Quotes from the heart

I am going to update this post with feelings that come to me from time to time..!

When you feel helpless and hopeless with the situation around you, know that you can always go within and find the strength, hope and oneness.


A older one...
True prayer is gratitude felt in the depths of the heart, a prayer becomes a ritual when this feeling is absent

The Art Of Making Soft Pulka Rotis

I have been there, struggled, pleaded and begged to make some soft pulkas that I have always enjoyed eating.
I have asked countless number of people on the best way to make soft rotis, and yet I always could manage to make only hard ones!
Finally I think I have gotten the hang of it..
I glow with pride looking at my rotis rise up like a balloon & I solemnly offer my tips...
Believe me, I understand.. when you shake your head and say you have heard it all before..
Important Tips in no particular order..
1) The rotis have to rolled out really really thin. Thats one big thing I noticed.
2) Do not buy some sort of flour, buy only the good Indian atta brands. Somehow this seems to matter a lot when making the dough.
3) You need a gas stove and not an electric one... the experience of your roti rising is mind blowing, and you just cant get it in a electric stove.

Apart from the top 3 things.. ofcourse, things like keeping the dough aside for atleast half-an-hour before making the rotis seems to be important.
The one question that bothered me a lot was how would I know whether I have put enough water in the dough.
I found that using more water than less is better.. and when you think there is too much water, you can always add more dough.
Leaving the dough aside for sometime actually makes the dough softer and ready!

The pan needs to be quite hot. Just turn the roti around once before directly keeping it on the fire..
Do not keep on turning from one side to another every other second like I used to do:)
A friend of mine has suggested using milk instead of water for super soft rotis. I am yet to try this.

Anyways good luck..!!

You cannot win...!

Now that I am married, my parents assumed that I have company and there isnt much of a need to visit me.
When my mum coolly announced that they were planning to visit my bro instead of coming here to Aus, I couldnt help, but burst into tears.
I had not seen my mum in a year and my bro had already visited home twice since, even if it was brief..
He had also quickly booked tics for my parents to go to him..
Because of my crying...(loudly that too!), my parents have decided to come here instead.
Of course, I bet my bro is extremely disappointed, and I am not even that excited anymore..
B'cos i know mum is feeling bad that she has never gone to visit him before.. and she is already talking about cutting short her trip here so that she can fly to him straight from here.
Sometimes, even if you win, you lose!!

Sarada Athai

On the 12th, my beloved aunt Sarada athai passed away.
A part of me is deeply saddened knowing that she wont be present anymore.
Shenoy nagar was a usual weekend venture for us. We always walked in unannounced and athai always insisted that we stay back for dinner.
As my dad is health conscious, she always made us lemon juice instead of tea or coffee. I still remember her vendaikka curry.
We sat in a big circle around the red-floored hall.
One of the most significant characterstic of athai is that she was the epitome of kindness. She didnt have anything harsh to say to anyone.
Even if the kids were woken up at 11am, she was still the person that said "paavam, dont wake him/her up".
She was the softest person anybody could be with. She just didn't have any malice towards anybody.
And death, in turn, was very kind to her. My dad said she was so peaceful and calm in the last hours and there was no sign of a fight,
she had surrendered completely.
Death, the scariest thing, all of a sudden, doesnt seem all that scary anymore.
She has taught me a lot, not in words, but in action.
I remember that "kuguma chimizh" that she gifted me for my wedding, the last time I saw her. She clasped me with soft hands.
Thanks Sarada athai. I never told you this, I was probably too shy. I love you.. and I will really miss you everytime I come to Chennai.

Communication : Poor :)

I had a meeting with my boss today to go over my self-appraisal..
He said I should really get into writing formal emails to external folks rather than my usual informal style. To quote him literally he said emails are not Instant Messenger chats. They have to be crisp and formal (i hear that as cold and impersonal).
Is it just that he is old-fashioned or he is a man who doesn't understand how women like to communicate or is it just me who is unwilling to change.
These are the reasons I dont feel like budging from my point of view:
- Crisp and formal means there is no personality in your emails...
- People feel better when they read something that appears to come from a human being than a robot.
- They don't feel intimidated by all the technical jargon and can feel freer to communicate as a friend.
- People are changing...my 18 year old cousin's emails doesnt look like its written in english.. he writes mails like this: "m fine ter are 5 of us in a rum but the rums are big so its not bad... i myt bunk a class and go 2 the movies". Though I cringe at this, I know thats what is coming in future, better catch up with times..! ( I dont write emails like this by no means!)

My boss likes it that all the emails I send representing my company should have a certain standard...
Whatever!

Vin's fundas - Cricket Vs tennis

Funda
Cricket is like tennis, except that you play only one shot at a time.
Instead of ball pickers, you have fielders. To keep the ballpickers entertained, there are rules!!

Explanation (in case you care to know)
Fast bowlers = Players with a big serve.
In cricket, if you are a good returner of the serve, you are a good batsman.
(You return a good serve, you get four runs)
In tennis, if you are a good bowler, you can win all your service games..and most likely you will win the match.
How is that for gyaan today?

Hypocrites!

What do we teach our kids..
love is more important than money..
teaching to help one and another..
to tell the truth..
and in reality.. the "world" is the opposite..

at my work, they retrenched 40 people one fine day..
why ??? because it was not profitable...!
hello.. didnt u teach your kid just this morning that love is more important than money?
is that just a fairytale then..
and its so funny to see these guys talk about business as usual.. the very next day!!
they are again talking about making money..!!

here i am, at 26 still my ideals in place.. still believe that human beings are more important than anything else..
selfish, is what this world is teaching me to be..
money is what this world is teaching me to want more than anything..
all of a sudden everything is justified, even killing one and another..

does it mean that to be strong, you have to appear that nothing affects you?
does it mean that i have to do "business as usual" just after all this?
does it mean that i have to develop the attitude of trampling upon others to be successful???

is this what you teach your kids??

no wonder this world is such a messed up place ..
and thats why.. thank god.. there are a few who are so kind hearted and generous, who truly nurture the child in you, and really really thank god..!!!
my god..!