'Say it out loud and feel better' day!

I miss Google. SOO much.

I've become so lazy in the past one year.

I'm still scared to drive a car.

I'm beginning to like sarees.

Shopping has become my new found love.

Tirupur is extremely polluted. I wish I could move.

I miss non-vegetarian food a lot. I hate it that there's nothing I can do about it.

I hate it that I use just one pair of footwear.

I love sleeping in the afternoons on Sundays.

Remo and Chitti make me sneeze.

My ceiling fan is partial to Padhu. Padhu is extremely partial to me.

I have a full cupboard to clean and sort which I won't.

I hate wearing duppattas.

That's it. I'm done saying it all.




FINE. I hate it that everyone I talk to these days are worried that I'm not pregnant yet. WHY, why why on earth is my uterus their business. The next lady who walks up to me asking which temple I go to to pray so that I can bear a child will have a reddish imprint of my palm on her face and the next man who talks about which doctor I'm seeing to get my uterus working will have to watch out for his nuts! So BACK OFF.


There! I said it out loud.



P.S : If you are reading this, just contact me any day to tell me if you have any other ideas to keep this people shut, or dead. Thank you.



I'm a much better person. Its just the heat of the situation making me type so furiously. I promise you will read something better next time!

Sajoni - where I'd like to just live forever!

Minus the curfews and 'stand in line and walk' - I'd live here forever!

Brotherhood under an umbrella!

The past two days were bliss! Being at my Alma Mater with my friends and hitting all the memorable moments was like having bondas and watching the rain.. which am doing now!

It started pouring and I took off to the hospital wing with my friend. While all the little ones started running to their dormitories to escape the rain, these little boys sat where they were and hugged each other to fit into one umbrella!

Ammchi, the best!

My parents buy what I think is a gossip paper not a news paper - the Deccan Chronicle. But for people like me who visit, that paper is loads of entertainment. Well, yesterday I visited them as usual for my Sunday chicken lunch. The gossip paper told me that yesterday was Grandparents day. I read through what celebrities had to say about their grandparents and wondered who out of the 4 grandparents was my favorite. I personally think all girls are closer to their maternal grandmother. And so am I! I love, still love my ammchi!

She was a short stout and bubbly woman. She and my appchi worked really hard in their farms and bought a piece of land. For years they constructed their dream home and that's where my amma lived. In those days it was so difficult to have a roof above one's head, both of them worked so hard and constructed a 3 floor building with 13 houses to rent out. That building stands till today and that's where my happiest days have been. Be it Diwali, Pongal, a long weekend from boarding or maybe just another Saturday - I preferred going there! My parents were kind enough to drive me 50 kms every time I asked to go to meet my ammchi and appchi.

I burnt my finger during Diwali there. I climbed up the asbestos sheet to find my shuttle cork and jumped from the top to fracture my foot. I sat in the water tank for 4 hours continuously to watch a spider spin a web. I played cricket for the first time there. I cried when I could not play carrom as well as my cousins there. I cheated every game of hide n seek in that compound. I has my favorite meals with my cousins sitting around my grandma watching the moon. She called it Nila choru. She would make balls of rice and hand each one to all of us and then we would eat together. Maybe that's why I hate to eat my meals alone. Meals are not meant to fill a stomach, maybe they are meant to bring a family together. My most memorable days are in that house and that compound. Every moment there was bliss. Grandma was always there.

Even in those days when she didn't have to work so much, she would wake up and leave to the farm by bus. She worked till her last day. She never missed a doctor's appointment. She would just leave home, take a bus and meet with the doctor. She preferred to do it alone.

My most wonderful memory of her is watching a movie with her. When the Rajinikanth blockbuster Padaiyappa came out, the whole Tamil world was all about this movie. As usual we all cousins watched the movie together and got back home. With all of us repeating dialogues from the movie, she came up to us and said she wanted to see the movie. No one volunteered to go with her, so I walked up and said I'd go along. In a theatre filled with Rajnikanth fans, the two of us sat in the middle seats and laughed together, cursed together and enjoyed together. To this date whenever I watch the movie on TV, I remember her reactions to every scene in the movie.

There was a time when all schools in Ooty made summer their academic start of the year which meant my cousins would have to go to school when I was on holiday. There was solid 2 months when I would wake up and dress quickly and go to the farm along with my grandma. Ammchi never let go of my hand. She would walk to the bus stand so quickly and I would keep my little pace quick to match her speed. She would pack lunch for us and we would have our lunch under the coconut trees feeling the breeze. It was 2 months spent well!

When I was doing my first year college in Chennai, she passed away in the hospital due to a rupture in her gall bladder. It was a long hospitalized tension filled wait for the family. Since I was in Chennai, I didn't get to be with my mother during this. I hadn't seen my ammchi or my mother. I knew I was old enough but the logistics just didn't work to get me there to see her in time. Since she was a married woman who passed away on a Friday, they wouldn't allow the family to keep my ammchi at home after 6pm. She arrived home from the hospital in an ice box at 4pm and left at 530pm. I wasn't there. There was no flight out that could take me to see her before 6pm. There was no train that could go faster than a flight. And the damn distance between Chennai and Coimbatore would never shorten for me. I cried my heart out into my pillow for not being there for my mother that night. More than that I wanted to see ammchi.

I did see her picture 4 days later. She was wearing a garland and smiling her usual way. I know it was in my head but I heard her call me 'Pragatha' so many times. I didn't shed a tear after that. She was still smiling. I loved her! She is my favorite grandparent!

I have been away so long, even Blogger changed!

Between trying to be the best wife I could be and the best nurse I could be - I completely lost focus of my social life on the internet or let's just say my social life. The past one month and more has been so hectic with nothing to do. Only a nervous break down was missing. If it sounds like I'm exaggerating, its because I'm. Well, Padhu came down with a very bad back ache that led to a bulging disc in his spinal cord that led to a non-movable neck that led to a bed ridden boy. My, boys are whiny when they are ill. Ok, I shouldn't have said that. After a week of staying at home and resting - Padhu visited some doctor in Mysore who did something with his bare hands and he was alright the next minute. Yes, he twisted some muscle near his neck and then Padhu was magically alright. This doctor must be some kind of Kerala varmam healer like the grandpa in the movie Indian. That was the end of the spine story. Now comes the epidemic called the cold. It was like the entire house had taken a contract to fall ill, and then we did. :( Every single person in the house was down with a cold and it was so bad I moved to Mummy's for almost a week. Pathetic. Now I'm looking at options to have the sinus operation that I have been postponing for so long. phew. Its just two paragraphs but almost 2 full months have gone by!! 3 best friend's weddings have been fixed! Ramya Reddy, Cynthia and Vikram - I'm soo happy for you guys! For those few readers or lets say two readers - what have you guys been upto? Nags, I love the whole A to Z thing going on! Can P be for Pragi? Just kidding! I think its about time I baked something, clicked pictures and gotten some attenton on Facebook. Girls and Boys, I'm back! and am all set to spam - Happy September!

Painting in Italy

Pic courtesy - Daddy

Painting on the roads of Italy. This old man was painting the Dome of the Cathedral for 2 days. Daddy clicked a few pictures and here they are. Italy is magical!

Deivathirumagal

Right from his Ullasam days, Vikram has had the knack of capturing a memory of himself among the audiences. Then when Sethu happened he was a household name. He stole our hearts with Pithamagan and then got all our love with Saamy. Then we abused him a little when Kandasam happened and now with Deivathirumagal he is back with no complaints!


