Back with my travelogue!

It has been some real long time I blogged and today I pushed hard to come back and draft something to make my blog go to alive mode J

I hope to update this space every now and then JNo promises as I am good at breaking it!

Not sure what topic I wanted to write and I was thinking a bit and then I wish to write about my recent trip to places around Bangalore…oh yes the trip was spiritual and we planned to visit only temples and nothing else…

It was a Friday morning and I was at my work…Got a call from my hubby stating that the he is going to pick me up that evening and we are going to start our tour from there…I was like what?I did not pack anything at all and here he was jotting a plan..I protested and he agreed to pack everything for me!Now that he had assured I was kinda ok…By 07.30pmwe started our tour through our car..My hunger pangs could not wait anymore and thank god my husband got some poli from Anandhabhavan and I ate it all in a minute…

It was a real tedious journey as it took some 12 hours for us to reach Hassan…I was desperately longing for a break and We did halt at Hassan…We booked a room in “Kadamba” lodge…slept for 2 hours,prepared ourseleves andhad awesome breakfast at Kadamba..The karabath,masala dosa were the stars..

From Hassan we started to Halebedu...Reached there by 11am…It was one helluva soothing place…wonderful architecture…vast space to roam or sit and enjoy the beauty…We were walking on the grass till near a small river like pond…It was so blissful…It is actually a Shivan temple and its architecture attracts so much of people…

The next destination was Bellur...It took few hours for us to reach Bellur from Halebedu…We reached Chennakeshava temple and its architecture is very much similar to the one at Halebedu…ditto the same…Had lovely dharshan…Got a mortar and pestle for Rs100…We had lunch at Bellur and it was ok…just ok …Nothing great to tell about it…

We felt we should go to Horanadu and our next destination was Horanadu…It took some hours for us to reach Horanadu and yes you will need to drive in the hairpin bends to reach Horanadu…I was puking all through my journey as I am allergic towards travel and especially the car journey…Reached by 06.00pm and had lovely darshan of Annapoorani…My Mil said that the masala ingredients like bay leaf,cinnamon and likes would be good there and she got some good quantity of it!

From there we started to sringeri and again we were travelling in deserted roads in the hills…was bit scary and finally reached Sringeri…Had our dinner in a small Brahmin hostel…idli and poori..thatz all…Stayed in the mattam lodge…must say that the rooms are maintained so well…The next day got up…had bath in the hot water and went to the temple…The temple was so clad with mist and I loved every bit of it…Had the dharshan of Sharadha amma and went to tunga to just see the river…It is a sight to see how the fishes jump when you put puffed rice…My kid and all of us loved to see it for a while…

The next destination was kollur…reached by 12pm and finally saw Mukambikai amman…The noon poojas and amman oorvalam is really an eye candy…Lunch was at kollur..again pathetic food…

From Kollur,we went to Murudeshwar…Our dream destination…Finally made it happen in 2013..The Stunning Shiva amidst the sea is itself is a must watch place JThe scenic beauty of the sea and the big statue of Shiva was welcoming us…You could even find the statues of Arjuna and Krishna…Depiction of geethasaram over there…I felt so happy to see my favourite temple finally!

My husband was meaning to visit gokarana and I was skeptic about the plan but we did made it possible…It was night when we reached there…But went to Mahabaleshwar temple ,had dharshan…Again food was pathetic…Missed to see the beach but stayed there in the night…

The next morning we started to our last destination of the tour Udipi…Udipi is again my fav place may be I like Lord Krishna…You could see people singing while they make garland for Lord Krishna in the temple…I felt so blessed to see Lord Krishna through a small opening…Yes you would be able to see the lord only through an opening…Had lunch at the famous Woodlands hotel and then started back to Chennai…The road from Managalore tiill chakleshpur was worse indeed! Had tough time driving through the route…Had awesome dinner at Chakleshpur and it again took 12 hours for us to reach Chennai..

It was indeed a hectic and tedious trip but a trip to remember forever as we visited our dream destinations Murudeshwar and Udipi J

Thatz all for now…Will come back soon J

I am back again!

It is been an eon since I blogged…Sigh…I was meaning to update this blog for long and today I pushed hard and finally I am back… Ask me the reason for my hibernation? I was on maternity leave and finally my little boy arrived He is close to 1.6 years old now…He keeps me busy always…With the little time I get,I always look to spend it with my little one… Have never heard of postpartum syndrome until I witnessed the same…The brand new mother in me made to sacrifice night sleeps,run around to make things ready for my kid…I understand bringing up a child is not an easy task and you will need to sacrifice things for the little one which I am feeling very glad about  After my maternity leave I joined back office but in a brand new role…Which I am loving it all…Sometimes I take a daringly bold decision and I totally believe that it will be for my betterment… My love towards food has increased tremendously which paved way to explore restaurants and start my own food blog…You can have a glance of my food blog at www.moicuisinecorner.blogspot.in. Been on travel for the past few days and I wish I document things…Will write on all these trips in my next blog… I wish I will be regular to blogging 

Movie review: Kalakalappu

Could not believe myself writing a second consecutive post in a row! Hurray!!!Thank god I completely came out of writer’s block J I don’t love watching movies. I could see people staring at me whenever I tell the above statement. My husband tries hard to take me to a movie and most of the time his attempt fails. The last movie that I watched was “Nanbhan” and I loved it for the shear reason “It was rib tickling” These days I love to watch movies that fall under “comic” genre…There were days when I watched emotional movies and cried to hell…I am always good at deviating from the topic and so let me get back to the movie review. Vimal,Shiva,Anjali and Oviya plays the lead roles in the movie .Vimal along with an old man(thatha) runs the “Masala Cafe”.He struggles to run his ancestral restaurant…He faces so much of difficulties which gives him a chance to borrow money .His attempts to make the restaurant a best one always goes vain. Anjali plays the role of a health inspector. She was asked to inspect the hotels but falls in love with Vimal. Shiva plays the role of Vimal’s brother who in turn falls in love with Ovija, the grand daughter of the Old man(thatha). They encounter a series of incidents first that deals with diamonds, betrayal by a friend to capture Masala cafe and Anjali’s relatives forcing her to marry her uncle. Did Anjali gets into the life which she wishes for? Did Vimal gets his hotel back from his friend who betrayed him? Did the youngsters bring any twist to the hotel and did they make the hotel a best restaurant? You will need to watch the movie for the story line. The movie was directed by Sundar.C and produced by Khushboo. Songs were not that catchy, at least I felt that way otherwise the movie is just a rib tickling one and will make you to laugh like an hyena. If you are looking for a movie sans emotion and with a very mild storyline then you shall definitely watch this movie.

