My expedition for a dream home :)

I am not spared with the inner calling of any human being, the third most important item in the Khana, Kapda aur Makhan list, a house to live, whether owned or rented. After my long stint in north Chennai, planning to move into the southern part of Chennai, which is of course a difficult decision to make.

I must tell, it is not easy to leave a lifestyle that’s easy, unplanned and everything is just a call away, literally… from balcony. Of course, such lifestyle has got its own trade offs like traffic jam, crowded streets, lack of parking space, electricity supply that makes you believe in fate and luck, etc. For many years, was lucky enough to have work and home nearby even at walkable distance (read: in an environment friendly way). "Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner at Home" types. But one has to move on in life isn't it? (read: hmm.. all good things should come to an end).

There are multifarious challenges including zero in to an area which suits your requirements.

Wisdom earned: A dream home is not a ready made one depends on the locality and ambience but it's made by people "living in it"(read: like me).

This is the wisdom I got after relentless, but vain search for several days for a beautiful house in a centre market place with a beach / green meadow view with temples and malls around but without mosquitoes and pollution with cost effective rates and located in the middle of the city with all the transport facilities, etc, etc. I realised that this is a combination of having Bush and Al Qaeda on the same stage show shaking hands together with a broad smile and without using kalashnikovs!

Finally convinced and satisfied with the proud wisdom I earned above!

Once we convince ourselves and cater to the needs of family members such as accessibility to work of other family members, safety, nearby markets, temples,etc....... did I say cater to the needs? Its actually convincing others in terms of the Availability of the house vs. Urgency of the requirement, yes you are right, convincing others in the same way I have convinced myself, with all that, shortlisted areas.. huhh quite a task ah? And the natural consequences such as looking for local news papers to short list the houses, fix up appointment with the land lord / agents for the house visit (all these come with the exchange of precious week ends dedicated to Mochas, movies and siestas)

Then comes the best part… tête-à-tête with the landlords…. based on my experience in the house hunt, the common genre of questions is as below:

• Where are you working? ( If it’s a loss making company, your possible tenancy slips into red)
• How many of you in your family? (Too many people spoil the house)
• Are you a 100% vegetarian ( even if the house is not owned by a blue cross member)
• If you are a vegetarian, is that by caste or by principle ( a hidden question to assume your caste because asking about one's caste is improper!)
• If you are a vegetarian, is that either by caste or by principle? which caste do you belong to? ( these are the bold ones who do not believe in keeping anything under assumption)
• Do you have frequent guest visits? ( read no.2 above)
• Do or will you have pets? ( Pets may not be a vegetarian)
• This one is a rare one I must accept.. Are you expecting any foreign trip in the near future say in another 6 months to 1 year? ( I do not have any holiday plans abroad)
• Which native do you belong to? (never knew my birth place will be so vital in my house hunt)

Surprisingly, the education qualification is not at all in queries, may be, attempt of house hunt itself proves one's unquestionable wisdom! Jokes apart…. I AM ON THE HOUSE HUNT NOW!

O my prospective land lords..... Please do not read this Blog post!

Happy mothers day !

Writing this while I look for the moon in my own (?) stake of sky! It still plays hide and seek. Opening the google for a wanderer's search, only to find google extends a flower bouquet in front of me and reminds me that mothers day is no more a private affair and one of the addition in this global market !

Mother ! A word that can move any individual !

all days are mothers day though when its celebrated and reminded of in every media, it sounds nice too! Honouring mother is not new to our culture ( no, no no its definitely not about Sonia , Jayalalitha, or melmaruvathur, etc etc).

We hail mother in the form of Goddess Shakthi during the durga pooja @ navarathri, the other festivals adore womenhood !. Yes women is the creator and protector. These two qualities come out tangibly during mother hood !

I feel motherhood is common for all, not only mothers in the sense that is being used! The creativity within deserves to be celebrated during mothers day. Lets celebrate this day to praise a novelist who brings out the charactars alive, a teacher who moulds a student for a better human being, an artist who portrays the intangibles in a tangible form, a singer who communicates divinity through sound box, a domestic servant who lessens the burden of a home maker!

