Rain musings

Sanja had been to a wedding yesterday with her maternal grandparents. She had a great time playing my father's friend 's grandkids.  She behaved like a very good girl and ate without much fuss. The curds were served in Matkas (small earthern cups). Sanja at once declared that she will take her cup back home for her mother. She made granny clean it up and took hold of it as priced possession. When everyone asked her why she is taking it with her , her reply  Amma paint panuva, papa amma ku kuduka poren. (Amma will paint it, Iam going to give it to her) . The background , she saw me painting the Diyas for Karthigai deepam this wednesday. She kept asking me Amma , painting pannare ya ma (Amma are you painting). and remembered to get that earthern pot fo me . Ahhh, gal, I learnt from you today, though the gifts can be small, they will be priceless when given with sooooo much of love.  Hugs to you Darling !! PS: Iam gushing with joy and pride that my daughter is so very thou

INGREDIENTS:- 1 (250/500g) of Amulya Milk powder. Cocoa powder. Powdered sugar. Ghee. Cup of warn milk. Procedure:  Pour the milk powder to a bowl /vessel which is broad and has depth. Add the cocoa powder till you get a light brown colour mixing the milk powder with cocoa powder.  Mix the two so that there are no lumps. Add the powdered sugar,mix well, add till desired sweetness is reached. Mix the contents well, add the warm milk little by little. Knead the content into a dough. Use ghee to get the glaze effect.  Roll it up like chappati and cut it to desired shapes. Alternatively, we can make small balls. If needed you can add dry fruits to the chocolate.

Pretext: Sanja's paternal grandmom is leaving for US to stay with her younger son( S being the elder one). We have been telling Sanja that her Patti is going by plane to Chittappa and preparing her for the changes in our lifestyle. The following conversation took place when we ( MIL, S, sanja and myself) were in the room, packing her things. G: Sanja, I will take S also with me to the US. Sanja : Illa patti,  Patti will go by plane, thatha will go by plane. Appa nee po venam (Appa , you dont go). Sanja to  S:  Appa , namba naale polam, Nalle saapithu polam !! ( Appa, we will go tomo ok va , tomo after eating our food). She is consoling her father , since his mother is leaving him and going :P

A little girl and her group of friends , in a village near Tanjore are busy  collecting rations for preparing the snacks and sweets on eve of Deepavalli. They get oil , pans , wood for fire , flours , salt , sugar and under adult supervision(I hope so) prepare delicacies for their cooking game. Before day break, they have the auspicious oil bath and set out bursting crackers with no care for anyone passing by. They have a reputation for maintaining the person who burst max crackers.   She then moved to the city, but her zeal for bursting crackers didnt fade away. She used to fight with her brother in order to safegaurd her share. Breathing trouble would set in after all the bursting, but she was least worried.    The girl met her soulmate right across , married him and  were blessed with baby girl. The little one had the same passion for crackers like her mom. But the amount of crackers that were burst reduced. She used to spend weeks bursting the bijilis( small single pathaka). The

Sanja has a great liking to fishes. Her outings regularly feature a visit to the aquarium shop near my parents' place. With eyes sparkling and mouth crying out in exclamation she lights up the place. She likes the blue fish( which is actually the orange fish). On seeing the small ones - she says " tutti thutti fish ma". black, white , red thutti thutti fish. the lady in hcarge is now her friend. The little madam gives her advice to the shoppers saying "Akka this black fish is good ka, idha vangiko". The lady has an excellent saleswoman in my little kutty. Some months back, she was glued to the book Finding Nemo. Well you ask what is anything special about mentioning it ? Here it is. Sanja does vegetable fishing. Here grandma cuts up the vegetables, Sanja takes a bowl of water, puts all the veggies into it and uses the tea strainer to fish them out. At our home when I am done washing the dishes, and the drain is clogged, the kothamallis , curry leaves that

Came up with this one as we were making the crown for Lord Krishna yesterday.  Inspiration: UTBT -CD re-usage.  Material used: Some fancy stones, glass painting colours, discarded small toy(doll).