Padhu and I watched deivathirumagal last night. With early notifications I carried tissues and I needed more when the film climaxed. The film is about the fight to take a child back to her mentally challenged father who share a perfectly wonderful relationship. With an array of emotions, comedy and law points - the movie moves slowly but steadily making us want to stay in our seats.


Scenes where both father and daughter converse to the moon while away from each other chokes he audience to tears. The climax of the movie in a courtroom scene where the father and daughter meet after a long time. There is a particular little dancy movement the both do which makes even the stonehearts fight back tears! The cherry on this pudding is when Vikram returns the daughter of his to her aunt to give her a better life and walks towards the moon saying his Nila will come back when she is a doctor.


Applause, applause, applause.

Garlic chutney for Reema

Reems.. a quick call to my chithi dearest and here the recipe is. Statutory warning - Love for garlic is a must! I will post a picture when I make it - but here's the recipe.

This chutney apparently can be made 2 ways -

All you need is Cloves of garlic peeled. Chilli powder. Gingelly oil. Powdered salt.

* Run your cloves of peeled garlic in a blender till they are just itty-bitty bits. Add salt, chilli powder and gingelly oil and mix well. Close container and allow the garlic to soak in the oil and spices for half an hour. Serve with Idly, Dosai and Curd rice. Can be kept for 5 days refrigerated.

**Run your cloves of peeled garlic in a blender till they are just itty-bitty bits. In a frying pan, saute the garlic for a while till the raw garlic smell is no more. Then add salt, chilli powder and if need be, more oil. Best consumed within a day.

Eating a clove of garlic everyday helps the heart stay healthy.

Last week..

So many milestones last week.. so many moments to remember.. and so much time well spent.

For starters.. my dad turned 59 on July 8. I didn't get him anything this year but a daughter can get away with something as small as a hug and kiss! In a year my dad's gonna hit the big 60 and my mum's gonna look like my sister :| even then. hmpf. But yayy.. daddy's happy budday!

Siva a.k.a Siva Bala Hari Sudhan (in short) tied the knot with Aarthi Ramamoorthi - the love of his life! This much awaited wedding was on the 10th morning at a temple nearby followed by a reception later. The biggie this one was.. welcome Aarthi, to Tirupur and to the circle (Google + impact). Congrats Siva!

The best one of all - Nethra said a few more words over the last week.. She said tha-tha (grandfather), atha (grandma), athai (aunt) and apple (the fruit, not the company or its gadgets). She still hasn't uttered anything close to chithi, but I'm so damn sure chithi is going to arrive faster than chithappa.

Lakshmi got back from the US. Pah. She was on a 2 month vacation with her aunts in the US and I was tired of having no one to call and talk to. Well, now she's back!

Eventful and tiring last week was with weddings and temples!

I love the 'Uruli' job

The new orange and pink entry in the garden

Windmills and the breeze under the coconut trees

When I see a windmill I immediately think of the day of my wedding. Padhu and I got married in a temple surrounded by a coconut tree farm and a lot of windmills. From my room window I cold see the gopuram of the temple and several windmills. The breeze around the place with the sound of the coconut palms wrestling with themselves is a soother!

We visited Padhu's maternal grandparents a week before and went to their farm. There were windmills around everywhere. Watching the evening sunset, the windmills and the blue tractor hurrying to complete its job was a perfect way to put an end to the weekend!

aaargh, simbu.

I hear one more person sing 'evandi unna pethan, pethan, pethan', I promise Avan kaila kedachaan sethan, sethan, sethan.

I've heard this song for over a year now and (yes, its catchy) its annoying. Yes Mr.Silambarasan or the Di boy - Write your own lyrics, sing your own songs - but don't translate then literally in English cause 'Evadi unna pethan' in English is not exactly 'Who the hell is your daddy.'

Recent FB attention

A friend pinged me on Facebook saying I've been writing too many letters. I wondered what she was saying and then she pointed out how most of my statuses on FB were letters and how recently most of my statuses have been getting a lot of attnetion (psst, i noticed that too!).

Well, they follow..

Used the Google search with Voice feature and got the search results for 'Boodum on a bun' when I said 'Padmanaban'

If the movie Arunachalam was dubbed in English, Rajnikanth would be singing 'that only, this only Arunachalam me only'.

Telling oldies in Tamil Nadu that a chief minister can be someone outside the film industry is like telling kids that Santa doesn't exist

Did Karan Johar not read the rule list while making Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? PARENTS are not allowed in summer camps Karan!

I hear Lady Gaga is coming soon to India. If she ever wears her 'meat dress', I'm sure the stray dogs here are going to chase her till her hair turns yellow. Oh wait, it is already yellow!

Dear Yahoo,
Aren't you jolly anymore?
With love,
Google


"Dear Madam,
We hereby inform you that your application for Change of Permanent Address has been successfully received and fulfilled. Starting May 15 your permanent address will be Tihar Jail, Cell No 6. Please note that any changes in cell number will be considered as a temporary change only. Also, since you won't be flying anymore - we hereby cancel your passport.

Regards,
Passport Authority"


The thumb was shown to say success. The ring finger served its purpose. The index finger was used to point and the little finger to excuse oneself to the loo. The middle finger lost its glory with nothing to do. But however that's the finger most used today and somehow one middle finger is just not enough!!

"Dear Dhayanidhi,

Its getting lonely here. I can no longer stare at empty walls and read books repeatedly. I'm waiting for your arrival. I hear from the jail officials you resigned this evening. So happy to hear that! Look at us, aren't we a happy family! Looking forward to welcome you here!

Love,
Fruit Language (Kani Mozhi)
That's the best I could come up with to add a little spice to this letter."

Brilliant ain't the word!

If one hasn't already fallen in love with Sidhaarth's performance in Rang De Basanti and Striker - then 180 is a must watch. Brilliant is an understatement!

Behind every successful...

..man, there is a woman. No.

Behind every successful facebook status of mine, there is a blog post coming up on www.pragatha.com . Lame huh? How can a facebook status be successful. Padhu and I decided that a status message that has at least 10 thumps-up is a successful one.

My most latest successful status is "If the movie Arunachalam was dubbed in English, Rajnikanth would be singing 'that only, this only Arunachalam me only'."

If you have heard the Tamil song, you may understand the lyrics. If you don't understand Tamil, then read the English lyrics and that's exactly what it means. Yes lyricists in Tamil Nadu write songs that mean 'That is that, this is this, my name is Arunachalam'. Die hard Rajinikanth fans (ok, i'm one too) - don't take it the wrong way but ain't he a little too old to come back to acting now? Or is he gonna make a super comeback like Amitabh Bachan and say 'Buddhah ho gaya tera baap'?

No I DID NOT SAY THAT - Rajinikanth, please come back. I definitely need to see you act with Deepika Padukone and we hear Aishwarya Rai is pregnant. What if its a girl, how can you not act with that kid!

Don't you just love those tiny hearts!!

That's the product of Day 5 of the cupcake week. Did I not mention cupcake week before? Ok, long thing short - there was a cupcake week. It was more a week at mum's place so I baked goodies for my grandparents and parents every evening. I've already posted most of the pictures on Facebook cause I like the instant attention. The pretty cupcake you see up there is a Vanilla cupcake.

