V Day !!

 This Valentines day I was watching over the hype made by the media.In our days days we didnt have Valentines day , but still love was in the air.

On a serious note-

                              Love can be simply defined as the best feeling one can experience in ones  life. Feb 14, Valentines day - is a special day for lovers. It is said that on this day, lovers speak their hearts and celebrate their success of togetherness. However this day has been highly merchandised. It has been branded as the festival of Love. The one day when it feels like only lovers exist on Earth. The lovers get all the universal attention they need. Music channels are flooded with love songs, movie channels are loaded with romantic movies, restaurants call for a fancy dinner or undisturbed lunch in a cozy corner with innovative menus. Chocolates, ice-creams, cakes -everything calling for love. And without the mention of it, it would be incomplete - bouquet of roses, which reign the entire day- symbolising love, care and affection. SMS ,cards saying love messages are on full swing. DIAMONDS ARE FOR EVER - Money cant buy you love , but a lot of money can be spent on love-Diamond rings and pendants play a vital role as Valentines gift.

                       

To be personal-

But in my life Love came in with my marriage. Love was offered as package with my husband to me.It was as if he walked into my life and just like that we made the best pair for ever. Love was there more than you can imagine and it still goes on and on even after 27 years. Actually , marriage changes an individuals life in many ways. It brings lots of joys , additional responsibilities and not to forget,worries in small measures. As we try to adjust the new person into our lives ,the smooth road of  our life becomes rough and strong Since my marriage my  husband has become my best friend and he was the one who taught me to enjoy little little things in life. Valentines day celebrations brought me gushing memories in my life path. Though I was not gifted Valentines gift , I  have, of course been showered with gifts all alongwhile by my husband. Though I had never been on a date,  I have been to a lot of candle lit dinners. Roses had been replaced with jasmine flowers , diamond rings were replaced by Kanjivaram sarees and a peck on my cheeks and pat on my shoulders were my valentine cards.I am not debating about the age old Love or critisizing the modern saga of love .But I am of stubborn opinion that love in those days were not bit inferior to the modern pompous version with Valentines day.

A  few tips-

Last week Pope had an advice for all couples to lead a happy life.He advised couples to use please , sorry and thank you as much as possible.I have a piece of advice for all the couples on this V day to have their love last longer-Saying I Love You as  often as possible is the secret behind the successful life. Unexpected romantic surprises  will also spice up your love. Having arguments also add magic to it. But one important thing , one should be able to say sorry and admit his or her faults.

 

Picture perfect

The other day, one afternoon, I was bored and so I was looking at old  photos and I came across this family photo of ours. At once, memories came rushing in, how we took this photograph and my effort behind this.

         It's every home maker's dream to have a beautiful family portrait. This photograph is perfect, isn't it? Everyone is looking at the camera, wonderfully smiling and have perfectly dressed up. You may think that isn't a big deal, but to me it was. My daughters with their perfect hair and my hubby smiling, that's good looking! He never does that, and so, I am glad to have a record of it ha ha just kidding :) 

       When I suggested the idea of hanging a blow up of our family picture in our living room, everyone happily welcomed the idea, but no one was ready to come to the studio to take the picture .Everyone was mouthing some reason or the other, "Maa! I have to study," "Maa! I have plans with my friends," "Honey, I have work" (always elusive this ready made reply.) So to just gather them was a big task. The first one who was convinced was my younger daughter. Then it was my hubby's turn, he agreed  to come along only in terms that we can return in one hour and then, my elder daughter had one more condition. She was in her friends house and she agreed to come only if she was allowed to go back there after the photo shoot. Okay, done! I agreed to everyone and we proceeded to Photo Zone. Thank God, it wasn't crowded that day, and we had the photo shoot without any disturbance, but it was a Herculean task for the photographer .

      Our family is filled with great posers, but when it comes to taking a group photo, everyone of us were looking at different directions, and when we were made to look at the camera, we were not smiling, and the photographers main task was to make my hubby smile. Out of the 20 pictures taken, this was the only picture in which he was smiling. Voila! We got the picture! We then framed it and it is still hanging in our living room for years.
     Now it is the highlight of the room! Everyone is at awe at the picture and questions about the whereabouts of it.My hubby jumps out with a reply telling them  how much it cost and and how we ended with the wonderful idea of framing it big to the size of the wall. My daughter also chips in about the place Photo Zone and how the photographer takes wonderful pictures. I sit quietly watching them pom poming. I've been so close to yelling, "But remember how hard it was for me to take you there?" so many times, but I kept my mouth shut, after all, they are my family, aren't they?

Best days gone through

JAN 1 2014

                New year dawned with a cool breeze and drizzle in Chennai. My facebook wall was flooded with new year wishes and my mobile phone had been constantly ringing with whatsapp wishes. Thanks to all the kind hearted ones. Great mood has been set to welcome 2014. All the hype and hulla bulla created by the TV, media and friends _all settled down in the evening. I was quietly ruminating over the gone 2013. Not bad, 2013 has been good to me. It gave me some wonderful friends, lovely experiences and happy memories.

