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Seena
In My Sandals
my take on whatever crosses my mind... welcome to have a walk in my sandals....
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
1991 : A Diwali Story
Year :
1991, A Diwali day , 10.00 am at CRPF Residence Quarters, Hyderabad
“I want to see the fire.. please didi light some crackers”
, 6 yrs old Su said.
“No, not now. In the night. Diwali crackers are to be lighted
in the night” 8 yrs old Didi answered.
“Please didi, just one.. please”
“No. not now, let Amma & Papa come back”
“Please didi, I want to see the fire, please light one
kambithiri (sparkle stick)”
She dragged a stool towards the stand on the wall where God's idol
was kept. She climbed on the stool and took the match box kept next to the Vilakku (lamp). Su took 1 sparkle stick out of
the box under the table. She took a piece of newspaper and both moved towards
the living room window.
“I will light the newspaper, and hold it outside the window,
you can light the stick from the fire in the newspaper and hold it outside the
window.”
Su gleefully “haan haa”
She kept the newspaper on the window sill and lighted it. And then
the most unexpected thing happened. The wind blew the burning paper into the
room and it fell on the cotton cloth which covered the sewing machine next to
the window. It caught fire.
Su was scared and started crying. She immediately pulled the
burning cloth down, but by then the sewing machine bar had caught fire. She ran
to the bathroom and dragged a bucket of water to the room and poured cups of
water on the burning cloth and sewing machine. The fire was put out. Next she
took a broom and cleaned off the charred cloth and ash water from the room.
Then she noticed a burnt hole in her pink frock. She
immediately changed the frock, hid it behind the iron trunk in the bedroom.
Then she took her frightened little brother with her, locked the
flat (in the 1st floor) from outside, climbed down the stairs and sat at end
of the stair case waiting for her parents to come back.
She had cleaned and hid the frock, so that her parents
don’t come to know about the fire. But when the parents were back, she just broke into
tears.
Amma worried, “What happened, why are you here and not in the
room? I asked you both to stay inside till we come”.
Sob. “go up and see”
“What ? What happened”
Sob. “go up
and see”
Amma grabbed Su and Papa grabbed her and rushed upstairs.
On entering the flat, they didn’t find anything odd. Then they got
a faint burnt smell. Amma
ran to kitchen. But there was nothing on the stove and everything was as she
had left. They both looked at her quizzically.
“What happened ?”
She pointed toward the sewing machine. Papa inspected the sewing
machine and found the burn marks on the wooden platform, burnt and broken
sewing bar. She broke into tears again and narrated the whole incident.
Papa looked at the crackers kept below the table. They were
intact, except for one sparkle stick on the floor near the window.
Amma “ Thank God.
The crackers didn’t catch fire. How could you both be so naughty? I just left
you for few minutes and this is what you have done?…………’
Papa inspected them for burns. After making sure they both were
fine, he took the broken bar, pulled both the kids to the bedroom. Tied them to
the leg of the bed and said
“Stay there till I come back from the duty. No more play, No crackers, No Diwali
for you”
Amma, ofcourse untied them after
some time, fed them but did not allow them to move out of the room. By evening
papa came back. He did not talk to them. They had a silent dinner. Outside the
room crackers were bursting, children were shouting; inside, there was dead
silence. The children went to bed sobbing.
Then they heard Papa’s voice.“So you are sleeping without
burning crackers on Diwali? and who will eat the Diwali sweets I have brought ?”
The children jumped out of the bed. The whole family went to the verandah, burnt crackers with Papa’s supervision, enjoyed sweets and happily celebrated Diwali.
Next day Amma & Papa explained to them their mistakes and about the danger their action
would have caused. And also praised the girl for her presence of mind and
appreciated the way she managed the situation.
Things I don’t remember now about the incident : Where did Amma &
Papa go ?
And what was my brother doing all the time I was putting out the
fire and cleaning the floor.
“WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND SAFE DIWALI”
Sunday, November 11, 2012
The Anniversary Rusk
Spandana's Mug Cake |
So this
recipe gave me the chance to bake a cake using regular coffee cups, that too in
5 minutes time.. I thought of surprising Raj with this Cake on our fourth Anniversary, yesterday.
But my first baking experience didn't go well :(
1. Filled up to 3/4th of the cup, when my cup was smaller and I should have filled only 1/2 of the cup.
2. Baked in the oven for 5 mins exactly, going by the recipe, ignoring Spandana's advise " The baking time might differ depending on the microwave, so keep checking for every minute after first two minutes."
So poor Raj ended up eating over baked cake renamed as 'chocolate Mug rusk' .
As for Baking, I have not given it up yet. I know my mistakes and am hoping to make a perfect mug cake, the next time.
PS : I also gifted him a pair of formal shirt & trousers. Whoever says shopping for woman is nerve wracking, please try shopping for my husband. He took 2 hours to buy just 1 pair of shirt & trousers . By the time Raj’s shopping was over, Babs was so bored that he started pulling my hair and when we walked out of the shop, my hair was a khosla ka ghosla. My new hair style got many admiring glances on our way out of the mall.
As for Baking, I have not given it up yet. I know my mistakes and am hoping to make a perfect mug cake, the next time.
