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Milagu Kozhumbu

I didn't particularly sleep well yesterday night - for no particular reason. I got up from my bed after having tried to push myself to sleep for the past 1 hour or so. I had stated yesterday that I'll be cooking lunch today - and I was ready for the undertaking. I've been wanting to cook this particular kozhumbu for many months now, but somehow never managed to make it. I always chose to make vatha kozhumbu instead of milagu kozhumbu, whenever I had the fortune of cooking in this spectra. It might be argued that these two kozhumbu aren't linked or in anyway similar - but in my head, it seemed to be alike.  I asked Amma for the recipe for this dish.  She sent me a WhatsApp audio note of the same. It can be heard in the below link.  Ramakrishnan Nagarajan · Milagu Kozhumbu Recipe When I started to learn cooking last year, soon after the pandemic broke out & there was a nation wide lockdown, I never really asked Amma for any recipe of how she prepared the basic dishes
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Nithila

Having my evening coffee, my mother-in law & I were gazing through the door at our societies departmental store, to see if it had opened or not. In the midst of this 'Triple Lockdown' or whatever Lockdown in Tamil Nadu, our societies store has come to our rescue. It's named 'Nithila'. Nithila has become a household name for us. Has Nithila opened? Have they stocked up yet? For the 20 odd families that live in this complex, its a rat race to grab whatever you can - to survive another day, another week, another breath in these times that we live. My MIL had her urges - to buy pumpkin, beans & curd packet. Oh boy, how important it is for her to get hold of the curd packet - required to make curd ofcourse. I had mine. I needed something to munch on during my late night espionage binge watch session - and today's quota is ice-cream. And well, I can't just buy ice-cream for myself, they say - sharing is caring. Sure, I care about my fix for which I got to

Sachin Tendulkar - the closest connect I've had with GOD

Just like many Indians, I am a cricket lover and a Sachin devout. When he got out today, and I saw him walk back to the pavilion, almost instantaneously, a tear came out of my eye. Just a tear drop, which was enough to keep me dumbfounded for minutes. I had to turn the TV off and accept the brutal reality.  All good things have to end someday, and all of us have to move on. Truth is intolerant & that's life & it's greatest lesson.  His total runs in Test Cricket is 15847? Numbers ring? 15-Aug-1947! It's a fabulous number. This is a number I'd definitely like to remember other than the figures of exchequer loss for the Government that the CAG gives now & then.  In a way, it's a landmark number. Freedom - from the mundane routine, from a bewildered life, from depression, from joy! It's just pure bliss & there's nothing greater than that moment when one drops everything & looks up into the sky & just smile. And, in all my life,

TV Darshan

I met someone in Chennai last month. He told me that he has seen only doordarshan in his entire life. No cable, no Tata sky, hell not much of big screen as well. Just the traditional antenna lying idle in the terrace with some crow shit. And then, something suddenly struck me like the low wavelength doordarshan antenna. Everything about his character suddenly made sense to me. And somehow, lot of it had to do with the fact that he has seen only doordarshan through out his life. And then, I suddenly gazed upon myself. I was a couch potato. At least when I wasn't playing or fooling around. A special bond definitely exists between I & TV. A bond, which is way more stronger than C-H bonds in the benzene ring :P. I still remember the moments where I've been watching Cartoon Network from morning 9 to the evening 7, only to stop as Dad would then be back from work. Its still very vivid in my head. The 2 Sharjah knocks by Sachin to lead India triumph is still so much in vicini

Happy Monday Morning's!

Alarm rings. I look at the phone : 7 am! I get up and sit upright. I had a choice, like always. I chose to get up for a change. I hadn't seen the morning sunlight for a really long time. I enter the washroom. And then, I remembered. The flush wasn't working as there were water issues in the building [Not our fault. Sometimes families also screw up]. There was yesterday's crap, which was still not cleared [:S :S] . We had some real crappy food yesterday night, and you know, things weren't looking good. Things were not smelling good either.  So, what did we do? My friend & I went to McDonald's and like hogged a really nice breakfast. We were hoping to do the morning ritual there, and we find the their toilets not functioning due to "technical reasons"! Technical Reasons? What? Do the bum showers have some sophisticated electronic hardware attached to it? Anyways, we head back home, rather constipated.  We follow the traditional approach of using the b

Why the same protocol?

All our thoughts & actions are so relative. But, at the same time, there are so many common notions across the diverse sophisticated spectrum of all our minds put together.  For example, consider the following scenario.  At a particular stage in Ramu's life, he wishes to achieve top secret classified goals, which is like totally 'different'.  1. Get up early and study for the test.  2. Study for the test.  But then, what makes Ramu get these ideas? Why does he want to study? Forget that! Why does he want to get up early and study? Studying is after all an action. How does it matter when he does the action? Is the time of action an important parameter? Is the action itself relevant? Why is there a test in the first place? Let us take another situation in Ramu's dreary life. He meets a really charming & cute girl at work.(Yes! Real Surprise! Yay!!) It's the classical love at first sight phenomenon. As my friend would say, "love is

The K.I.S.S Moment

Joyfulness. Bliss. Stress free. Beauty. Love. Peace. All of us long for the above. In all our pursuits, we finally want to be happy. The journey of life is to unwrap this gift happiness that lies somewhere. But, where is it? With my girl friend? With my grades? With my 6 digit income? Does it lie in our hands? Is there a guide who can reveal this secret to us? Do we need a guide who can show us the path? When does it happen? Has it happened already? Do we experience it every day or once a week or now and then? Can it be scheduled? Is it spontaneous? Is it something gross or tangible? Is it a subtle emotion? Is it an emotion? Can it be taught? They and many other queries arose in me. The thing that bamboozles me the most is the fact that irrespective of what we do in our lives, one fine day, the appointed time does arrive. Yes, it’s the stipulated time to face Lord Yama. He doesn't spare anybody. You may have all the wealth known