The rhapsody of rain...

I am sitting here in the portico, converting the surrounding visual to words and sentences...

Its raining here...The tiny droplets are spluttering, forming some concentric circles...The cool breeze is ruffling the hairs, and it seems as though it is destined to carry away the day's stress! The droplets are further hazing the spectacles too! 

The classic song that is being played in the radio is filling the void of the soul...To add on, a toddler on the road is yelling my name, and hiding her face within the umbrella...What an innocent smile she has!!! 

While the entire scene is giving me a sense of bliss...here comes my beloved mother with a cup of hot coffee, to be precise ನೊರೆ ನೊರೆ coffee... :) 

What a serene way of spending an evening!!!

Everything else you grow out of, but you never recover from childhood!!!

The Blue Mountains

It was vacation time again, and we the cousins were all brooding over the places to visit.

From Hampi to Bijapura, from YaaNa to Dandeli, from Yercaud to Waynad we took a virtual tour [:D] and were not able to materialize on any one place mainly because the interest, the energy level, and the vacation time varied from individual to individual!!!

Least did I know that this discussion would conspire in achieving my long-time aspiration to drive through the hill station, until one among my cousins mentioned OOTY while the other mooted the topic of driving to Ooty!!!

Within a flash of a second we all had unanimously agreed upon this destination. And how could I ever say NO to a place where I could drive past the hairpin curves, capture some wonderful picturesque, and spend some time in nature!!!!

It was probably after this discussion, I could empathize Paul Coehlo's quote "When you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it!!!" ;) :D

The black beauty was all set to walk on the ramp of the blue hills, and I was mentally preparing myself for a happy and safe drive!

The D-day arrived and I was all fascinated about the 36 hair pin curves!!!  We passed through the Bandipur forest area and reached Masinagudi, the foot hill of the Nilgiris. 

While we were enjoying the climate, the lush greenery, the chirping of birds, and the classic songs being played in the background, there came the first hair pin curve. With all the hooting and cheering, the black beauty took off its first curve! :)

Driving through each hair pin curve was enthralling and enticing.   At the end of the 36th curve, my mind was mulling over the next ghat-section that I must drive! :p ;)

I must say, this was one of the most memorable drive!!! By the time we entered the ooty-city,  I was on cloud nine and elated! ;)

After fulfilling my desire to drive in altitude, it would definitely be a wrong attitude if I do not express my gratitude to: [;)]

1. Amma, who reluctantly granted me the permission to drive to the hill station![...and spent sleepless nights until we returned!!!]
2. My brother-in-law for convincing my mother!
3. All my clan who accompanied me; and for having immense faith in me and my driving skills! 

PS: After coming back from Ooty, the black beauty is no more apprehensive about the traffic jam on the city flyovers!!! ;) :D

Floral Clicks...

Ajwain Biscuit

What happens when there are too many great cooks at home? You might be catered with more than what you want, and you might not brood much over the preprocessing. Isn't it? :p At least, that is what happened in my case.They say, too many cooks spoil the broth!! To add on, I would say-Too many great cooks at home may spoil the child too!  

Though I might not be too keen on cooking, I do cook when:

• There is no one at home, and I have no option other than to cook! :D
• The recipe is so interesting/unique. The recipe should motivate me to cook! ;) 

Contrary this time, irrespective of the above reasons, I did cook [rather baked??] because I wanted to explore the oven's baking settings!

On this weekend, after watching this recipe in a cookery show, I somehow felt that I could start off with baking Ajwain biscuits!

All you need is:

• Maida - 1 cup
• Butter - 2 table spoon
• Ajwain- 1 tea spoon
• Jeera- 1 tea spoon
• Chilli powder, Cumin powder, Salt- To taste
• Milk/yogurt- As needed

 Procedure:

1. Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough till you get the right consistency. NOTE: All you fitness freaks, replace maida with multigrain flour; butter with olive oil! You can also add flax seeds.
2. Roll the dough and cut to desired shape. You can use the cookie cutter.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Grease the baking tray with butter and bake these biscuits for 15 minutes.
5. Allow it to cool.

 Relish the Ajwain Biscuits with a cup of hot coffee! ;)

Lesson Learned:

1. The crispiness of these biscuits depends on the thickness. Lesser the thickness, crispier the biscuit.
2. Before baking the biscuits, prick them with a fork to avoid puffing.
3. Last but not the least, I can cook! :D

 Some Clicks:

 

The temple of our purest thoughts is silence!

Want and Need

I questioned and queried
the mind and the heart
what to opt? the want or the need?