Since I hadn't posted any pictures recently I decided to post this one. Not a winner, I know.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

You can judge by post by its title - All permission granted, but please don't judge me. Yes, I have used a Karan Johar film's title but somehow - I wanted to.

A little ladybug bit me yesterday. A very cute little ladybug. 3.5 years old. My second cousin's daughter and of course my little niece. I think I met her once at my cousin's wedding and this one was the second. The little ladybug's name is Aneesha. Little Ladybug Aneesha has been on my mind for the past two days. I had gone to visit my uncle (Aneesha's granddad) as he had a surgery. Aneesha baby had come down to India from New York before two months along with her mom. She had taken off from playschool and come to be with grandpa and family.

The thing about Aneesha that caught my eye immediately was the volley of questions she asked her mom. She is a keen listener. Every time someone says something she would listen carefully and her next question would be based on that. When Padhu and I entered the house, Aneesha was totally different. She had had this love for long hair so she was wearing a wig plaited down to her feet and a saree that her mum and aunt put on for her. She was wearing make-up and looked like the perfect American baby who was learning Bharatnatyam. We entered and she instantly shied away. She hid for almost 15 minutes and then peeked after she had removed her make up and hairdo. With her summer floral dress and the bindiless face - she was the perfect little kid! She ran from person to person in the room but came to her mum with her questions.

Aneesha did a lot of talking and smiling. She invited me over to Ishu's Home which is her New York residence. I was truly amazed by the beauty in this little child's manners. She was the cute,cuddly type - like every kid. But the special part is - she was conversational. Cute cuddly and conversational - who's gonna say no to this kid!I could have packed her in a little bag lined with flowers to suit her clothes and brought her home with me!

Not enough that I fell in love with this child already - she said the most beautiful thing when we were about to leave. Padhu and I left the house and came downstairs to leave and we said our byes to everyone. I said 'bye Aneesha, we will come to Ishu's home in New York'. Aneesha replied saying 'Don't say bye. I don't like saying byes'. My heart sank. It was instant, open and outright honest. She loved to have people over and never wanted to let go. I replied saying 'We will meet again in New York' and left. All the way back home and till this minute I have wondered if anyone I know or knew have ever uttered such beautiful words - 'I don't like saying byes'. Innocence, honesty and love. Also, the fact that she met me only twice made my heart sink.

I woke up this morning how this beautiful little baby said her bye to her daddy dearest 2 months ago. However the dad and daughter are dealing with it - I saw the sacrifice my brother-in-law was making so his wife could come to India to be with her dad. I saw the sacrifice my brother-in-law was making so that his daughter to be with her mother. I saw the love in that much sacrifice and realized Father's day could never get better than June 20, 2011.

Happy Father's Day Guna anna - Among all husbands/fathers/brothers/grandfathers - somehow miles away I wanted to wish you more than anyone!

4 years before, today - My blog was 4 days old.

Well, happy forgotten birthday dear blog! :D

This afternoon I did some random searches on torrents and suddenly thought it would be quite cool to start listening to western music. Honestly, I haven't had any English song play on my comp or ipod (actually, I don't own one). I loved 'Summer of 69' the first time I heard it in school. A college friend once performed 'I'm a punk rocker' and I was hooked. She performed 'zombie' and I loved it! Another day my good friend Jay sang 'Yellow Submarine' and I loved it instantly! That was it till this afternoon.

Somehow Mr.Mind was reminded of the Lady Gaga interview with Google and decided to tell Mr.Hand to type 'Lady Gaga' on youtube. I watched Judas, Born this way and then I was downloading.

Any suggestions? - uh, based on the first few that I mentioned and not judging me by Lady Gaga. (I prefer subtle music)

Belief

Being in the choir and learning table manners was probably the top 2 on the things that I learnt at Nazareth Convent. I was the only one from my class to be in the choir and the youngest choir member. Of course, after that I left the school :(

There was a particular hymn I loved. A few lines from the hymn..

'I believe in every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows.
Every time I hear a new born baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky...
Then I know why - I believe!'

I was the kinda child who wanted to sleep a lot. I'm still. I was a frequent visitor to the infirmary (sick room) in Nazareth. But on those days when I truly fell ill, I would hug my doll and sleep. While awake, I would stare up at the antique ceilings of my British built Alma Mater and sing this song softly. '...or touch a leaf, or see the sky'

Honestly, I never believed in anything. Anybody, yes - anything, no. But this song always stayed with me to tell me that I DID believe.

I was humming this song throughout last week. Made me wonder how all these years this one particular song stuck with me more than the other hymns.

Most people still believe there is a pot of gold under the two ends of a rainbow. With the rising prices of gold, I wonder if talking about this is gonna be chargeable!

My past week :)

The gone week had so much, I couldn't even keep up with time. I was awake so early and when I was hitting the bed it was already midnight. The whole family was busy with my niece's ... uh.. how should I put it.. Head Tonsuring Ceremony and Ear piercing ceremony.

So, tonsuring a baby's head is a part of tradition with most people down south. The hair is apparently a sacrifice made to the lords. Along with that the baby's ears are pierced too. I don't really know why this is done.. but personally its just a way of welcoming the kid into the fashion world. All this happened and baby Nethra was oh-so-pretty and huggable with her bald head and chubby smile.

With all this, I lost focus of my weakness - falling ill during changing seasons. I had a terrible viral infection in my throat that led on to fever, cold and now cough. A good friend got married when I was recovering.. and I missed the wedding. Sorry Karthick, I hope the guys made you do mad stuff at your bachelors!

I did do something to cheer me up though - shopping. Yeah, I'm officially someone who feels better when she shops. "you are so materialistic" would have been my reaction a year back but I just realized being materialistic is overrated and in the wrong way. So what if someone is materialistic? I'll get to that in my next post.

I have been fuming about Baba Ramdev the past week. I cannot believe he got more attention than my FB statuses. pah, that guy. I haven't cooked, I haven't baked. All I have done is slept, whined, sneezed, coughed and been a good aunt for baby Nethra.

My new laptop is here to cheer me up on a Monday though! Now I can get on with my work and not stop :) Looking forward to something very exciting... I will shush it for now! Have a super week!

Welcoming my new friend!

That's the newest addition to my bedroom! Back to blogging and writing :) For those committed 3 readers I know - I'm back!

Daddy and his Docterate

Daddy receiving the Honorary Doctorate of Fashion Designing and Textile technology from the Universita Popolare degli Studi di Milano.

Im oh-so-proud of Daddy bear! :D

Gives me the Mauritius feel :)

This picture seems to be a hot favorite among my friends on facebook. Here it is! Lotus and lily leaves having their own version on sun bath in the little pond!

The Kerala effect

The beauty of Kerala has affected me. I'm in love with the place and since Padhu has promised a trip once in a while there, I'm already looking forward to the next one. I was walking around with my camera a lott there.

The roads had hibiscus plants fully bloom and I say it again - green everywhere. I loved how almost every house I noticed had their own patch of kappa plants. Ok Kappa is Tapioca in English, Kutchi Kezhangu (for those who know Tamil). In Kerala they make a sabji out of kappa which is mostly bland but delicious if made the right way. All one needs to grow a kappa plant is take a small piece from a healthy stem of a grown plant and there's ur sapling! Ten months for a healthy kappa root!