[Book Review]Fwo Fates

When I felt my reading habit has become very poor I got a mail from Blogadda team stating I was one of the 10 bloggers to review the book "Two Fates". For few minutes I could not come to ground state and was really excited. Thanks a ton Blogadda team,if not you then I would not have got a chance to read the book this soon. Now I am coming to my job of reviewing the book.

"Two Fates-The story of my divorce" is Judy Balan's first book.
Few words about the author:
Judy Balan is a single mother who did quit her advertising job to become a full time writer .I recently came to know about her blog and skimmed through her post and they are just awesome.

Two Fates-The story of my divorce-Review:

The cover page of the book was so appealing to me and it gave an idea about the story line. After scanning through the cover page I concluded that it was going to be punjabi-tamilian story(My guess is right).

The story starts with Siddharth coming to a Psychotherapist aka Deepika Sundar...Siddharth wants a divorce from his wife. His family members feel that he should consult a Psychotherapist to get rid of the divorce thing and sends him to Deepika's office. That is how he meets Deepika Sundar aka Deepu/Deeps.

The story starts with Deepika sharing her story of divorce with Siddharth.

The lead characters in the novel are Rishab Khanna and Deepika Sundar.

Deepika meets Rish in the weirdest situation when Rish's friend dump Deepika's friend but Rish and Deepika falling in love for each other.Rish an IIT-IIM alumni works for an IT company but always have an eye to become a writer on the other hand Deepika hails from a literature background and works for an advertising company who also has a strong inclination for writing but later changes her mind to become a Psychotherapist. They try every possible way to get an approval from their parents for their marriage and finally the families nod their approval and both of them enter into their wedlock.

They start arguing for anything and everything...They gain argument as to what color the wall needs to be painted and for such minor things .During the course of time they start disliking the celebrities who resemble their spouse. To add fire to the situation they argue about the 2 states(Punjab and Tamilnadu) culture/habits.

Reshu periyamma Deepika's aunty is portrayed as a one who pulls Rish's cheek and make his cheek turn pink :)

A list of incidents happen with no further notice. The first being Deep’s MIL coming all the way from Delhi to Chennai where Deepika and Rish live .Arrival of Deepika's MIL gives a chance for the formation of "Old Wives Club" as Deepika says.Deepika's mom,Reshu periyamma and others join the club.

Meanwhile Rish and Deeps enter into argument as strong as before and both of them feel "divorce" as the only solution.

Deep's MIL gives her tickets to London and ask them to visit Scotland and Edinburgh as a part of second honey moon for baby making process.Old Wives Club jots plan for sending them there.They are asked to stay in Twinky’s place(Rish’s cousin). The couple reach London and stay with their cousin Twinky and her husband Prince(The royal business tycoon).They witness unexpected things there which never allows them to jot a plan or giving a room to discuss about their divorce...After all the unexpected incidents they reach Chennai again and this time people at home are busy preparing for yet another punjabi-tamilian wedding that is happening between Deeps’ cousin Karthick and Rish's cousin Kitty.

Meanwhile the couple consult a lawyer...Settle his fees for their divorce .Even the lawyer raises his brow on seeing this perfect-made-for-each-other couple. But the couple never wish to live together and finally get a secret divorce and wait for their time to disclose the news after Kitty and Karthick’s wedding.

Deeps’ inner soul pops up every now and then and asks her questions about the divorce. Rish on the other hand meets his guru and gets enlightenment that makes him a different Rish. Deepika surprised with sudden behavior of Rish plans to visit the Guru.

She meets the guru finally and does she gains enlightenment as Rish did? What happens to Kitty and Karthick’s marriage?Will people at home accept Rish and Deep’s divorce or will there be any twist there? Will they switch into a career for which they were waiting for?

Aww for all the above questions you need to flip the book to know the answers.

Note:
I so much liked Judy’s writing. The flow and the language were just awesome. The not-so-nice-thing aka divorce was so beautifully merged in the story with such a comical way and I loved every bit of it 

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

In love with Trichy

Born and brought up in one of the small villages near Trichy I feel
so happy to be of Trichy origin. Though I have migrated to other cities
to earn my bread I still love Trichy so much and I am letting the cat
out from my bag and say "It is the first city that sits in my
favourite city list". I have got married and moved to a different city
and I am feeling nostalgic about my own "namba trichy"...why not write
the thoughts surrounding ma mind in the form of a write up? good you
say?ok I am writing it :)

Higher secondary and college and my association of those lovely 5
years with Trichy can neva be forgotten...Those were the beautiful
days in ma life...wish to have those days :(

Rock city rocks:

Trichy na adhu "mallaikottai" dhan...The rock city simply shines in
the scorching heat. The Uchipillayar temple looks majestic and yeah
people pray "Thayumanavar" god inside the rock forte temple to have a
safe delivery.

Cofeeeeeeeee:

We are very near to Kumbakkonam which is famous for filter
coffee...Being near the bug caught us and we make finest filter
coffee :)Besh besh onga aathu coffee nalla yiruke,is what I here from
ma relatives...The answer my mom gives -is "nanga Padma coffee use
panrom"...80-20…People if you are thinking it is a pareto rule,I am sorry
you are wrong...It is coffee-chicory ratio...I was the sole person
responsible for getting coffee powder during ma college days and Padma
coffee was my usual shop...

Beat the heat ,have ice creams:

It was a rare opportunity to dine out during those days...I am not
speaking about late 90's but the mid 2000's to be apt 2005-2006...The
one shop I all knew for ice creams was "Michaels"...I always wonder how
on earth we get cup ice for Rs.5 and I shall get it only in Michaels
subjected need to wait in queue to get a seat...the enjoyment is rest
assured.

Treat your taste buds:

Umm well dining out was not an easy task that too if you are from an
orthodox brahmin family like me whose parents neva have the willing to
eat out...But still my dad took us once in a blue moon...oh how much I
love Vasantha Bhavan, Raghunath,Adhi kudi and Mathura lodge...I have not
been to any other hotels and so I totally love the above mentioned
hotels...Cheep rates best food is what I attribute with Trichy...