Raise a toast to all creative people for their creativity in one form or the other and Happy mothers day to you all !

இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள்

As a mark of strong defiance to the govt announcement, I celebrated the விரோதி தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு with the usual flavour and smack. It is one of the festival to be associated with nature and seasons, welcoming the arrival of summer, how can one forget the age old practise of dedicating the summer delicacies to the god and pray for the prosperity of the family in the tamil new year?

So what, if its not a declared holiday? I have taken off to celebrate the festival and I did it. Tasted a lot of stuff including new year specialities like Sakkarai pongal, Paanagam, Neer moru and ofcourse the philosophical veppam poo pachchadi. what a way to remind people that bitter and sweet are the two sides of a life coin !. Ofcourse, one need not say how good these things are during the scorching summer ! It would only be a cliche! Lets go to the after meal stuff.........

TV programs! quite an eye opener, Iwould say, Enlightened to claim TV is not an idiot box always. Enjoyed the programs on the " chithirai thirunal kondattam" ( ushhhhhh.... you shouldn't call the day as Tamil New year, its the order of the govt!@$). Stuffed myself in front of the TV media (after Yaavarum Nalam, "media" is the most suited name for TV) almost the whole day, the justification.: trying to search for the best program by using the magic stick called remote !

The best three are:

1. The interview with A.R. Rahman ( நம்ம ஆஸ்கார் ரஹ்மானேதான்) by Vivek.
It was interesting to watch Rahman watching. He was wearing a smile ( natural, not plastic) through out the interview. Atleast to me it was a packed one, as it added dimensions to vivek's question. Vivek also sold his poetry about Rahman during the program, which he wrote once the Oscars were announced.

2. The debate ( பட்டிமன்றம் ) adjudged by Solomon Pappiah. How people choose the topics of such debates? its a topic by itself for research for doctorate. The topic is " In the present scenario, which one is best, truth or diplomacy". The speakers were the usual Pappiah team including the star speakers. Speaker Raja gained more popularity by his acting in Sivaji and it was quoted very often by the other speakers. There were jokes and comical scenarios. The judgement was in order to protect the truth, diplomacy is required. There is a sense of diplomacy in the judgement too it while being a fact !!!!

3. The discourse by (former?) Actor Sivakumar on கம்பராமாயணம் titled as " கம்பன் என் காதலன்". Quite unexpected, such a flow of literature from a cinema actor. Ofcourse, he is an expert in terms of recitation. But this one was quite a passion towards the epic and its characters.
The best part is he has delivered the lecture to college students. His year long practise of memory and modulation helped him a lot in a seamless delivery of the prose. While he made the audience spell bound in poem delivery, he associated himself with them by his down-to-earth tamil dialect!.

Decided to watch more such tv shows in the new year (if its available!). Lets hope, the beginning spirit sustains!

All time recession proof career - Member of Parliament, Indian Democracy Inc.

The entire world is tired of talking about slow down, weak economy, nil bonus, increment cuts. But probably we are the ones who are looking forward for the world's biggest democratic and expensive event, ofcourse our general elections.


While people debate about to vote , not to vote, or use clause 49 (o), etc. The salary structure of a member of parliament is promising enough for any qualified youngster to pursue this as a career !


Even more attractive are the pay and perks an elected member of parliament gets. It goes like this.......... Hold your breath while reading this....

1. Salary - Rs. 12,000/- per month


2. Spending budget for his/her constituency - Rs. 10,000/- per month


3. Office expense Allowance - Rs.14,000/- per month


4. Travelling allowance - Rs. 8 per km (Chennai to Delhi will earn an amount of Rs.14032)


5. DA for attending Parliament - Rs. 500 / day ( whether speak or sleep)


6. Travel amenities - All over India free I AC coach travel / Upto 40 times business class flight with one accompaniment


7. Accomodation at Delhi : Rent free at MP Hostel in Delhi


8. Other amenities : Free electricity upto 40,000 units per year, Free local calls upto 1,70,000 units per year.

There are proposals of enhancements of these benefits. Politics is a decent career to be taken up with a service dimension in it. Being a youngest democracy in the world, why let ruled by the oldest parliament?. For info, the average of 13th loksabha was 50 !. Thanks to the youngsters the average age came down in the 14th loksabha. It would be really nice if many of us choose politics as alternative career. I guess the days are not far beyond, as the educated mass goes up with the increased level of awareness, politics will no more remain as a ground for the historical and typical "heir apparent" thing.

dreaming .................... an engineer takes sabbatical for 5 years, to improve his / her constituency and joins the company again, corporates advertise " candidate with a past 5 year loksabha term preferrable."