The resort had banana trees all over. As if it weren't green enough!! Arecanut trees were also around most of the places. Evertime i looked at a patch that had various shades of green, I'd tap Padhu on his shoulder to show it to him. After a while he was so bugged - he stopped responding!

I'm sting stung by the Kerala bug - Will stop posting unnecessarily once the poison wears off.

We made it!

After a lot of whining (that I always do) and a lot of pestering (that I can't do without) we finally left to Cochin on Saturday morning. Pah, what a feeling to hear ur fav songs and sing along like no one cares! It was a 4 hour drive which was interuppted by lunch. Lunch. Now when I say lunch, it wasn't a quick bite to get back on the road. It was a long taxing yummy chewy lunch. I tasted Octopus and Fish egg fry for the first time. Heaven it wasn't, cause it was a tiny little place that was on a main road, near a bridge and had almost 6 cars parked in front of it. We shared a table with 2 other people and ate. My stomach was finally happy! (my hands weren't, and I wasnt ready to use the soap they had there)

Back on the road we took 2 wrong turns but reached Cheraai beach resorts and fought to use the loo! It was such a beautiful place. I only hoped mobile phones didn't work there, but they did. We reached with almost 3 hours left for the big IPL 4 finals. Had tea and relaxed a bit. The place does that to you - it makes you hungry and wants you to relax. 'You are in God's own country. Welcome to his permanent address' - thats what the resort says. I stared at the backwaters that connected to the room's sit out.

With too much interest in the match we rushed through dinner and ran to stare at the tv. We had so many reasons to scream shout and say YAY! Chennai played amazingly well, Banglore could have put in some team effort instead of depending on Gayle - the duck.

We booked ourselves a massage for the next day. As an ex-Googler, almost all of you reading this should probably be thinking I have used my birthday free massage coupons in Hyd. Well, hmm no. I was too shy to try out the massages that cost us Rs.200, so I waited to get here and paid Rs.1000. I saved my money, now I'm spending my husbands. Paavam.

We walked into the Ayurmana or the massage parlor and then I lost myself. First, when the massuese told me to remove my clothes. Second, the smell of camphor. Well, I was hypnotized. I did shed some shame and my clothes but had covered every important bit just the amount it required. :D

It was one hour of pure indulgence for every inch of my body. With hot oils and the soothing pressure the massuese just put me to sleep. I woke and I could swear my vision was much clearer, my hearing was better and my stomach hungrier. After the oil massage was the sauna. Summer in a box room connected to a pressure cooker! It was perfect. After a bath, she gave me the only bad thing that day - a kashayam. Urgh.

Padhu was so tired after the massage, he had a little lunch and slept like a baby. I couldn't sleep. One, I didn't wanna miss the sunset. Two, it finally stopped raining. So I locked the door and trotted towards the beach with my camera. I spent a solid 2 hours at the beach watching families have fun. Just when the sun could start setting, it started raining again. I ran back to the villa and found Padhu still sleeping. So I did what one is supposed to do in Kerala - order in and eat.

My club sandwich came with fries and tea. Padhu woke up. Of course we fought for the first bite of the sandwich and then watched a lousy movie on tv. We then went to the beach again and sat on the rocks and took some questionable pictures. I had to sleep. My body was on the verge of signing a mercy petition. We hurried through dinner and got back and hit the bed. Blackness.

At around 6:10am I woke to hear heavy rains from our oh-so-open-bathroom. (I had my quickest showers here) I ran out and watched the rain. Padhu laughed in his sleep. When we had been to Ootyy, I woke to the sound of rains and ran outside and watched. I think he had a deja-vu! I watched for a while and then my pillow called out for me. I hit the bed again and woke just in time to pack and leave. Breakfast, packing. Leaving.

Cute and compact - enough time for me with myself, my camera and oh yeah, my husband. Cheraai is officially the place we go to when we have a day with us, from now.

It wasn't luxurious and loud - but it was a much needed 2 days!

Did I say this? - I crossed the Kerala-TN border and almost cried. Kerala is the place to be for a relaxing retirement or a budgeted honeymoon!

We turned one on May 26,2011. Also, Padhu turned 25! (Oldie, I know)

Still thin and happy in one couch - Us! My dad always says that it takes not more than 2 ladels of dough to feed us with dosas - I agree!

We spent the day with family.. we invited over closest relatives for lunch. For dinner, we treated our closest friends. (There is nothing more one can do in Tirupur) We did take the weekend off and go to Cochin! More on that - soon :)

Thanks all you guys for your wishes and calls!

I'm a pretty cupcake!

My pretty cupcake wearing a skirt! :D Watch her do the ballerina on my fb account!

My poor Tirupur

I realise I'm feeling bad for Tirupur for the first time in my life. 24 years of my life I've had Tirupur a part of my permanent address and its going to remain forever. But to be honest, I travel 53kms to get chocolate chips and the kurtas of my choice.

There used to be this famous phrase 'If you learn to drive a car in Tirupur, you can pretty much drive anywhere.' Its true. Tirupur is filled wih so many industries which means a looott of out of station labour. Companies here provide two wheelers to all these people and they aren't plying - they are flying. Any No Entry is an entry. No U turn is a U turn. No left is Go left. No right is go right. Driving among all this needs 5 brains.

My mum and I went to the parlor today and to my astonishment there was NO traffic. A Monday! Dyeings have all been shut down and all - but I didn't expect that to make this place orderly. In the scorching heat, I almost fell in love with Tirupur!

Liril fressshh

One of my favorite activities when I go to mummy's house is watering the lawn and plants. Its like a wonderful evening job to play with the tubes! The tree is the pic according to my mom is the 'Christmas tree'. I kinda agree but being in the hilliest convents, I prefer the fir trees.

I had to click a pic of this tree while the water drops were still there - so my mom held the tube while I clicked. I pulled up my pants and entered the slushy bed. But alas, all the slush was on my pants. My mom looked at me and stared. I said 'Karai padradhunaala nalla vishayam nadakudhunna, karai nalladhudhaaney. Surf excel, karai nalladhu' - and we all laughed! :)

This one is my personal favorite!

Keeping in touch :)

I don't know where I read it, but it said '
If someone is not keeping in touch with you, its because they don't want to'. First I stopped reading and thought - No, that can't be true. What if that person has had a baby? Not all mothers are occupied full time. Our mums managed to cook three meals, some of them even worked in farms and still take care of us. Then I thought, what if they have gone abroad? Huh, so? Keeping in touch is all about breaking the distance no matter how long it is right? What if that person got married recently? I kinda agree not calling from your honeymoon or for the first few days. But keeping in touch is not an everyday affair na? You can cheat on the attention you give to your husband by giving it to your friend, right? What if that person has a job that takes away almost the whole day? Hmm.. aren't friends the one who make you feel better? What if this person.. Wait. Person? Just cause someone ain't keeping in touch, they become a person and not your friend? Apparently, yes.

Keeping in touch is that one part of life that looks back on memories and the joy of reliving them. Friends are a part of it. Well, today facebook, email and chat have made it easy - yet most of us don't use it. I keep in touch with ALL my friends. ALL of them! How much ever it annoys them, I refuse not to stop posting on their walls, load their inboxes and the occasional lucky letter receivers. Cause I want to.

Does it bug you when your friend don't keep in touch with you? It bugs me, very badly. But then, friends are friends, right?

Choco chip mania continues

Choco chip cupcakes with honey and shredded coconut. They became so hard cause I (as always) beat with my hand. But they tasted yuuumm when heated and served with ice cream.