Go shopping:

Diwali was the only occasion where we got an opportunity to shop
during my school and college days...Appa and amma accompanied us(bro
and me) and the usual textile shop would be Sharathas...It is a
one-stop-shop for all your textile related things...We take 2 hours to
complete our shopping but always feel contented with the quality and
price in Sharathas...

"Janaki raman" is one shop where you get "prasava legyam" to
"urugai"...Our visit to Trichy will be incomplete if we don't vist
Janaki ram...

"Chinthamani" juice shop was my fav and gobbled n glasses of juice for
Cheep rates :)

Food for thought:
Will I forget those days when I greedily roamed in the book chowk to
get ma favourite novels and bargain it to get it for cheep.

My Wren and Martin book which I got it from "Agastiyar book shop"
still looks lovely(the other fact is I have not used the book much and it
is still fresh :p)

Higginbotham was one shop where I marched to get books that was rare
and new to the market...


ohhhh I can go on and on about ma Trichy :)I stop for now and will reserve it for a next post...All will be your(Trichy) royal lover...

I am back :)

"I wanna get back to blogging...yes I wanna get back :)"

oh I was muttering the above lines for million times and boy it took these long to get back to blogging. I solemnly swear(nth time) that I will be regular in my blogging marathon. What can be a better way to break my hibernation? yuppie you got it right...ramblingsssssssss...

1.Been an eon since I read books...The recent book that I read was "R2020" by our own Chetan...yet another book apt for making bolly movie :)corruption ,love and education plays a major role in the plot...Not very much impressed with the book still 5 point someone tops the list.

2.Marriage makes you responsible...yes that is my gyaan after marriage ...lol..at least I need to be responsible when it comes to cooking to satiate our hunger pangs right?...What it all started as a responsibility has become my passion...I have started exploring dishes...addicted to food blogs and started to try something or the other...know what have started my food blog as well  www.moicuisinecorner.blogspot.com is the url 

3.My little one keeps me busy these days :) yes I gave birth to a boy baby :)He takes all my time and I am loving it soooooo much...

4.On the other hand some things changed against me and I feel for it a lot...Hope time will heal things and bring me what I wanted.

5.Patience is the important thing that I desperately want it now. Being a short tempered ,I could not stand even petty things .I wish I gain the powerful tool called patience.

So much I spoke. Didn't I? will reserve it for next post. Till then Ciao :)

May his soul rest in peace:

My mother called me today at 9am and asked me to watch the live telecast from Puttaparthi. I browed for Shankara channel and landed there to see the last respect being paid to Sai's body.

When I heard Saibaba's demise on 24th April 2011,I was in a state of shock. True that I pray him every day. I have faith in both Saibaba's(Shirdi and Puttaparthi).But when I started to watch the live telecast ,grief started to engulf me...I started to remember the days when I were in trouble and when I prayed all gods including him.

It was Sundara mama who first showed this spiritual person into ma life. When mama sang Sai bhajans , We also joined him...As the days rolled, I have gained faith in Saibaba and the most uttered word became "Sairam".

Someone told me "if you want to tell something to Sai, write it in a letter and post it and he will for sure read it"...From then on whenever I felt gloomy I started to write letters ,I posted only a few and many remains to be on my stash. I was on my verge of completing my B.sc. MBA was all I aimed for and I heard about Sathya Sai University.I wrote a letter to the authorities asking the procedure but I was not sure about the exact address for communication .I posted it with the address that I had but never got a response...Later I realized either the address of communication must be wrong or Sai blessed me to have something better in ma life.

He was a humanitarian who helped thousands and thousands of people through his universities ,hospital and services .I have never been to Prashanthi Nilayam, but heard a lot from others. His demise is a great loss. Though he leaves his body he will always be there to save us from troubles and bless us always.

The live telecast moved me a lot. All I can say is "His services were no par" and He aptly fits to the saying "Deivam manushya rupena".

May his soul rest in peace

Book review:The old man and his God

It’s been a while since I read something …Thanks to company's library, these days I lend a book on Fridays and complete it on weekend When I heard that I need to return the book on Monday ,I felt sigh! But deadlines many a times makes you to work hard and I also try to read the book at every free minute that I get and return the book on Monday.

Last week I took “The old man and his God” by Sudha Murthy .I never went for the contents, on seeing the author’s name ,I grabbed the book. This was my 3rd book of Sudha Murthy’s which I read on a single stretch :)I love the book named “Mahaswetha” a lot.

Now back to this book…This book totally deals with the tag “Discovering the spirit of India”. Sudha narrates her experiences in the form of true stories. The language is simple but has profound meaning.

Why would I recommend this book .

1. We all like to hear true incidents right? If you are one such person who loves to read real life stories go and grab this one.
2. If you love to read a moral based story then this book is ur cuppa tea.
3. If you wish to learn from other’s experience then rush and get this book.
4. If you wish to see the spirit of India, its people then this book brings you incidents relating to India and its people, their experiences before your eyes.
5. Last but not the least you learn excellent lesson from every story .I am not sure of the correct sentence from the book but the core message goes this way .I loved the below messages from the book.
Ø You cannot change the attitude of other’s better change yours.
Ø Earth is full of mud. Either wear sandal or cover the entire mud. The choice is yours.
It was an excellent read after a while. Loved it and Indian writers attracts me a lot. How about you?

P.S This is my 100th post here :)All I can say is I love writing and blogging and no doubt you can seen me writing the same way I am doing now in future too :) I thank all my readers for supporting me with wonderful comemnts :)

A scary day @ Illusions Broken

It was Jen(Jennifer) who called me on my birthday and wished me first...It was not new and the same ritual will happen in the forthcoming years too...Had my ablution and wore my blue faded jean and black t-shirt...I have the habit of getting blue jean and black shirt every year on the eve of my birthday and this would be my nth blue and black combo collection...Every gal of my age loves to wear white frock bedecked with glittery and trendy fashionable stones but being so tom boyish ,I prefer jean rather than a frock...