PS : I also gifted him a pair of formal shirt & trousers. Whoever says shopping for woman is nerve wracking, please try shopping for my husband. He took 2 hours to buy just 1 pair of shirt & trousers . By the time Raj’s shopping was over, Babs was so bored that he started pulling my hair and when we walked out of the shop, my hair was a khosla ka ghosla. My new hair style got many admiring glances on our way out of the mall.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Smart Birthday !!!
Image Source |
My Nokia 3110
Classic, decided to drown in the water, not in chullu bar pani but table bar
pani. No, it was not a suicide and noting that I wasn’t aware that the
water dispenser kept on the table was leaking, it was neither a murder. It was
an unfortunate accident. After being with me through the thick and thin,
surviving at least 5 falls a week for 3 yrs and 10 months, it finally said
goodbye.
July 17th
2012
Raj : Lets
go and buy a mobile. Anyways you needed a new mobile phone, the phone you had was an antique piece, no one carries such old models now.
Me : No..
not today, now that I have to buy a mobile, I want to buy a smartphone and this
month we cant afford it. If only I could get an old phone to adjust with for this one month.
Next 2 weeks
, a friend was kind enough to loan me an extra mobile set she had.
Aug 2012
Raj : Lets
go and buy a mobile.
Me : No..
not this month, we cant afford it. If only I could get an old phone to adjust with for one more month.
Sept 2012
Raj : We
have waited long enough. Lets buy a new phone, I have checked the smart phones
in the malls, Sony Ericcson Xperia seems to be good and in our budget.
Me : Ya..
but not yet. Lets wait and see if I get an increment this month.
Still using
the Nokia 2600.
Oct 2012
Raj : My
colleague has bought Nokia Lumia 900. Its good. Lets buy Nokia Lumia 800, that would be in our budget.
Me : No.
Smart phone will be a luxury. I keep dropping phones. This Nokia phone is good
and can survive my rough handling. I use phone only to answer calls and rarely to
make calls. And yes as alarm also. I don’t need any extra features in the
mobile. Can think of a smartphone next year. May be.
29th Oct
2012
My Birthday
and guess what my Hubby gifts me : Samsung Galaxy S duos.
And my
reaction : Oh my God !!. Why did you spent so much money on the phone ? It would
make a big hole in our pockets. We could have bought it next year. May be I
would have got an increment by then. Why did you…………
Raj : My
dear please…….. What’s the use of saving money, if we can’t spent a little on
such essential luxuries. ( ya, that's what he said "essential luxuries" ).
Me : But I don’t
need...
Raj : I
know you wanted it . This is NOT a waste of money. This is what we earn money
for, to fulfill our small desires.
Me : Oh ok. ok.. ( by now I was impressed with the phone and giving more attention to it than my poor hubby )..it's nice, looks good.. Thank you dear…
Raj : But
don’t expect any other gift on our 4th Anniversary that comes 12 days after,
and “mummy Seena’s” first birthday that comes 27 days after and the 4th
anniversary of our first meeting which also happens to be today.
Me : One
gift, for 4 occasions ? Oh God! You are such a miser. Mr. Kanjoos!!
Raj : Kanjoos!!
but just now u were against spending ………..
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Babs & Elephant, Jalebi & Kappayum Meenum
Babs and Hubby Raj in front of the Elephant |
This happened
when we went to DALA’s (Dubai Art Lovers Association) Keralotsavam 2012, which was taking place just
opposite to our villa. They had put up a life size Elephant statue, and our son’s
reaction to it was really amazing.
And we
registered ourselves for blood and organ donation. And also for lucky draw contest
which am sure we would never win. Am so unlucky in lucky draws that I would not
win even if I am the only person participating.
And also one of my long time wishes was granted. I ate garam-garam jalebiyam for the first time ever. I ate Jalebiyam many times but somehow never got the opportunity to have ‘garamagaram jalebi’ right out of the kadai.
Image Source |
They had put many stalls, including this Jalebi stall and tattukada (street food stall ).
Raj ate some Kappayum Meenum (tapioca & fish curry – typical Kerala / Kannur food) from the Tattukada
Image Source |
I too
wanted to have kappayum meenum, but decided not to, after hearing Raj’s comment
“ udayathe kappayum, meeninte thalayum,
mullum mathrame enik kiyttiyullu, allengillum Bharya villambi tharunna pole
aavullallo ” ( All I got is half cooked tapioca
and skull & bones of fish, afterall I cant expect them to serve like my
wife ) He likes only the tail part of the fish and whenever I cook fish, I select
and serve him only the tail part, not that I like the head part but as they say
if your loved one loves tail, you would have to start liking the head J.
I like my
kappa mashed, as in the picture above. It was one of the things I craved during
pregnancy. But I was advised by everyone around to avoid it since it is
believed to cause gastritis. But my sweet
sister finally made some for me to satisfy my craving. I devoured it and also proved
that it did not cause gastritis ( at least not to me ). And then I made some myself, and once back at
home for delivery, I convinced my mother to make some more.
You would
be wondering, we went to DALA’s Keralotsavam and all I wrote was of food and
the Elephant. Well, there were many programmes going on the stage, but Babs made
sure we do not watch them, he loves moving around than sitting/standing at one
place for long. And afterall the main reason we went there was to entertain him
and not us, although we ended up entertaining our stomachs as well.
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