Hooked to this song

I love Karthik's voice. Its magnetic! This is his recent song from engeyum kadhal. Personal suggestion - watch this movie on mute. Shot in Paris entirely. AMAZING camera. Why mute? - like any expensive tamil movie - story sucks.

Dhimu dhimu dhim

Not feeling so bad Kani.. you know life's not about the money!

The repeated scene of policewomen holding Kanimozhi's hand and walking her to the Tihar jail makes me feel like I had 20 scoops of ice cream with chocolate sauce. wait, no LINDT chocolate sauce.

Just when the nation was soo happy and proud with Dhayanidhimaran's work as Telecom Minister - Karunanidhi had to remove him from that post and appoint A.Raja. Just when the whole nation thought 'Ok, thats it, he has no more hidden wives' Karunanidhi had to bring his daughter into the limelight and use her as his walking stick. Baah, what lou. The Marans seems to be doing exceedingly well no matter what post they are given - not cause they are a part of this family, but cause the have the brains and know how to use them!

Removing Dhayanidhimaran from the post was probably the worst decision ever made - it stopped putting Kalaignar under the spotlight on their SUN network which was the only channel that covered all news! Well, who's loss was it. That was the birth of Kalaignar TV - and the bribe from the north. Had he just shut up and let Dhayanidhimaran do his job, we would have STD calls at the rate of local calls and free SMSes throughout the nation. But NOOOO, he had to spoil those little pleasures.

Bah, talking about this family is breathtaking cause it never stops. Thank god Jayalalitha won these elections with an awesome difference pushing DMK to place 3.

Well Mr.Karunanidhi - Great politician, bad leader, excellent father, bad uncle. Overall I'd just like to know, how the slap in the face with hands dipped in dung feels.

Kudos to the K family, cause honestly I've never heard of anyone work for almost 50 years in politics to end his political reign with such disgrace.

We need leaders, not politicians.

A few facebook statuses from ONE friend that I have loved!

One year back I found Prateek Khandelwal loud and buggable. All of a sudden he has this cool and dabbang theme to himself. I'm in love with his recent status messages!

Mario’s an asshole. I don’t think he even gives a shit that we wasted our childhood trying to save his girlfriend.

-Is as bored as a blind man in a strip club.

To Respect IMF Chief Strauss Kahn, IMF now officially stands for 'Inappropriate Maid Fondler'

Never hold your farts in, they travel up your spine, into your brains. And thats where the 'Shitty' ideas come from

One should have a dog's attitude towards all difficult things in life. If u can't eat it or fuck it, then piss on it & move on !!

Life is all about ass.. you're either covering it, kissing it, behaving like it or working it off.

HAHAHA!!

nonsense talk

Why do girls always want brothers and not sisters?
Me : cause brothers won't steal your clothes.

Why do boys prefer brothers?
Me : to share clothes. even underwear emergencies.

So you're saying brothers are better.
Me : I have a brother. So I'd say - yes.

Wish we could just choose, like we choose friends.
Me : I wish we couldn't. I would never choose someone who'd hide and eat up my toblerones. My brother does that, I like it.

Actually yeah, we shouldn't choose.
Me : I know.

Ok now tell me where is the toblerone.
Me : hidden Sai, hidden.


P.S : this never happened. Sai is my brother.

Coping with loss - dealing with truth

I've had a list of topics I wanted to write on since my laptop decided to misbehave. The tragic death of singer Chithra's daughter Nandana is one.

It was just a sleepy morning for me but as I read the papers I couldn't stop thinking of my experience with singer Chithra. When I read about the death of her child, I cried. I cried a lot. I personally don't know her but like how these talented people become a part of everyone's household - she was related.

The whole day I spoke to my mother in law about how painful it would be for her and her family to cope with this loss. Even when I was alone, this tragic incident ran in my thoughts.

As college girls, a group of friends organized a music concert to raise money for a blind home called Nethrodaya. We spent a lot of time and energy on this concert. Inviting singers to sing for 'free' was one of those activities.

My closest friend Saranya and I decided one Saturday night that a concert in Chennai would never be complete without singer Chithra. We scanned so many places for her address and decided to show up the next day morning.

Like how every celebrity's maid would treat an unknown person - Chithra's maid told us she wasn't home and asked us to leave. We for sure knew she was home - 1. cause we could hear her playing with her daughter 2. we were at her doorstep at 8am.

We left closing the gates and then walked across the house and sat on a heap of sand. 3 hours. For 3 solid hours we heard nothing but baby talk - Chithra entertaining her little girl - Chithra singing and laughing. Somewhere around 12:20 pm someone peeped through the curtains in the bedroom upstairs. It was her husband. He was a bit angry about us stalking and hanging around there but later when he heard us out he invited us in. (they actually thought we wanted donation) We were seated in the hall and Chithra peeped from the verandah upstairs carrying her daughter. Her husband heard us out and agreed to let Chithra sing in the concert. We were overjoyed. Later, Chithra won the state award from the Karnataka government and could not make it to the show. She sent us a letter.

This incident was in my thoughts for almost a week. I couldn't stop thinking about those 3 hours we sat outside her house. We didn't feel bad about the wait. We didn't feel bad because it was hot. All we knew was a woman was up there in a room sharing a warm Sunday with her kid.

Shattered as I was, am still - I kept thinking how long it would be before Chithra could meet with peace. Well, to me my head said 'never' - out loud. I do hope Chithra doesn't lose hope in life.

When I think of coping with life and its pace - I think meeting with every second is not important - cherishing the one that went by is. I'm a memory person - I like pictures, I like pranks. Cause these remain memories.

Grandparents :)

With nothing much around me to take pictures of, my Picture a day, 2011 sey' has come to a stop literally. Ive tried to keep up, but alas there's nothing much around. Well, I came to momma's home today since Padhu is out of town for a few days.

I got to clicking as soon as I got in and here is a happy pic of atha and thatha at their spot at home.

Love today :|

'Of course I love you, till I find someone better' costs 100 bucks. If you have an afternoon with nothing to do - read this book. Its pretty much everything there is to love today. Find a girl who looks good, within your spending limit and say I love you, only till you find someone better. Bah it was to me.

Message in a bottle - a message of love and hope!

A lost hobby found again is the best thing to a guilty soul! Well, reading is back and I'm so glad I have the time. The days of sitting staring at a laptop are over and my books are under my pillows again. Now any good looking picture appeals to be my bookmark :) Going to Coimbatore means stopping at Connexions for books.

I've watched the movie 'A Walk to Remember' and loved it! I didn't know the movie was made from Nicholas Sparks's book. None of my friends had ever suggested his books to me ever. I picked out 'Message in a Bottle' last Sunday. Monday and Tuesday were as usual busy but wednesday had me hooked to the book and my bed!

I was in the love with the story. I delayed lunch so much, I had to eat in a hurry at 4pm after my mother in law got so worried and walked into my room to find me reading! She blamed Padhu for teaching me his horrible habit of eating late, phew!

I cried, I laughed, I smiled as I read the book. When Padhu got back home that night, I told him the story and he chumma just said 'What do you think you would do if it were you?' I was stumped. I refused to answer his question or even think about what my answer would be.

I was in love with the writing and all I knew was I had to buy more of Nicholas Sparks's books. And I did!