My mobile beeped for several times and I saw 20 missed calls...It was from Jen and the latest message that read was "Sophie I wish to give you a surprise on this day and so make yourself ready in another 30 minutes and I will be there to pick you up"...Jen and surprise lol, I could not control my laughter...Apart from wishing me on my birth day she also claims to present me a surprise gift and the gift would be a doll...Barbie doll...Jen is a person who is so much involved in fantasy and all that and I always mock and smirk her whenever she starts her fantasy saga...year after year she presents me a Barbie doll with a kit containing cozy and trendy clothes sewn by her for the Barbie...I don't admire dolls and this Barbie is definitely not an exception. Jen admires Barbie's blonde hair and blue eyes...She speaks on and on about it but for me the hair and eyes makes no difference...So this time also I was waiting for my gift aka Barbie doll...well I did not want to disappoint Jen and sulk at the gift...I was waiting at my lawn for Jen's arrival...

Flashy red Sedan approached my garage...She was honking to glory and was trying to get my attention and I intentionally looked indifferent and never responded for the honk...Her face was as red as a tomato adding well to her complexion and with seething anger she approached me and all her anger vanished the moment she saw me and she was back to normalcy  She was in a hurry to take me to a place and she wanted it to be a surprise...Well surprise and you never goes well quipped me...She was very serious about her surprise and at least this time I was longing for one that too from Jen...

Sophie let us travel in your Ford exclaimed her...Well said me...no appeals...in another 10 minutes I was driving and Jen was beside my side...I took the route as pointed by her...Jen and I are friends for 17 years now...We first met at "Little Hearts" kindergarten when we were 3 years old and from then on became bosom pals...thanks to our working parents  After my schooling I took science in college and Jen was into "Illusions broken" a college for mastering wizardry and magic...I still wonder how two people with varied interest become close pals and we are live examples...Her magic wand accompanies her and "tel ym erised emoc eurt" is one sentence I learnt from her and every time she uses her wand she also uses the above sentence and it looks funny...I investigated the sentence and came to know that it is a jumbled form of “Let my desire come true”…Voila!

And finally we reached a place far from our locality and it took 5 hours for us to reach the place...Thanks to Jen’s wits which completely made us to forget about our long journey…We were greeted by two dwarfs wearing shiny lavender pyjamas which was completely annoying my eyes...out of nowhere a bottle came flying in the air and Jen caught it right and gave me the refreshing drink...The drink was so enticing and she said it was a trend at "Illusion Broken" to welcome the guests this way and gotcha I was in wizardry school and this was the secret place which gave me a surprise...Individuals were not allowed even parents need to send a prior request for a yearly visit and the parents were allowed to stay with their kids only for an hour but there I was with no request or time of stay was not restricted to one hour...

The entire environment was so different from the normalcy ...Some were flying in the air as if like people from another world...I have seen angels flying all around that too in fantasy stories but for the first time I witnessed all different things .I was taken to a room much deserted one from the main entrance and Jen was about to say something, I stopped her and said "tel ym erised emoc eurt" but nothing happened...Jen laughed at me and uttered the same words "tel ym erised emoc eurt" and immediately the doors opened....


The room was smelling pungent exactly the smell of ammonium which I smelled at my lab...hell with the odor...There were no lights and the atmosphere was eerie...I was horrified for being in the isolated place and the only soothing comfort was Jen's presence...She swayed her wand and said something(this time it was some magical mantra) and a bright chandelier splashed bright above our heads...Wah! I felt safe in the bright rays...I investigated the place and the place was surrounded with chemicals smelling yucky, wands of different size and shapes making me scared, logs of unusual size, leaves of trees(all smelling still more unpleasant and pungent, some were fresh, some were dried)...The room can accommodate 100 people at a time and we were only 2 and with no idea we were roaming there...As I took my next step another chandelier started to glow …from nowhere for every step of mine ,I saw one more chandelier glowing and when we reached the end of the room ,all I could see was splashing lights ...The room was glowing with lights ,I have witnessed such blazing only on a new year day or during a fire and the day was so different...I called Jen and asked her to take me somewhere other than the room ...She asked me to hold on for few minutes...

Prof Cindy, Jen here...could you please make your appearance spoke Jen in an unusual bold tone..I mocked her and said "is your Prof. Sin..Sin...sorry Cindy deaf" for which she gave a "I will kill you” look which made me shut my mouth...There appeared a luscious mirror before our eyes... I have never seen such big mirror ever in my life and I got my opportunity to check myself how good I look and I went near it and touched the surface...err it looked rough and all I saw was a wall...I took few steps backwards and again I saw shiny mirror...The whole day seemed to perplex me...and Jen again said "Pro .Cindy, Jen here please make your appearance"...

Outta nowhere a lady in her mid 40’s appeared on the mirror...Her face was visible and I could not spot her body...She was wearing a specs that was exactly resting on her nose...I heard a bold yet mellifluous voice greeting me "happie birthday Sophie" and I was searching the entire room to find who it was...Now I could not smell pungent odor and the smell was so pleasing to my nose and it was a sweet odor. Jen pinched me hard and asked me to thank Prof.Cindy for the wishes...My mouth became dumb and I was struggling to say thank you...Prof.Cindy swayed her wand from the mirror and beautiful chocolate cake was floating in the air before my eyes and Cindy threw a knife and I feared, that it was going to hurt me and I protested with my hands to stop the fast moving knife and god the knife sat exactly on my hand...I was horrified yet I heard a chorused voice to cut the cake...For a moment the chandeliers were gone and candles were floating all around the room...I was confused...Jen asked me to blow the candles and I said, it was impossible to blow the candles placed all around the room" She asked me for a single blow and what a miracle, lights from candles went off and chandeliers were splashing as before. within minutes candles too vanished...I still did not understand how I cut the cake but I found a piece of chocolate cake resting on my mouth...And the cakes too vanished from my vicinity...Jen asked me to go near Prof Cindy and get her wishes...With all fear I went near the mirror and again Cindy swayed her wand and a heavy bag rested on my hand...Prof.Cindy bade good bye to Jen and within a second the mirror vanished before us...I could not comprehend on the things that I witnessed...Jen pulled me out from the room...When I paced towards the exit of the room the chandeliers went off and it was again a mere pungent smelling room which I witnessed when I entered it for the first time...Sophie uttered some magical words and the doors closed...