Yes, you have grown taller Yes, you have grown stronger Yes, you are way too smart for us Yes , you have started talking ( a lot) Yes, you know how to stand up for yourself. Yes, you love reading stories. Yes, you love singing and hearing classical music. Yes, you have a very little attention span, first it was mickey, then endless days of Dora, now it is Simbaa and Mowgli while the previous ones are forgotten. Yes, you have slowly started throwing a wee-bit of tantrums around. Yes, you have started on your third year today. Many more Happy Returns of the Day - Booboo, kuttima, Amulu, roja poo, alzhagu sundari, ghabi. You have been singing the Birthday song for the past ten days. You know that we have to cut a cake (though you dont eat them), have balloons, and a new dress. A small party has been arranged for today evening, wherein you friends have been invited by you personally. Looking forward to the evening. I still remember the first time I took a look at the baby pink

Sanja speaks but it might sound as if she is singing. Here is a conversation that took place today morning. Try imagining her singing it in slow dragging voice. We had made vadai because it was the starting of the Aadi month. Sanja got a small kara-kara (crisp) piece. She finished it off and asked for some more in the following way. Venum ma venum ma   Inn one venum ma Vadai venum ma kara kara vadai venum ma Translated for ppl who dont know Tamil I want ma i want ma one more i want ma vadai want ma crispy crispy vada want ma So she got the extra vada purely for her singing ;P.

Ingredients:-  1 kothamali bunch (Coriander)  3-4 green chillies  1 lemon-sized tamarind ball.  little bit of jaggery (2 small balls size of pepper)  pinch of perungayam (Asafoetida )  salt for taste 2 table spoon cooking oil. Preparation:- Take the coriander bunch (remove the root portions) and clean it with water. Put it in the mixer and crush it. Add the tamarind, green chillies to the mixer and make it into a paste.If needed add some water so that we get a thick paste.  Now heat the kadhai and add cooking 1 tablespoon of oil to it. When it heats up , add the mustard seeds and pinch of asafoetida. Then add the paste to it. Add the jaggery and salt and stir the mixture. The remaining 1 tablespoon ofcooking oil can be added little by little till as required. Keep stirring and remove it from the flame when the chutney doesn't stick to the kadhai when stirred.   This chutney stays for a week when stored in refrigerator.It can mixed with rice, had as side-dish with rotis,

Sanja turns into mother hen !! Yesterday night we (S, mil, fil , sil , sanja , kicha ( sil's almost 2 month old son)) were having some discussion in the hall. S went to get the fruits for the night-banana. Sanja doesn't eat them, she is in borderline of whether to taste it or not and mostly gives up the banana. So yesterday she took mine, peeled the skin and was feeding me :P. She was asking me to take bites like I tell her to eat food. The other baby didn't want to be left out. He found that his akka was having something interesting and was rearing to get it to his mouth. Watching the 2 kids , we were laughing at the attics. Sanja then reminded me again - Amma aah( a-um) vangiko ma.. sappidhu ma. It sent us into another peals of laughter. Finally she got fed up with my slow eating and herself made pieces out of it and fed them into my mouth. Blessed me !!! I was all smiles. How much of a mother she is to me? She then proceeded to put the skin in the dustbin and wa

If you are familiar with Dora, you know Swiper is the wily fox that sets out to trouble Dora in her adventures. The ardent fan that Sanja is , she associates any animal that is a bad character with Swiper ( Kulla nari ). So here are the list of animals that she has told us are friends of Kulla nari .  *Hyenas ( the hyenas that come in the Lion king).  *Saber tooth tiger. Yesterday we were watching a program on Mammoths and the pre -historic animals in Discovery. The program showed the Saber-tooth tiger attacking a mammoth calf. Sanja at once said - Amma , that is a kulla nari friendu . * the shunda Elli ( mice) that is making noises in our backyard. It is amazing how such a small kid is able to categorize things based on good or bad act it does.

Ingredients: -1 medium cup - grated dry coconut (copra's). -7-8 garlic pods. -1/2 medium cup -Bengal gram ( kadalai parupu ) -1/4 medium cup - Black gram Dal ( ulutham parupu ) -5-6 red chillies - tamarind - take 2 small strip of tamarind (approx size of lemon when rolled into a ball) - teaspoon of cooking oil. Preparation: Put a deep pan on flame and first add the grated coconut and saute it till it turns a little golden brown in color. Then put aside the coconut in a plate, add the garlic pods and saute till they turn a golden yellow. Remove this as well. Then add a teaspoon of cooking oil , add the Bengal gram, red chillies, tamarind, urud Dal to it and roast them till the Dal change in colour to orangish red colour.   First ground the fried Dal, chili and tamarind in the mixer/blender. Add salt as required, then add the coconut and blend them. Finally add the garlic and grind the whole thing. Remove the contents of mixer and mix it well in a bowl. Usage:-  The

Rating: 4/5  I watched this movie long back in April I guess. Bon Appetit , bon appetit !! A movie based on women and cooking. How the old and the new generation find the common thread? Merilyn streep makes you wish you had the character she portrays. I saw glimpses of my maternal grandmother in her. I don't want to talk about the blogging about Julie. But the story connects with each women in some way be it the cooking or the family life. How the new generation has lost the understanding , patience and such qualities of the old gen ladies? We feel as if we are the one making the world move whereas they( the old ones) always thought they were a part of it. The enthusiasm of Merilyn streep just makes you wish everything works out for her while publishing the book. It also shows how today the media is behind people rather than the olden days when Julia had to search for a publisher.    It also inspired me to start preserving the food recipes of our traditional practices. My g

