A washing with whiteness for the season

The white washers were two women of the neighbourhood  and they were came in with a  balancing hook to white wash our home.

A preliminary sack of white lime was got with the sticking fevicol and royal blue to add a blue ting.


  A few buckets of water to mix , the women went to work with our utility man Palaniswami, whom i had written about some time back, a man of all seasons, to help them .

Up they went on to the rungs of the ladder and , it was so nice to see the whitening come on to the dirty walls, as they broomed it with the liquid lime .

Chewing the pan in between to keep them active, the women gossiped and by evening the simple home was made pious and pure of its walls.

Internal Medicine - tickling oneself to health

There had been a lot of thoughts about internal medicine, from a study of all ailments other than the dermatology, to some medical formulations for the internal use only, and some other puzzling diseases.

Now with an understanding of fasting and other alternative systems , one gets to feel the body has a capacity to produce its own set of medical formulations to set itself to health, with some easy triggering methods.

Strange, such a lovely term, bringing on a thought wave to health care.

masalaed beans curry for the margali winter

Sitting lazily,gossiping and peeling the beans of the season can be a wonderful time of togetherness, for those who do not have the betel pan chewing habit of romancing.

This is the season of this variety of beans, that floods the market, and each home has its own way of preparing them .

We had them peeled and soaked over night to decap them, the next morning

We had the spicy gravy type of the curry made,with all the masala powders blended together, and made in the traditional pot,it goes great with rice,with no left overs for the evening or the next day .

Would Moody elevators take one to ground floor depressions

In the villages one would always find cases of poisoning, or  self immolation, many run practices to save the patients to survive another episode.

These days of caution and less chances of that type of suicide, the multi-pill swallowing jumping from high places, or hanging has become commoner.

With the depressions coming on early it looks like the medicines them selves could bring on the nature of suicidal thoughts.

Who would have the time to get over the depressions with group discussions, music,dance and more methods.

The world is getting to be more depressive these days,for some.

May the ones who are experienced with this share their thoughts.

Bend a little, stretch a little and breathe in a lot

Sunday mornings can some times be an active one like this morning.

The  neighborhood kids came in wanting to show of their skills they had acquired during the week at school.

Looks like the kids did have a rehearsal some where for the way it worked out.

It started with one kid singing a song, and another teaming up with one of the gang for another song.

One girl wanted to show her skill at asanas, she stretched and pulled and crossed and held, but that was exactly what she did and within moments she was at a pose and all the others followed the example.

I guess we are beyond the age of such liberties.

We were the silent appreciative audience to them.

Ridge gourd to the rescue

Ridge gourd is a tasty creeper vegetable.

Many an ailment these days could be gotten over with the help of the creeper vegetables ,and the alkalinity in them .

It is a pick at the vegetable market, but could easily been given a bitter vegetable ,some allow us to make a cross check at the purchase it self, to prevent a battle at home with the lady.

The vegetable is washed and the ridges removed with a shaver for this kind, then it is neatly cut and all the ingredients of  turmeric, curry powder, garlic , onions , coriander powder and tomatoes are gotten ready, the dish is an easy kind provided u have the support of the lady of the home,for the final touches,of the salt to taste and the chillie to spice.

The clay pot and the wodden laddle add to the feel of the cooking.

Breaking a fast tenderly

The over night fast of 10 odd  hours is  broken with such harsh food, that sometimes the body could get thrown to nausea, and a dump site.

What better alternative could it be than the tender coconut water and the soft white fleshy coconut.

What ever the fast, either of the political kind, the religious , or the therapeutic, the best way to finish it would be with the tender coconut water.

They say if god could have a choice of only one creation , that would be  nutritious, safe and self fulfilling it would be the coconut.

Talking often of  the coconuts could not be sufficient as it is not available at all places and even if it is , it gets taken for granted that we can drink it some other time, well three cheers to the now affordable tender coconut water.

May it always stay.

A gossip about the thatched roof idly shop.

There are many wake up alarms or call, but this one  which catches  many here" soodana  idly sambaaarr", is a sure awakener.

The long sleepers, would prefer this to the hot  beverages, the school children would prefer this to the other dishes made at home by the family maid or mom.

The stuffy child on the hip of the granny or mom being showed the crow and other distractions to make it eat would also prefer the  idlies.

As for me the best b fast would be this for the time of availability at  7.30 am
to the waiting lady at home after an earlier porridge of sprouted malt .

This idly kadai lady and her husband take up orders for functions and sudden guests at home, her thatched roof shack attracts many to their door step for a gossip and eat out.

East merges with the west through a sandwich

The old adage of east is east and west is west and the two shall never meet is gone, with better communication and transport and a blend in the cuisine and more cultural acceptance.

This morning the marketing brought home carrot,beans and potatoes and curry leaves, tomatoes of yesterday was taken in with the small onions .

 The spices and curry powders were cross checked with the lady and ,after the washing and chopping , in  went  the vegetables  to  the clay pot , after roasting the onions and curry leaves.

Enough water was added and the ingredients were left to boil with enough salt to taste.

The lovely odor brought smiles to my lady and  the spread of butter and the brown bread made a lovely b fast for the morning.

( pathuley inna  kooda  idly vangikalam)

(translated  it means - if it is not sufficient u can always buy  idlies)

Chewing these will not get u a tail

The village market is just a spread of a few items for a small house hold, a few hours in the morning.

Around 7am one can find the village damsels walk towards the daily market of local vendors, selling their farm goods.

Curry leaves to palm full of beans for a price of a few rupees, the ladies finger, carrot, beans.
With the mind making plans for the b fast,lunch and dinner, quick purchases are made, very sure the wares will be there for the morrow too,fresh, one does not have to think of the space available in the refrigerator.

I was hurrying away, having just bought some aval,  when my eyes caught the old lady selling keerai,now the local coriander variety is gone, looks like the genetic engineering techniques are already in the vogue in hiding.

A wish at the Begenning of the end

It was just another week end , and was getting to dusk, the chillness in the air was just setting in, the evening cases were on the wane, and with little interruption the neighbor hood children trooped in.

They had selected a topic them selves of writing the hard words, a site was goggled and the difficult words were being copied and written by themselves, they wanted to be better than their classmates in the vocabulary , may be!.

With no cause , one child blurted out, the world is going to end and i want to be born to my own Mom, with not a second lost another child said , i want to go to the same school, another followed with the same speed, i want my own sisters and brother, the final was  thrown at me, we want u to be our friend , but with one change,  we want u in our age .

What a compliment. With maturity and innocence.

Models on the way

The morning catches the parents all hurrying to get their wards off to school with the uniform of the day,
some have  two or three shades.

This gets the kids all happy and warm for a send off every day , tatataing their parents and others before they leave.

 There are never any kids sobbing to school these days as every day seems more like a picnic collections off to a lovely spot for a freak out, with lovely colors.

If it is a birthday , full  design of ones wish.

Not forgetting some odd one like me who enjoys the whole show .