I came to the main exit...People, atmosphere and things looked so different..."Illusion broken" was one queer place I have visited till date...I pleaded Jen and asked her to take either to my place or hers...We drove fast and with fears I drove still more fast...We reached Jen's place after 6 hours and aunt Linda(Jen's momma) was greeting me...She was in her black attire...Jen took me to her room and gave the gift and it was Barbie yet again...Still my mind was occupied about the heavy Prof Cindy's gift bag that was resting on my car...I never dared to open it...Jen please don't bring fantasy into my life...Let the magical world be with you ...I am not interested and not ready to enter the wizardry world staking my life...I shouted at her and she said that was going to be the last visit of mine to "Illusions Broken"...

I was not in a good mood to enjoy my day..I wanted to be at my home and after all the promises I bade bye to Jen and marched towards my car...I saw aunt Linda in the living room and a portrait was made to hung that day...The face looked familiar...I went further and enquired aunt Linda and to my surprise aunt Linda said "Today is Prof.Cindy's 2nd death anniversary and that is why I am wearing black attire”.I could not comprehend things nor had the guts to ask Jen about it...I rushed to my car and drove to my place...

I parked my car in my garage and went inside...The next day when I was about to start for my college a velvet blue bag was shining inside my car...I yelled at my mom and asked her to take the bag out and keep it in my room...My mom did the way I instructed her and she took the bag with ease...I thought it should be heavy...I went to my college forgetting about the events that happened on my bday...

That evening I came home, spoke to Jen as usual..I decided not to speak or mock her wizardry world...We spoke on general topics...Had dinner with my parents and went to my room...Velvet bag was shining in my glass rack...I never dared to touch the bag anytime and so I decided to cover my glass rack with a curtain...

I told my mom and asked her to cover the rack with a curtain.When I returned home that evening velvet bag was missing from my vicinity and glass rack was disguised in a beautiful curtain...That was some relief...

My curiosity of finding the gift inside the bag vanished...I will never forget that one particular birthday...I decided not to step out on my birthday and as usual I get Barbies from Jen but our hang outs are restricted to places 
“Illusions Broken” may be a perfect place for Jen but I personally believe that one’s illusions can never be broken? What say!

P.S Wrote this fantasy short story

Sneaky Sun!!!

Mild rays of morning sun sneaks through my window and shyly touches my face...I wake to the world of reality from my deep slumber...The yellow color clock opposite to my bed tickles the time as 6.00am...

I put a knot on my ruffling hair and march towards the wash basin...With brush on my mouth I wander my thoughts to the day's activities...What to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner...At times I go wild with my thinking and plan the menu for the consecutive days too !lol...


Then I gently open my refrigerator and with all caution I take a milk packet out of it :)I am still at a loss to understand the difference between blue packet milk and green packet milk which my MIL says...With no concern on the colors of milk packet ,I pick one at random...


I gently cut the packet and pour the contents on a vessel and place it on the gas stove...Simultaneously my hand grabs one more vessel with water and places it on the stove...I place the coffee filter exactly on its vessel and add coffee powder(coffee+ chicory) to it...I wait for the water to reach its boiling point. With holder's support I pour it on the coffee filter...It is fun to hear the tok tok sound from the filter...


Meanwhile milk overflows from the vessel and only then I realize the situation…I switch off the stove and clean it(The overflow of milk from the vessel happens every day )...Finally I pour the remaining milk into my tumbler, add a spoon of sugar with the decoction from the coffee filter...I stir the coffee well and check the color to be as dark brown else I pour some more decoction and stir it again...huh the aroma is something which I long always for!!!

With coffee in my hand I rush to my balcony...I comfortably sit on my chair and forget all my day's activities and enter into a different world...There comes an yelling from my hubby ,only then I realize how fast time flies…As usual I rush to complete my other chores to reach office on time 

P.S Tried my hand on something different in this post. Figure what?

Eternal Gift

Wrote this poem for Valentine's day contest and here I post it...Here you go with ma poem



People flooded all around me
But my eyes were busy sieving
For someone so special in ma life
All I got in return was disappointment

The moment you appeared in the crowd
A bright Colgate smile lit my face
Call it a magnetic effect or whatever
Love at first sight did hit me

I got drenched in the world of dreamland
With thoughts lingering only about you
Then came the D day of my life
When I graduated to the status Missus

Tussle is what I create everyday
A smile is what you give in return
Barb is what I throw often
But you accept me the way I am

You are my mentor and a pal
Who point me when I am wrong
You encourage me for my every good deed
Which acts as my strength

You brought a drastic change in me
Which made me to realize my horizon
What else I need to ask God
When I am already gifted with a lovely person

Whatz in ma mind?

I have lots more to pull out from ma mind...So here I come with yet another set of random ramblings!

1.My mom ,dad and now hubby (also joined the list )are taking more pains to make me to write more...They wanted me to improve my writing skills.They wanted me to improve my vocabulary.They wanted me to write a book(A very big dream I say)...These 3 people always ask me to blog more...Whenever I say I am running outta ideas or posts,they come up with suggestions and help me out.Word thank you will never do justice to all the encouragement they provide to me.I vow I will seriously put forth my efforts to improve my writing...Writing a book is something a herculean task at this moment but still why not try sometime at the later stage of my life...

2.There were days when I told myself "itz been eons since I tasted maggi".These days I say "Oh god when will I stop eating maggi"...Every day I eat maggi despite knowing the wax content in it which is very much injurious to health.Received several threats from ma frnds to stop eating it...I need to head their words!

3.Whatever I eat I still long for vathakozhambu and thayir sadam with maavadu...Vathakozhambu made with rich tamarine content is what I always look for.Also it is one easy dish which you can make in a very short span of time.with maavadu as side dish what else I can say about it...It is nothing but a pure bliss.Long live the founder of vathakozhambu.

4.Itz been 3 months since I landed in chennai but still I very easily get confused with roads and lanes.There are n no of ways to reach my home :( whichever route you take you can definitely reach my home.So each day I take new routes which ultimately makes me confused and as usual I call my husband at unearthly hours for directions.Sigh!

5.Itz been eons since I saw sun set and sun raise.I have never enjoyed the beauty of sun which sneak through the clouds and raise in its full form nor have enjoyed the soothing nature of sun set...I work in shifts and that is the reason.I wish I work in normal general timings to witness nature's beauty :)

6.for no reasons I have gained so much love for London city.I wish to travel there to enjoy the scenic beauty of river Thames.Would love to enjoy the beauty of London through London's eye.Already longing to see Agatha's long running play (Mouse trap) oh and I have loads and loads to speak when it comes to London.what am I looking for?An opportunity to visit London..bhooo hoo...