The carrot-cabbage-onion mixed rice Serves : 2 Ingredients : 1 cup of grated cabbage 1 medium sized carrot - grated 1 medium sized onion - grated Jeera Salt 1 medium-sized tumbler rice Pepper pow der Ghee Optional: 1-2 Green chilli 2-3 garlic pods. Method:  Soak the rice for at least 10 minutes before cooking . Put the pressure cooker on the flame. Add some teaspoons of ghee and put jeera in it. When you get the aroma of jeera , add the grated vegetables and garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the rice to the cooker. Pour 2 glasses of water using the same tumbler you used to measure the rice. Mix the ingredients well and allow it to come to a boil. Add the required quantity of salt. Then close the lid and place the whistle.Allow 2 whistles and then set the flame to small for 5 minutes and then stop it. Now after you are able to open the cooker, add the pepper powder( depending on the level of spiciness you need). Mix it up well and now the rice is ready to be served.

How I started blogging? Ever since I was pregnant with Sanja, we named the unborn "Boo boo". So after almost a year passed by and by chance I googled up on Boo boo. I landed up in the blog Boo's babytalk . I got hooked to the daily life of ppl in that blog. In one of the posts, was mentioned a book "Bringing Up Vasu". You guessed it right, my next stop was at orangeicecandy, the blog of the book's author Parul Sharma. So from there on  I took to reading many mom blogs and thought - wow maybe even I should keep a blog for posterity. So "rainmusings" kick started with posts. I just didnt want to restrict the blog to Sanja but wanted to share my opinions thoughts and what not. So that is how one can find random posts (musings!!) in this blog.    

Starring : Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley Rating: 4/5 Review:- Excellent thriller. The ending is the best part of the movie. Watch it for the performance from Leonardo. The atmosphere is gloomy and dark. It leaves you thinking whether you have completely followed the movie. PS:- Its been almost a month since I saw this movie, but I still remember the scenes from it, it has that kind of impact on you

I dont have anything to write about this movie. The only thing that made me write a review is to warn(if anyone is reading this) to not see this DUMB movie. It neither has an story nor any good acting. Some of the Mokkai tamil films are much better off . Rating:1/5 - Yewww

Food specially prepared for a new mother . If you are a Brahman and a Tambram at it, you would have heard these words in a household that has just been blessed with a new -born baby. The food items prepared under this category is mainly meant for the new mother, to help her out in recovering from the internal wounds that she would have after the delivery. The main ingredients used for flavouring are pepper, pepper and some more pepper, ladles of ghee, salt. It is the post-natal care for both the new mother and the baby, making sure they don't suffer from indigestion. Nowadays , however, either due to the lack of support system( elderly people or parents) many of us just about take the normal food we have during normal times. But you can actually feel the difference the specially prepared food has compared to the normal diet we follow.   The options one has for this particular food preparation might be a tad bit limited, but with new experiments you can prepare a variety of d

Here we go ........ The analysis indicates that the author of http://rainmusings.blogspot.com is of the type: ESFP - The Performers The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.       Credits : -Thanks to Mystic Margarita, I took this test from there:)

             Yes, the whole family had a gr8 time yesterday night having our dinner on the terrace with moonlight. Chitra poournami is day when ppl usually prepare mixed rice (kalandha sadam) and have their dinner in the moonlight. Don't know the reason behind it, but it was really amazing. So we carried mats , food , camera to terrace. Sanja on her part brought along her kutti papa. First Sanja had her share of Curd rice, looking at the stars, the big moon, aeroplanes then we all settled down for dinner.               The dinner itself was a simple affair - Chappathis, Thovayal( Chutney like), Milagu kozambu sadam, curd rice and of course papads. Sanja wanted her papads in a plate and kept creating menace by walking over to each dish and trying ti imitate us by serving food. She poured the curd on the mats and went off . After the dinner, we spent time chatting and asking Sanja to perform her dance, song etc.. We video recording the entire show and eagerly awaiting its telecast :

My companion for 3 + years , the moto w220 finally fell silent on Friday. With all people speaking through it , the speakers jsut went bust. The company itself has shutdown the mobile division. It has suffered a lot in the hands of myself and Sanja , what with dropping it atleast once a day but it endured all this and didnt complain. Finally it broke having served its purpose in a dedicated way. While many ppl complained about Moto mobiles , my mobile proved otherwise. REST  IN PEACE ! So now to the new addition to my gizmo list -   is Presenting Sony Ericsson Naite' .  This has the 3G provision (though that feature might never get used). All the basic features available. It is termed "Eco-friendly" as the mobile has be made from recycled material. Go Green !!  !! Let you know how its working later on ...