Currently reading : Bend in the Bottle.

I suggest Message in a Bottle. There is confidence, there is hope, there is love, there is solitary, there is feminity, there is everything a book needs.

My husband loves Robin Sharma. hmpf.

I don't know why - but I don't like Robin Sharma's books much. My husband lovves his books. hmpf.

(I have this controlling feeling in me where I expect ppl around me to hate those who I hate just to make me feel nice - fortunately, my husband brings me back to earth by being himself!)

A friend of mine (who is definitely reading this) suddenly on the phone uttered a few words 'I think my husband is the best thing that happened to me. I'm just so sure if I'm!' It gave me a literal heart attack. 1.Cause those words came out of her mouth. 2.I felt the same.

Spider web

I got to witness a spider spin its web when I was in class 6 once.I was hiding in an underground water tank in my grandma's house because I fought with my cousin. I watched the whole construction for 3 hours and felt so peaceful after that.

I got to see just a little today, but the outcome was beautiful. It started drizzling after a few shots, i wondered if the web would still be there - but alas, the web was destroyed.

Mummy's finds :)

Mummy find the rarest of things.. she found a huge shell at Pondy once. The wooden item below is a holder with hands that open to hold the shell. The shell holds 'firangipani flowers' she keeps near the agarbathi corner every evening.

Bees wax candle from the NIlgiris

A bees wax candle from the Nilgiris - a product of the Kurumba tribe.

Aids, Anti-everything and Anna Hazare!

I'm so proud I can up with this title - I got all A's! Why the title? - I'll get to that.

Someone's FB status said 'Dares everyone with an Anna Hazare status update to actually say why he's fasting .....without Googling his name first'

Frankly, till this morning I had no idea who Anna Hazare was. When I first read his name my (evil) head said 'Why is he named Anna?' I read the article and got back to work. NDTV kept rambling on and on (as usual) about how people were supporting on road, social networks, magazines, papers. I was a little amazed. I decided to read up on this guy. Nope, I had no idea who he was. I Googled him! ;) I read up on Wiki about how he had literally brought up this village and made some great anti-alcohol measures. I wondered how he wasn't in one of our history books - then my (evil) head said 'He is still alive, he isn't history yet!'

I watched all the Tamil news channels making promises about their free mixies, grinders, ceiling fans etc and got back to Facebook. No notifications for my new pictures (disappointing). One page request - 'I support Anna Hazare'. My (evil) mind said 'How is 'liking' this page or 'joining' this page gonna help? Facebook was like a wall on the day of Holi - splashed with Anna Hazare! The only media unaffected was the Tamil media - nothing but the free goodies for the election. Amazingly, Barkha Dutt was reporting from Tamil Nadu at 10pm. I opened my Twitter page and the most recent tweet made me blink. It said 'I support Anna Hazare totally'. Oh did I not mention it was Lalit Modi's tweet?


An anti-corruption bill that wasn't passed since 1968. A single man's protest to pass the bill. The outraged nation's plea along with the single man. - Great!

Single Man's protest - Fasting. Works for India. Support from all over the nation, Indians abroad, social networks. - Awesome!

But as usual - it hurts to see Anna Hazare thrown all over the media more than what his cause is. - Big failure there!

Back to my title - Aids and Corruption. Once in, no way out. I used to always wonder why a marathon would help AIDS? In that case cancer, or any disease. Be it 5 people or 10000 people running - it makes no difference. Yes, you are putting out to the world that something like this exists and you are supporting the cause. By doing what - running. Hi-fi!

Why not an event that would generate money instead? Money to save the kids who have AIDS? Money to create a home for those thrown out of home because they have this deadly disease? An awareness campaign where you teach people to use their spare time to read to blind kids or do some volunteer work?

Its funny I compared the whole thing to AIDS. Fasting - no dude, you are 87. Get a grip - do something like Swami Vivekananda or Sai Baba or even Nithyananda. No wait, not Nithyananda. I didn't say that. Our country falls for sympathy and religion. Shiv Khera succeeded with that one book! But inspirational speaking doesn't work much here. You have the guts to challenge the entire government - don't you want to live a little longer to see the change you want to bring in? Your audience falls for the fasting this, agreed. But personally, you shouldn't do this to yourself. If its the whole 'I'm doing this for the next generation, not for me' crap - I'm not taking it. I still stick to what I say - You have the media's attention now. Stop fasting and use the crowd you have.

I do follow a lot of celebrities on twitter. My calculation says.. Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Anupan Kher - (See three A's again) - their support is there for you. USE THEM! Also to cover the younger generation - Use the Hrithick Roshan sir!

I'm all for the anti-corruption thing. May I suggest one thing? When we are open about allowing a foreigner coach our Indian team to perform better - why not bring in a team to coach the selected leaders. We are a free nation since 1947 - We have developed a system slowly - its not perfect - it has huge holes - lets get them fixed. Anti-corruption is gonna take years! Come on, lets face it - we are dealing with people who have swallowed 2000 crores on scams. Its so easy for them. Swallow money, then be taken to court after 10 years in an air conditioned car and be given an A type cell in prison.


Bring in a team from a place that has its political issues fixed. Lets learn from someone else and make the change! Lets get a system in place where corruption is burnt at its roots, shot at the forehead and slammed in the nuts!


Anna Hazare - with all due respect - Use the people around you. There are hundreds of volunteers from just my friends list on FB, imagine around the nation. I plead you to break the fast, gulp down some red bull after a good meal and start working on your 'Things to do' list. Become the Subhash Chandra Bose of our time- Cause believe me, people like you are a rare breed today!

Also, if you are still planning on fasting till death - could you take M.Karunanidhi along with you?



**I support - "do not support his fasting, support his cause" campaign. Do you?**

Macro management

I experimented a lot yesterday with the macro feature on my camera. This was the best shot I could get of the hibiscus. Yes, I know flowers, vegetables and leaves are no more allowed according to 'Nobody's Rules' but till i find interesting subjects, I will have to keep posting these.

The scarlet hearted hibiscus

FINALLY my hibiscus sapling gives birth - to not one little hibiscus, not two little hibiscus.. but 10 little scarlet hearted hibiscus! It feels like summer here in Tirupur - but my flowers have never been happier! Get a glimpse of the other pictures on my flickr page.

Makes me smile everytime..

3 in a day, yeah I know. Pictures taken as and when i see and feel the need to post. Posted when I get the time. :)

The yellow one you see with the drawings of a shirt and a pant are from last week. My mother in law and I were in the kitchen and all of a sudden the door bell rang like someone sat on its switch. We ran to see who it was. It was Padhu. He stormed into the house as we opened the door and ran upstairs saying 'urgent, urgent'. (Padhu cannot use his office loo) Thank god office is just a street away! I followed Padhu upstairs and found his pants on the cot. I took them and hid them in the kitchen downstairs and left him this note. My mother in law and I had a hearty laugh at the boy who came down with a towel around his waist looking satisfied! Haha! I love Padmanaban!

On my 'To Read' list

Padhu and I finally got some time together. We took off to Coimbatore and met a few cousins. On our way back we stopped at Odyssey to buy a few books (to last till we came to CBE again). I'm starting with 'The White Tiger' first. Any early reviews?

We are the champions!