7.After a long time,I have resumed my reading habit.Bugged my hubby and got a book "Go kiss the world"...You can expect a review on it pretty soon :) I hope so :)

8.I always protect my novels like my treasure.I lend my books to all but always worry if I see strains in the book though I scribble a lot in my novels...I will come up with a post about my favourite books soon :)


Thatz all for now.Will come up with something soon :)

Poem from my stash

I wrote this poem when I was in blunt mood.It was in my stash.Here it goes


Lying on the bed
I mull over my thoughts
The pain of my struggles
Are too strong with deep scars

I always feel to be a victim
For things that I am not subjected
Whom to blame for the game?
Is it the Murphy?or the poor Me?

I shift my thoughts to others
Whew!That also disappoints me
People fight,hurt and kill others
Literally with mere words as weapon

I wish to be free from devastation
With love and affection all around
Life is too short to blame and fight
Understand let us forget and forgive

A dinner to be remembered

When Hari mama called and invited my hubby and me for a dinner on the new year day, we were so excited. Who on earth will ignore such an invite from a person whom we admire the most?So we were all set and on new year day evening my hubby and I visited mama's place.

He is a person who adheres to the saying "work is worship"...A busiest person who is always entangled with work around the clock. He was very kind enough to spend his time with us despite his busy schedule...

Janani and Athai gave us good company, which made us so comfortable and I felt as if I was at my own home...Discussions with Janani about movies,actors,food...god it was so so so nice...Athai is simply sweet with her lovely words!

Dinner was waiting at the table with sumptuous menus. Menus included Poori and Kezhangu,Fried Rice,Bisibelabaat,curd rice,crispy chips,pickle...Did I forget something?Yes yes the milk paiyasam which athai made...It was toooooo good!and anyone who hates paiyasam will definitely not have the heart to say "no" for Athai's paiyasam...

Our stomach did not have the room to gobble such lovely dishes...We were then gifted with Pant shirt and a salwar,2 diaries,a book (365 days of inspiration by Napoleon Hill) and a bag full of snacks...We were literally struggling hard to carry the gifts back to home...We got asirvadam from mama and athai along with thirupathi laddu...

After this dinner...Both(My hubby and I learnt a lot).Below are some few out of it.

1.Learn the meaning of hospitality from them.
2.Humility.I see it in Hari mam.
3.Work is worship.Money is not important but still you need it to lead a life.So be dedicated to your work.
4.Miles to go in the field of culinary. After the dinner my hubby says "Ask tips from Usha Athai before you cook fried rice". yes Athai is a great cook and no doubt.
5.Be what you are and always try to forgive others the same way you do it yourself.

The lesson learnt are tremendous .I am sure the word "Thank you" will be so cliched. Spending time with someone whom you respect is something which everyone of us long and glad that we got one. Thanks a lot mama for everything and we always look forward for ur advice/motivation/inspiration and many more in the years to come.

The saga of my soup

It was raining cats and dogs...Being so much sensitive to cold my hands started to shiver...I con't even withstand chennai's weather wonder how on earth I will manage my stay at Kashmir. Well I do not want to diverge...were was I...oh yes I was shivering and my tooth started to dance to the tunes of thunder...disguised myself in full hand salwar+shawl and I felt it was relieving me to an extent...

My hunger pangs was longing for something hot and crispy...Same with my hubby too...Mother-in-law was busy in the kitchen...Only later I came to know she was busy preparing vegetable soup for all of us...She dishes out varieties in a jiffy...There I was standing near the chef and was keenly observing the method of preparation...She boiled all the veggies(Bells Pepper, Carrot, Beans, Cauliflower and Tomato) on the pressure cooker...Finally made a fine paste out of the boiled veggies in a mixture with water..Filtered it and removed the coarse texture....On a medium flame she placed a heavy bottomed vessel with the veggie essence(the one obtained after filtering)...Stirred it for few minutes...On the completing note she mixed corn flour to the veggie essence and added required salt..stirred again for a minute or two and switched the stove off...you may want to know my part in the soup making right?...Hold on...I was seriously observing the whole process...Tough job I say! She served the soup hot with fried crispy breads floating on the top of the soup..The soup came out pretty well and we were longing for more...It is a complete bliss to enjoy the rainy day with your bowl of soup...pure bliss I say!


So the consecutive weekend We(Ma hubby and I) visited my mom's place. Proudly and ostentatiously I was all mouth telling that I had learnt a new recipe vegetable soup..My father was travelling that day to a function...I told him to wait for few minutes to taste my vegetable soup before he leaves for the function...told my bro that I am going to make delicious soup...My hubby was all set to taste the yummy soup...

I added Bells pepper, Carrots, Beans, Ginger and Tomato ...boiled the veggies....made it as fine paste and was searching for a filter...To my dismay I did not get the right one but managed to remove the coarse texture...Placed the essence on a thick bottomed vessel..stirred it for a while and added corn flour paste with salt and again stirred it and switched it off...I was so much confident of my preparation and so I prepared the soup for some 15people...


My hubby and bro were already waiting to taste it...phew my father was waiting to taste it but I never seem to complete and so he left for the function...I handed the bowls of soup to two of the scapegoats...one being my hubby and the other being my bro...Bro took the first spoon of the soup and he never opened his mouth...If you think he was spellbound about my preparation friend you are totally wrong he was dumbstruck with my not-so-good work...Then he commented my soup as a cough syrup and never dared to taste it for the second time...poor hubby did not say a word and was struggling with his bowl...Being good natured that I am ,I understood his situation and magnanimously asked him not to taste further...During the meantime my bro started to advertise the quality of the soup which I prepared...No one dared to taste it and so I am...ROFL...the entire content of the soup on the vessel was left untouched...After a round of research I understood that I added carrot and ginger as the predominant ingredient which spoiled the taste...

Now when I spell the word soup, my hubby pleads me not to speak of it anymore...From then on he started to share my soup making skills to every other person on earth...sigh...I do not dare to try the soup again...secondly now you should understand how good I am when it comes to observation...

The word soup brings a churning effect in my stomach...oh It was all because of my preparation...I need to closely observe my MIL when she prepares soup for the next time...I was in a soup because of my soup preparation.