laali aadinaal lakshmi laali aadinaaL sri lakshmi indru ingu laali aadinaaL lakshmi laali aadinaaL sriranga pathiyile aadhi seshan aravaNaiyil mandhahaasa vadhanamodu ranganaathan ranganaachchi vrishabharthi thiruppathiyil venkatEsan sahidhamaaga abhaya hastha alankaara alamElu mangai ingu sri kaanchi thannilE garuda vaahanaththile varadharaajan sahidhamaaga perundhEvi thaayaar ingu naaraayaaNapurathilE vairamudi minnidavE chellap piLLai sahidhamaaga mangai kalyaaNi ingu thiruvandhipurathilE simma vaahanathilE dhEvanaathan sahidhamaaga hEmaampuja naayakiyum srivillipuththoorthannile periyaazhvaar thirumagaLaay soodi koduththa sudark kodiyum rangamannaar sahidhamaaga thirukkadigai thannilE yoga narasimharOdu amirthavalli thaayaarum aanandhamaaga ingu Info:- This song is mainly sung during the Onjal function in Tambram marriage. Usually the bride and groom names are also sung alongwith this song.

What do you expect of a kid who has been playing for almost four hours that involved an hour of playing outside ? She would be exhausted and thankful that her Amma is putting her to sleep early so she could rest well and raise and shine next day. Day dreaming I say. Expect the unexpected. All the play left Sanja longing for more.      Sanja was in no mood to sleep yesterday. First she wanted the A/c to be switched on. Then she kept getting off her bed and running away to her grandparents room. After this activity, with all her strength she dragged her carton full of toys to the hall and started putting everything out. Dora, papa , dora papa sit here . She made them sit against the wall and proceeded to throw out all her toys. Then she ran again to her grandparents room, woke her up and made her also play alongwith us. The instant she ran away from her toys, I gathered them all and put them up in our room. She once again goes back and repeats the procedure crying out VeeeenaaaaMaaaaaaa

The compilation of stories that are fabricated by Sanja's mom for her - SANJA TALES. The first one - The Birth story of Sanja and Kung Fu Panda. Here we go, There once live a panda who was fond of Kung FU. His heroes were the famous five - the monkey, prying mattis, crane, snake and the tigress. They were students of The Red Panda an expert in kung fu. THe Red Panda always listens to Thatha Toto. One day Thatha toto said he is going to choose the Dragon Warrior. So the red panda asked its students to practice. The dD-Day arrived and all the animals gathered at the place where Dragon Warrior was going to be chosen. Our said panda also climbed uup with lot of huff-puff. But the  doors closed and it used the dum dam doomi(crackers) to reach inside.   Thatha Toto pointed at our panda and said - "You are the Dragon Warrior". But Panda and Red Panda said but Dont know Kung Fu. Thatha toto said "Adhalam theriadhu( i dont care) but you are the One".   So the Red

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi- everyone would have heard of her. Famous for her 'Dole Dole" song and as being wife of director Shekar Kapur. But now-a -days she is popular for her paintings, acting and guess what her books.  I got the time to read 2 books from the series called "Swapnalok Society". It revolves around the life of  small girl born in London but growing up in the most happening society of Mumbai. The first one - Summer of Cool It deals with life of the protagonist friend's life. How she goes in search of her father who abandoned them for money thinking all the time her mother was the reason for the breakup. The initial barriers the new girl in a society has to break to make new friends. It introduces us to the prominent characters in the society and background on girl's life. The second one - The Good news reporter The girl firmly believes in what her mother  had told her " If you hear good things you will also do good things".  She

Happy new year. 1. Send wishes to all the family members and friends - Check. 2. Cutty pie aka Sanja is in high spirits as everyone is wishing her Happy Day. 3. A quick glance back at 2009 Sanja (aka Sanjana) has made tremendous strides in her school of mischief, music and good manners. Her affinity to animals both alive and stuffed is something we are happy and worried about (what with 5 dogs following you everytime on the roads). She is crazy about Mickey , Minnie, Dora and her favourite songs apart from Carnatic geetham are Misca mosca and Hot Dog ( Disney club house). Cudos to Rahul and Prithvi as the have won the honour of being called out by Sanju. Yes she says Ragool(Rahul) and Thithvi (Prithvi). She is smitten by Tara and says Papa Papa. As of today she tells Anjannnnnaaaaa (for Sanjana). This year has been gr8 with Sanju learning to sing play dance read and what not. Iam back to singing nursery rhymes and starting out again from pre school. Updates on us: - Vars