While the heart articulated...
cede the need and vaunt the want

The mind manipulated...
heed the need and avaunt the want

I dilly-dally, I shilly-shally
The need taunts...the want haunts

I fumed and frowned
I mumbled and grumbled

I mend the mind, and thwart the heart
and said aloud...
I want the need and need the want!!! 

Even a snail will eventually reach its destination...

To AMMA...

Dear Amma,
        
      You turn an year older! Or rather should I say that you have one more year of life experience to share with me???

I wonder how you managed to switch the role from being a working woman to being the wife of Mr.Perfectionist; from being a responsible daughter-in-law to being a mother of two opposite-natured daughters!!! Hats off to your multitasking skills and versatility!!!

On your birthday week, I ennoble you the following titles for making my life simpler and easier! ;) You really deserve these titles AMMA!!!

Amma- The Alarm
Thanks for being my secondary, yet effective alarm. I think you should share the tips and tricks you follow to wake me up with the primary alarm:D

Amma- The Peacemaker
You definitely deserve this title for effectively maintaining peace at home. Thanks for equally sharing the house-work among the siblings; thanks for recommending the fervent father to sign my marks cards and dairy; thanks for coming up with a guideline on who should own the TV remote and most importantly when! :D

Amma- The Teacher
You taught me how to borrow from tens but at the same time taught me how to be contented in life! ;)

Amma- The Search Engine
Which search algorithm do you use? Linear? Binary? :D Right from searching the Tie during the school days to searching the Tag now, you are efficiently handling the role of a search engine!

Amma- The Rear View Mirror
In your presence, the rear-view mirror is redundant!:D Thanks for the live commentary on the apparent traffic threats! [Though it alters my adrenalin levels :D] I know, you also keep an eye on the odometer and sometimes perform the role of a speed-breaker too!;) 


Well, that was a funny take...

On a serious note, Amma, you are an adorable daughter, an endearing wife, a perfect mother, and above all a wonderful human being with excellent managerial qualities.

I truly confess that I can never ever match up to your level!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMMA....

 

Your's truly,

...

PS: Thatz my pretty amma!!!  

Tittle-Tattle...

"Its nice we're going for a team-lunch after a long time!", exclaimed a colleague of mine! We all acknowledged it... I along with my friend (a colleague-turned-good-friend), and two other colleagues were on our way to a restaurant to join other folks.

The terrific traffic, the warm air, the corporate etiquette... suffocated me and my friend.:D From the above statement, we sensed that a conversation is about to begin...

Colleague 1: Btw, howz the release going? [with a smirky smile]

Colleague 2: Well, you know the ongoing issues...trying to resolve one after the other. Hey, heard you had been to an exotic location during your vacation...

I and my friend exchanged a dignified smile at each other :) [You need not  converse with your close friend to know what'z going on in their mind. A brief look is just enough :D] We did sense how colleague 2 changed the topic desperately. :p

Colleague 1: Yeah!! It was great [with an excited tone] But we had to return back soon... :( 

Colleague 2: What happened? You didn't want to come back to work is it?

We knew how Colleague 2 is good at extracting information. We eagerly looked at Colleague 1, awaiting the answer...

Colleague 1: Oh, the little one was not feeling well, we had to come back soon

Colleague 2: aah, the little one I had seen on FB... how is the cutie-pie now...

Little one??? We exchanged a blank look....we had heard Colleague 1 talking about in-laws, but little did we know about this little one. We were quite impressed about Colleague 1's multitasking skills with a little one being at home... ;)

Colleague 1: She is quite OK and independent now...

Colleague 2: I love her brown hairs and shiny skin...

We messaged to each other, shiny skin ok, but Indian kid having brown hairs... something unusual alwa?

Colleague 1: Yeah, thatz her trait! now she sleeps in her own room

Colleague 2: Thatz great! who looks after her?

Colleague 1: We actually lock her in a room. Me or my husband go to home for lunch, so its kind of manageable...

Lock??!! Something is not right!!!! We knew we are missing out something... We were keen on listening to further conversation...

Colleague 2: What have you named her?

Colleague 1: Her name is Andy and she doesn't howl like our neighbor's dog....

Gosh!  This time its a dumb look! They are talking about a DOG, in fact a puppy!!!!!

While they continued to share their experience about the upbringing, we tried to suppress our laugh and our doltishness as well!!!! :D ;) :p :(

Through out the team-lunch we had no guts to look at each other face...The moment we looked at each other we knew we would burst to laugh, recalling the incident!!! :D