Sparkling victory by Team India tonight! Inscribed in history of cricket will be Kapil dev and Mahendra Singh Dhoni till the next winning captain comes along! Great effort Lankans! When Virat Kohli said "Sachin carried the burden for 21 years, its about time we carried him" - every Sachin Tendulkar fan had the goosebumps and tears of ecstasy! Great playing, brilliant action - happy moments - all go into the history of cricket! Dhoni - you are the man!

Team India - we are one happy and proud country! Go home to your families and celebrate!

5 new neighbors next door!!

Padhu and I woke early and peeped out of our window and look who we saw - our new neighbors! 5 cute little puppies :)

My garden is bleeding love!

My garden seems to be in the pink of its health - or maybe its just bleeding pink with love! Look what I woke up to see!

India is Bleeding Blue

Every time I watch a cricket match these days, I keep thinking if Aarti is watching too. She moved to the US after her wedding and has recently started following the Green Bay football team I think. She even finds the quarter-back cute. I remember those days when Zaheer Khan and Kunal Kapoor used to be cute. Kunal Kapoor as in the Rang De Basanti guy. Aarti, are you gonna watch the match today?

Well, mother of all matches is today - I think its better to stay home and watch it. Now I wish I had said yes to Padhu when he insisted we buy the home theatre set up in Singapore. Whattan amazing way to watch a match! Popcorn, pepsi, chips... and all friends together. When I have a house of my own, I'm gonna do that! A good widescreen TV, a few bean bag chairs, a couch with a leg-rest, and a million friends to enjoy a match like the one today!

Good luck to the Men In Blue! Now who wants to pray my mother-in-laws eye doctor cancels her appointment because he wants to watch the match? Any takers?

The red rose blooms again!

The red rose blooms once again in my garden. My mom keeps saying - if you have a perfect rose
in your garden, it just means your plants are happy! Here is my second perfect red rose. Non-edited version of the picture - except for my name. Here is the first one!

Drop of hope..

The sudden rain this evening that hardly wet our lands and hearts! But thanks to the additional winds you brought along - we have to sweep our front porches now! grump.

Child Marriages, still?

Between waiting for my husband to come downstairs for breakfast and finishing my morning tea, I opened up the paper. When I read the paper I scan the first page for anything but the words 'Sonia, congress, M.Karunanidhi, Raja, 2G' these days. Anything else is acceptable. Well, the first article that caught my eye was the the one about the rumor that Dr.Abdul Kalam died in the Coimbatore Military Hospital and how Shobaa De had already posted a condolence message on Twitter. I laughed for a minute. Sometimes Shobaa De needs to really wait for the news rather than hurry to be the 'first' one always! Seriously!

Scanned through the next page and there it was - 'Ask the Cop' section. Ask the Cop is a section allows people of Coimbatore to question and interact with Sylendra Babu, the city commissioner of police. Land problems, dowry harassment, gunda trouble - anything from the commissioner. I personally think this is an amazing way to reach people and tell them where to go when something went wrong.

Just below this section was another article that featured child marriages. Apparently, 22 child marriages were stopped in the Coimbatore district in the past one year. That line made me shiver. When I got married last year (I was 23), my friends in Google thought THAT was child marriage. And here I'm reading about a 14 year old girl who was forced into marrying her elder sister's husband because her sister could not bear the 'fruit of the family!' What rubbish! When I was 14 I was riding a bicycle every evening and watching The Popeye Show and grumbling about how TNT cuts off most of the show to start at 9pm! And here they are forcing a kid to marry her sister's husband. What kind of a sicko is that guy anyway! I was furious.

Didn't they stop Sati and child marriages long back? Aren't we in a world where parents wait for their daughter to finish college and work till they found her an 'America mappilai' and send her off at the Peelamedu airport? Either I've been away from home too long or ignorant. I choose ignorant, and the first one also. Both true.


Wow, child marriages. Still. Hmm. Going back to the article, the little girl's friends gave her the commissioner's number and she called! She spoke to Mr.Sylendra Babu and the police stopped this ridiculous wedding and took the girl to school where she wrote her final exams. Relief. I felt better when I read that. But I couldn't help wondering about what would have happened if she hadn't called. Man, that kid would have borne the 'fruit of the family' and if she couldn't then her husband would probably be looking for another younger sister if any. If you cannot have a child, go to a fertility clinic. Don't go sister shopping in your wife's house! What a prick!


Its good to know how kids are aware of what's right and wrong. At that age many wouldn't understand that impact it would have on their lives later. If I were this little girl, I would thank those wonderful friends and take them with me lifelong!

And all you men out there marrying chunnus and munnus, wait till I get my Kiran Bedi hands on you!

Happy Birthday Remo!

Its been two years since this adorable Dalmatian walked into our lives. He has chewed my shoes, torn my sheets, peed at the foot of my bed, scared Padhu, bullied Chitti, eaten door-ends, shooed post-men and more than that - brought the home together! Every time I visit he is the first one to receive me without any expectations! Happy birthday to my adorable little buddy Remo! Hope mummy gave you the leftovers from her cake and pedigree soaked for an hour in milk - the way you like it! ;)

Quacky the duck :)

Nethra's toys lie pretty much everywhere in the house. Meet Quacky the duck!

Happy Birthday Amma!

March 20 is Mumma's birthday - yeah, every year. And this year I think she turned - hmm I think 16!

The Keerthana Karthick wedding!

Keerthana and Karthick tied the knot on a very beautiful Valentine morning! Best wishes to you two!

The happy couple!

I know I've used my 'not well' excuse too long, but I'm still unwell and I think those of you who check this should excuse me. For those who I forced to follow the blog - thanks guys, ur the best! ;)

Will definitely be back asap. On high medication!

Dengue fever alert

Oppsies - I know. No posts after Feb 3 - well my family is kinda down with dengue fever. Will be right back here once I get some time to breathe! Till then, take care!

We're evil in style!

In my defense I didn't say thorns :)

Tulsi - Medicine, Herb, Plant and in my country - God!

I know, another leaf or petal - and this blog will disown me. I'm trying very hard to find subjects. Another one to test the macro on my cam. :D

Here is a close up!

Aphids on Hibiscus

I wasn't impressed with their beauty - I just wanted to use macro on my camera. Not bad - kinda ok for a quick click! Aphids on my hibiscus plant - Pardon me if it spoiled your appetite!

I found a similar picture online.

Knitting hearts together...

This my friend, is a true story. Where, what, how - I'll tell you. The hero here (and always) is my father. No heroine, no villain. Just a boy who was small and then grew. To read on I'm gonna make it sound like a story. My dad will be called Velu (sans Swamy) and the boy will be called Karthick. It goes like this...

Velu is sipping his tea at the New Year Celebrations. In his hand he is holding a paper that has a printed version of his speech. Velu is the present Governor of the around 26 clubs in the district. The celebration is for all those 26 clubs. Velu's logo for his governing year is of two people hugging - the logo is made to look like a single heart, beautifully divided to make it look like two people. His slogan for the year is 'Knitting Hearts Together'. He took charge in June 2009 and ever since has been on his toes with a lot of work.

Minutes to go for his speech, Velu walks to the dais and joins the gathering once again. There is a loud applause for the speaker at the podium. The speaker beckons Velu to go ahead and address the gathering. There is a huge applause as he walks to the podium. He clears his throat and begins. He begins with thanking the previous speaker and then moves on to summarize the district's achievement in the past six months. There is applause for every achievement mentioned and every award won. Velu thanks his fellow club members and opens his speech for Q&A. No one has questions. Velu repeats that he is open to any questions regarding the club or any activities.