Scary night

It's been sometime that I was away from writing/blogging/commenting...I just wanted to come back and just drafted this small story within minutes!Please let me know your comments :)

It was pitch dark and the sky was engulfed with dark clouds.The moon shone with its lovely beauty.Stars dangled and was playing hide and seek with the dark clouds.She was all alone with just a candle as her company.The pitch dark surrounding scared her a lot.Thunder bolted with its cacophony and harsh wind blew which not only disheveled her hair but also killed her company...Her body started to tremble and the air was filled with jitters.She started to move out from the place but her legs were so weak because of her ailment from the fever...Her memories went back and retrived stories narrated by her granny..Phew all the stories were relating to ghost which created extra scariness...Started as a cute little drop the rain started to fall on the earth with its sudden madness.Her body started to shiver and her face went pale.Her eyes were apple red and was searching for something or someone.All her fear vanished within a jiffy when the power came back and bright light splashed on her face.

1947-a love story-Beginning of a fresh journey

So here is the sequel of the “1947 –a love story”

I sent the snaps and the very next day my chithi called my mom to confirm whether the gal in the hardcopy and the gal in the softcopy are one and the same...My hubby asks me the same question even today... :P I totally looked different in both of my snaps...


Day's rolled and month's too...It was the start of the month June...And I was all set to attend my cousin's reception...My dad and I went for the reception and I was all busy speaking to my cousin..Beep heard a sound from my mobile(SMS?for me?I don't have the habit of msging through mobile(one more weird quality) and here comes a msg...It was from my chithi and said "Sent my son's snap"..Show it to amma and paati...

A call followed the very next moment...It was amma...

Mom:So when are you coming to home...

Me:In an hour or two..

Mom:They have sent the photo it seems...We(Paati and I) wanted to see it.

Me:Log into the sys..I will give my id..you check...

Mom:I don't know how to check..You better come..

Me:Then wait for 3 hours...

Mom:Ok...

My dad was listening to all our communications and he also wanted to see the snap...

Reached home by 11.30pm that night...Mom and paati were waiting for us..The moment I reached home,they pulled me to the computer...

Mom:Open it fast

Me:Computer is very slow when compared to you...wait if you want..

Mom:A new mail popped up..It was from my chithi

I opened it and there it read "photo of Karthik"...

Paati,Mom and Dad asked me to zoom the snap in every possible way...It was so tired of all their instructions...The photo had an image of a guy floating in the air(Only later we came to know,it was taken in a hurry and all blame was with the photographer)...Further the guy had an unshaven face...

Mom:What is your opinion

Me:Well ...Nothing came to my mind at that point of time...

Dad:His face looks unshaven..I guess the photo should have been taken long before.

Paati:Further the snap look as if he is floating in the air...

Mom:Why don't we ask them for another snap?

Me:I don't know...you do whatever you want...

I don't know when this message about photo was passed to the groom's family..The very next day I got a mail from my chithi reading "Karthik's photo"...

I showed it to my parents and paati...this time they were completely satisfied with the guy in the photo who had cleanly shaven face and was with a formal wear...After all the zooming sections,I was asked to forward the snap to all my relatives....errrrrrrrrr too many formalities...and I did as pointed....

Date was fixed for the "ponnu paakara" formality...

I again protested and said to my mom that I am going to be very simple..No more fanta color saree and no more shiny jewels..All I am going to do is wear a simple saree...Again scolding and advices...And I am made to wear all the glittery walla things and a silk saree...

Home was crowded with relatives..almost 50 people all around...And then like the good old tradition..I was asked to come out from the room and was given extra 5 minutes time to speak to the groom...

Me:Felt so scary and tensed…Hands started to shiver

Karthik: (Sat in a comfortable posture)…Why don’t you take your seat.

Me: Thanks and took a not –so-comfortable seat...and from then I started to speak on and on...For the second time after my cognizant's interview I recited my answer for the question "tell me about yourself"...though Karthik did not ask me the question...(Still I con’t control my laughter when I think of this…ok I was attending an interview for a fresh life this time)

And 5 minutes were over.. decisions were made that we are going to get married ..A sweet surprise came and that same evening we had our engagement :)All happened so fast in a jiffy...

From engagement till the marriage I did not get an opportunity to see him again(ok only once I had an opportunity during a function..that too we spoke for another 5 minutes :P )...My hubby use to say that our's is a "1947-a love story"...Where everything happened in an old orthodoxy way :)

So the fresh ,new refreshing life starts from there J

Here comes the end of the sequel

On a dizzy evening

It was a dizzy evening...Darkness everywhere...Chill weather,snowy mountain,misty surrounding and pin drop silence ... They were on an evening stroll atop mountain...Wild wind made her hair to dishevel.

She was all shivering...Her hands started to tremble...Her jerkin helped her the least...She was searching for a him...Her eyes sieved around the darkness.All of a sudden he arouse behind her.She fixed her eyes on him...She was running out of words..Her eyes spoke the entire feelings..He understood and did hugged her tight...She was expecting his cuddle for so long and the warmth did satisfy her expectation.She clasped his hand tight and started to walk hand in hand...They started to explore their new phase of their refreshing journey called life.

1947-A love story

1947 a love story


If you wonder that this post is gonna be related to 1947 love story movie...Ha ha ha you are absolutely wrong sir...This series(I assure not be a lengthy one) is going to be about my story(yay about the marital status change from "single" to "married").The deception point about the title is mine is not a love story but it is purely truly an arranged one.To bring extra cajoling and coaxing to the story I added a bit of extra flavour to the title...So enough of my blabbers...Here goes my story.

when did it all start???I mean the groom hunting...

It was the dawn of 2010...Pongal celebrations were on full swing...My mom slowly but steadily started the topic...She is very diplomatic in whatever she does...

Mom:You know what...Chithra your cousin is engaged now..Gayatri's mom told that they are searching groom for her...And heard Sarawathi gave birth to a kid..All of them are of your age...

Me:So what is the implied meaning here...

Mom:Nothing...Just wanted to say...Why don't you go with your dad and take a snap..

Me:What is the need

Mom:My mom's sister's daughter's hubby's bro has got a son...He is elder than you...I sent your horoscope and it matched well and they are asking for your snap...

Me:What????When did the game start?I mean the exchange of horoscopes and blah blah...

Mom:Enough of your wits...Go with your dad and take a snap..

Me:I don't have a photogenic face..I will not go...

Mom:I will ask your granny to speak to you(She always uses the brahmasthram called "Granny",because I never dare to shout at my granny)...

