாரில்லை
கண்டு வெறுப்பாரில்லை
என்னைக் கண்டாலும் பொறுப்பாரில்லை

கண்ணா .. கருமை நிறக் கண்ணா
உன்னைக் காணாத கண் இல்லையே

Lyrics:Susheela.org

Always idle ;)

Somehow Google talk knows about me.
Whatever status I change it prefers to always show me as "Idle" !!!