A hand rises among the audience. "Yes, you", Velu says. There is a gasp from the audience. Heads turn to see who it is. Just another member, of course. The woman rises and asks "In our previous meeting we had asked you why you selected the slogan "Knitting Hearts Together". You said you would answer that question in the next meeting. It is the next meeting now. Would you tell us now?". Velu smiles. He says "Yes, I will tell you now."

He begins "Do all of you know the graveyard behind Mangalam road?" Heads nod and a few answer in soft volumes saying 'yes'. Velu continues "About 3 decades ago, that graveyard used to be my cricket ground. I along with a bunch of other boys used to play cricket over there every Sunday. We used to meet up after breakfast, play on till late noon go back home, bathe-refresh and come back in the evening to discuss about our game. This was my Sunday. I used my bi-cycle to get there every Sunday. On one such Sunday, as we were playing we saw a group of people running towards one of the streets there. All of us gathered to see what was happening. A woman had lit herself on fire. People were trying to put out the fire. In no time the fire was out but the damage was done. I quickly ran towards that house and got into the crowd. I went forward and in no time there was a car arranged to take the lady to the hospital. Three men carried the woman and I ran to help them. We carried her and lay her in the car. The car sped off towards the closest hospital. As I saw the car leave, I heard one of the women cry saying the woman had no right to do this hen she had two fatherless children. I quickly walked into the house to see a boy aged around 8 and a girl aged around 4. The boy was carrying his sister in his arms and crying. I couldn't bear that sight. I called the two of them and sat them on my bi-cycle and cycled to the hospital."

The audience was hooked. Velu continued, "I reached the hospital and guided the kids to the department were they treated burns. The place was dingy and crowded. Among the three men who carried the woman with me, one was the woman's brother. The kids ran to their mama. The boy was at that age where he could understand what was happening. People present around started to give their blood samples to donate blood if necessary. I did so too. After a couple of hours, a nurse came to the crowd and said that the woman didn't make it. She had died while they were trying to treat her. I swallowed a lump down my throat and looked at the kids. The boy began crying. He hugged his mama's legs and cried. Poor thing! I can still remember how he ran towards his mother and cried. He was not allowed to hug her cause she was covered with a banana leaf. He couldn't cry on his mama's shoulder because he was carrying the boy's sister. All he could do was look at his mother and cry so loudly. I immediately ran towards him and hugged him. He constantly said 'anna, anna' and cried on my shoulder. The body was given to the family in an hour and we took her back to the house in the same car. The sad thing about this Sunday was - it had changed two children's lives in an afternoon. This Sunday had orphaned two children."

"The last rites were all performed by the little boy. His head was tonsured and he was clad in a dhothi. I was shattered to see the boy. The little girl just watched on. She couldn't identify her mother for there was no identification. All she did was watch as her mama carried her in his arms. After everything was over, I went back to our ground to pick up my cricket bat and left."

The audience was speechless. No one prompted out of anxiety or anything. They just wanted to know the rest. He went on. "Then my next Sunday was normal, except once I saw the boy playing with his little sister. I gave him a packed of biscuits once. He took it with a smile. Years went by, I graduated college. I started to look after the family business. I began my printing company. Then I got married in 86' to this gorgeous woman here. We had a girl 3 days before we could celebrate our first anniversary. Five years after that we had a boy. You all probably know them by name than face here." The audience smiled and nodded.

"In April 2009, I had some pain in my left arm and went to get a check up done. I was with our ex-governor when I went to the hospital. I hadn't told my wife or kids anything. The doctor shocked me saying I had 3 blocks in my heart and might need to get an angioplasty done. I came home and spoke to my wife. Luckily, my son's exam had just gotten over that day. So we decided to get the angioplasty done the very next day. Since my daughter had one more day of school, we picked her up on the way and I drover to the hospital. On the way, I asked her to sing for me. As usual she refused for the first 5000 times and then sang. She sang 'Iru vizhi unadhu', a song I loved. We reached the hospital. Hospital. Payment. Admission. Angio. After the angioplasty, the doctor said that a bi-pass surgery was necessary as the blocks were nearing 90%. My wife immediately went ahead and spoke to the doctor to know what kind of surgery and everything. Finally, they decided on April 1 and I was operated then. That morning, my kids visited me in the room before the anasthesea was given to me. They had prayed in the temple downstairs in KMCH and they came with the prasadham. I was then reeled into the operation theater. It was a 10 hour operation. The day was probably the slowest day in my family's history. Once I recovered I heard that several Lion members had come to donate blood for me.

2 days after the operation my kids and wife visited me in the intensive care unit. I was worried that the kids would be scared to see so many tubes in my body. The little one looked terrified on the first day. After a few days, I was brought to a room. Friends, family - all visited me during that one week. One Sunday, a young man walked in to the room. My wife told me that this young man had come to donate blood for my operation. He wanted to donate blood to someone before he left for work to Dubai. He had no reason to choose me. I thanked him and asked him what job he is joining. He replied saying he was going to work for a construction company in Dubai. He also said that he wanted to see how I was doing. I asked him where he was from and he said "Mangalam Road, Tirupur". I looked at him and asked him what his parents were doing. He said his father had passed away in a road accident years ago and his mother was also no more. He said he has a sister who lives in Tirupur. I plainly asked him if his mother suicided. He replied with a sober yes. I asked him if his sister was 4 years younger and mentioned the area of his house. He looked a little shocked and said yes. I then told him that I was with him when his mother passed away. I mentioned his mama and the entire hospital scene. He had tears in his eyes and me in mine. He shook his hand with me and thanked me. He said he didn't remember much from that day but was thankful for what I had done for him. He said his sister had gotten married recently. I told my wife to give him my visiting card. I told him to contact me for any help. He took leave."

There was sniffing in the audience. Some clapped. At the end Velu summarized saying "There was no need for me to be with that boy when his mum died. There was no need for me to donate blood. Similarly there was no need for him to come here and donate blood. But somehow both of us wanted to. I hugged that boy when he had no shoulder to cry on. The design of life is this - every human's decision and acts determines a change in someone else's. My decision to run towards his house and his decision to donate blood were both kind deeds. These two deeds came from our hearts. And that by time and destiny has knitted the two of us after so many years. Every good deed we do, is somewhere and in someway looking frantically to find us when we really need it. That's why 'Knitting Hearts Together!'"

The audience stood up and clapped for what was eternity. Velu thanked the audience and adjourned the meeting for dinner. Many members came our sniffing, mostly the women. There were sobs here and there. Dinner was served.

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I heard this from my father when we were on our way to Coimbatore. We had crossed Mangalam Road and that's when my dad narrated this to me. That my friends, is the true story.

Beautiful Bhutta :D

Bhutta -yayy, yum! :)

My co-sister Suganya is very health conscious. She likes her dosais made of wheat, corn, ragi etc. She is one healthy person I'd say! She introduced into the home the 'Corn Dosai'. Basically Bhutta Dosai. A thick batter made from ground corn kernels, chillies, salt, and some other spices. Its a yellow dosa - urgh, agreed. But yumm is not the word! I can have 3 of these dosas whereas only 2 rice dosas.


Bhutta makes me think of those weekend mornings in Besant Nagar and Marina beaches. Long walks with Bhutta after our breakfasts at Murugan Idly Kadai :)