Me:Seri seri poren ma...But deal don't ask me to wear all the glittery jewels or don't ask me to smudge my face with creams and powders which obviously makes others to pose a question "Are you owning any powder company".

Mom:Once in lifetime you ought to opt for makeup and clad yourself with bright coloured saree and jewels...Don't you think that "Fanta color" saree would do...

Me:If you want me to decorate myself like " I am the brand ambassador of XYZ jewelley or for any textile shop"..I say I am not going with appa...Fantaaaaaaaa colorrrrrrrrrrr...It is too vibrant and to add fury the scorching sun creates extra effect and other's will surely laugh at me...So I am going to be simple..

Mom:What else I can say..better i shall call your grannyyyyyyyyyy...

Me:whattttttttttt.....You dare to use my weak point so often...

After all the arguments...I marched with my dad ..wearing the silk saree on a scorching day was a tiring experience....

Appa:oops...Seems like that photo studio is locked..

Me:Appa sagunam serla...Shall we go back..

Appa:Will you close your mouth...My friend owns a studio..We shall go there...

Studio Saga...

Studio owner is my father's friend...After a round of enquires...My father stated the purpose of visit..Studio owner assured to put his extraneous photo skills to make my face look pretty in the snap..poor moi!

Me:Sir...I am already running out of time...Con't wait more...

Studio Owner:You father is known for his patience...I don't know why you are so much in hurry...Ok go and stand there I will take a snap...

Me:Sir,2 mins and I should be done with my snap

Dad:Close your mouth and stand there...He knows things better than you...

With a smirk...I went and stood in the correct place and gave a "I am so tired,plz leave me" sorta look...For 20 mins,the owner was asking me to tilt my head this way and that way..Asking me to stand erect...Threatened me to smile and asked me to stay cool(How on earth will one be so cool,when you are asked to smile,stand and stare in an artificial manner)...

After all the chaos I created,he said "smile please" and I did do it...After waiting for 20 minutes...We got the snap....

Mom:So you got the snaps...

Me:I am not going to studio anymore...Henceforth don't do all these things...I don't like it..Also don't threaten with your brahmastharam.

Mom:Ok we will not ask you to do it again..I will send this to the groom's family..

Me:Send to anyone as you wish...But don't bother me....

Mom: They want to send a snap through email,so can you scan this snap.

Me:I con’t do that anymore more.

After a round of arguments and advices I decided to use my mobile which had very poor resolution and took a snap.I captured it myself holding the mobile in one hand and giving a pose.phew.
The outcome of the snap was very worse.I sent the same so-not-good photo to my aunt as pointed by mom.

So what happened?

(To be continued)

A trip to remember forever

I was meaning to write a post to keep my blog alive.I put on my thinking cap to decide on what topic I should write, the only topic that came to my mind is about our recent Munnar trip.

It was a day where streets were so busy with Vinayakar Urvalam.People carried Vinayakar idols and were ready to submerge the same in the sea.My hubby and I were all set and ready for our Munnar trip.I heard from my hubby that the Allappey express from chennai will leave by 9.15pm.We packed our baggages for our trip.Clock ticked 8.45pm still we didnot reach the station.Blame our lethargic attitude.My MIL was so kind enough to catch an auto and we did reach the station by 9pm.Thank god.

We boarded the train and reached Ernakulam the next morning.Thanks for the package tour concept.We got a cab in Ernakulam and it took 5 hours to reach Munnar.Our resort was bit away from Munnar so we travelled one more hour to reach the same.The resort name was ayurcounty.It is one cool resort.we didnot find any reason to complain about.

Munnar is completely clad with tea plantations.The climate is just awesome and my hubby is so much in love with the climate.snows everywhere...Resort is completely admist tea plantations.By the time 6 the entire surroundings became so dark and we never visited any places after 6pm.

Below are some of the places we visited in Munnar,if you plan for a trip do just get hold of these places.

1.Periyakanal falls:

Wah is the only word which we could use..Such a lovely falls...Water all the way...The water looks so silvery and this falls adds beauty with the awesome chill climate over there.

2.Mattupatti Dam:

Well we had no clue when our cabby showed the Mattupatti dam...The dam was not full with water.May be thatz why we were not fascinated with the place.

3.Echo point:

As the name goes,when you say something you hear the echo from the mountain.My hubby tried hard to hear his own sound but in vain...hey you hubby,eat healthy then only you will have the strength to shout like me :)

4.Rajamalai National park:

This place is our favourite.We need to take the bus to reach the top.The mountain is completely clad with snow everywhere also you could see falls running at many places especially in this park.You have to climb certain distance to see Nilgir Tahrs(Mountain goats) the rare variety of goats...Apart from it the view of the mountain look so nice from this place.Nothing so eyecatching about this place but still you will feel so refreshing when you visit this place.I can go on and on about the climate and the mountain view.but I stop here and you people do visit this place.

5.Tea Museum:

Kannan Devan Tea Plantations seems to be the pioneer to start the tea plantations over there...The tea museum lets us know a lot more about the tea plantations in Munnar...You could get varieties of tea products there for sale...We got our own share as well.We didnot get time to visit spice plantation and so we stopped with tea museum.

6.Periyar Tiger Reserve(Thekkady):

We also visited Thekkady after our Munnar trip.We stayed in hotel grand which is again a nice hotel.We don't have much places to visit there except Periyar tiger reserve.You get a chance to travel through boat to witness lovely scenic beauty of moutains and some real cool animals...We saw different birds,sambhar deer and bisons..My hubby was so eager to see tiger but phew we did not see it though people say the park does holds tiger...

We were so tired and so we wrapped our trip with our purchases.

We got spices,home made yummy chocolates(Hubby and I are die hard chocolate lovers) and tea powders.

We are in love with hot lemon tea which we tasted it in Munnar... I bugged my hubby to get it often and he was so kind enough to get me whenever I bugged him.

I am sick to travel and whenever the hairpin bends came my stomach went for a churn.Again my hubby was so patient enough to get me lime soda everytime when he saw me suffering.And all through the cab journey I was sleeping (blame my sickness).

It is one of the memorable trips.Yes it was the first trip with my hubby...It is one of the loveliest place on earth...oh yeah I can go on and on...Let me stop with this...Plan for a vacation and visit Munnar.It is really a stress buster from our hustling bustling work :)