A fresh inflow of educated mass will bring in a system of change and lets be the change. We can avoid the unnecessary and illogical oxymorons, like declaring the Thai first as tamil new year's day and at the same time, advertising in the family owned tv channel about special programs to mark the Chithirai first day. Careless and emotional politics should stop somewhere and only the education will play the role of a full stop!

Chennai Summer sparkles

A hard and demanding back breaking work schedule for the past month.... mmm....... I failed to notice that Chennai is fast approaching its "oh my god its summer" season. Chennai has only three seasons, Hot, Hotter and Hottest. And........ .............
we are approaching the hottest season.

The hottest season shows its signs in March and reaches crescendo during the month of May and extends upto June. We hear people say, "This year's summer is the worst" of course, as the heat increases each year, this is uttered every year. Start of summer for Chennai means, board exams, temple festivals ( we are spiritual you know), arrival of summer sales ( we make the most out of the season) including revival of bandini prints and soft cottons, etc, the catch word for summer for fabric is "cool cotton, pure cotton", and some lip smacking summer delicacies too.

Though I have loads of stuff to write about the summer delicacies like when it comes to eating some of them including mango, water melon, muskmelon, cucumber, vadams, etc, limiting to only one for which I am a hard core fan.
Its fruit is considered as the king of fruits, but I am talking about its young version, the tender mango,popularly known as " maavadu" or " vadu mangai" in Tamil. I am damn good at making... err.... eating of the historical maavadu pickle.

The appetising colour of the pickle is a combination of deep green with solar red, a symbolic marking of its "toooooooo hot yet soooooooo tasty" nature. The art of maavadu or vadu mangai pickle making is an age old science. People when they talk about this, turns nostalgic about their grandma's secret recipes which make the taste unique to their family. It's quite surprising to note, while the recipe and ingredients are common, the taste comes out differently in different families. Having tasted the vadumangai in my home, my relatives and friends, I guess I have the authority to say this.

Picking up the right mavadu is an art (or science?) by itself, claims one of my friend in T.Nagar. I agree as I remember going for an exclusive mavadu shopping starting March in different markets. Normally it begins in Mylapore where the first glimpse of mavadu arrival is word of mouth spreaded. Then it moves into T.Nagar, the "anything any time" shopping place and finally at Parrys corner kothaval chavadi and another corollary markets nearby, please substitute koyambedu instead of kothaval chavadi now. If there is luck, we even get to go to Madurai and pick lot of mavadus in various categories. There is a popular belief that the best time for mavadu shopping is early morning before the arrival of the Sun God !

Mavadus are not sold in kilograms ( shun that city word), to retain the nativity, its sold in "padi". Some are glamorously named as salem mavadu, madurai vadu, etc.
simple Psychology!! one gets associated with their or mango's native when they hear the name along with the place, who wouldn't like it ?

Its touching to know some go for mavadu shopping after checking the almanac, as this is a year long pickle. I spare the recipe here for obvious reasons. I keep hearing that a quality mavadu pickle is the output of right ingredients, right time and right preservation technique. It cannot go wrong with all these !. Mavadu also serves a good bridge for lost friendships and contacts. I recall mavadu distribution is one way where one of my friend displays a fond rememberance to all her relatives. No one can say no to this best accompaniment of a cool curd rice during summer, isn't it?

Enough of writing about mavadu, I have started scanning the markets for this year's mavadu shopping, ofcourse my summer too starts with the mavadu shopping amongst the others ! ....... will catch up later !!!!!!!!!!!