               

                 2013 was the year in which my daughter Aruna was selected for the German Exchange Program in her school. She started learning German language from the month of January. The weekend course continued for four months. For a while I have been telling her to learn a foreign language, which she had been ignoring. Now by God's grace, she began learning German. And by the end of the Academic year, around the last week of April, she flew to Germany and came back in May first week.

Click here to see what she has to say about her trip.

               The program is such as our children go there and experience the day to day life and culture of the Germans and their exchange partners come here and live and learn our culture. It is interesting,isn't it? The tour was set in October. The German teacher was the brain behind the program called for all the  parents and made it clear to us that it was joint experience. It was with parents' co-operation, she could make  their visit a success. So we had regular meetings and planned about how to make things work out. All the enthusiastic parents became my friends.I became very happy since I always loved company.

                    The day came...the beautiful, lovely girl called Lena came to our home..She was such a darling. We enjoyed her presence each and every second. Days flew like anything. It was like the visit came to an end within the blink of an eye. My elder daughter Neeraja became more attached to her than Aruna. She taught some bollywood dance moves to Lena which she loved very much. I couldn't control myself on the day when she left, the whole family was in tears. I don't know whether God will grace us with an opportunity to meet her again! However I will never forget her.

             Two more happy incidents were when I met my friends. I went to Salem to meet the most adorable, lovely,wonderful, and beautiful friend. Mahes, and on my birthday Thendral, who is double times what I said of Mahes, surprised me with her visit on my birthday. On these two occasions, I was beaming with joy  the whole time.

         I have always had an ambition to become a journalist. So, one day, just like that, I wrote an article for Deccan Chronicle and it had gotten published!

Oh my goodness! I got a lot of encouragement about this and one more good thing- I started blogging. So, thank you 2013  for offering me such wonderful experiences, and one word, 2014, "be as good as our predecessor. If you are still more better and generous providing with more interesting things to do in my life, then it is no problem :P"

   
                   

aam aadmi ab pratham aadmi

• It was Narendra Modi all there in the newspapers and social media for the past six months.But the Delhi Elections changed the scenario..Now it is Arvind Kejriwal all over.

This 45 year old, former IRS officer's conduct has changed the  very idea of what politician and political party would be.He has reduced the distance between the people and politician.The name of the party itself indicates that he is one for the common man,among the common man-AAM AADMI.The crowd in the Ramlila Maidan on the swearing in ceremony  was unimaginarble..It was around one lakh twenty thousand  people thronging in and around there to witness their favourite leader..that was double the amount of estimated crowd to be present,Long back when Anna Hazare fasted in the same Ramlila Maidan and if someone would have told that Kejrivwal would become chief minister of Delhi you would have brushed him away saying Nonsense.But today it has happened.Leave alone the big big words the newspapers are using to describe him,In simple words let me say he is an Achiever- He dreamt of something and made that happen Hatsoff to that remarkable quality,I was reminded of the movie -Mudalvan in which Arjun becomes Chief Minister for one day and tries to transform the system,The reel has become real. His election promises were solutions to water,power,inflation and safety to women.Lets wait to see this man doing that..The first piece of show itself proved that he will do it.When the tricky question of acquiring support from Congress emerged  Kejriwal wanted the people to decide through sms and phone calls.. Who could even dreamt something like that would ever happen?The way he speaks and the method he work signals us as if he says  I am with you.  He reminds of a neighbourhood youth who can be trusted.

lets wait and watch!!

MADIBA..AN ICON OF PEACE

Though the media has been flooding in and out with life history of Nelson Mandela and the Internet has been overflowing with each and every detail about him.I felt that on my part I should write something about this great man..Nelson Mandela ,who was often called as "Gandhi of South Africa.."
                               

While the world had forgotten Gandhian principles and theories,he came in there and proved the world that Ahimsa and Satyagraha could always win.He demonstrated his characteristic firmness in pursuit of Justice.For a man who was imprisoned for nearly thirty years of his life who struggled against the white minority rule to bring down apartheid rule..Whatever great titles he was conferred with..may it be  Bharat Ratna, Nobel Price or the Gandhi Peace Price..it shall all be very small when compared to the millions of hearts which he continue to rule.Leave all his early life he became the South African President in 1994..,Mandela was a man of charisma,he continued to play a prominent role on world stage.He formally left public life in 2004 at the age of 86,but is still remembered with the same fondness as of his early years.
                      Three U S presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George Bush  attended his memorial service to pay homage at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg..,The gathering was with nearly 100 world leaders with a crowd of 80,000 people ,braving the rain. Earlier Princess Dianas funeral recorded more than a million people attendance to pay homage at her funeral at West Minister Abbey in Sep 1997.,.In Moscow five million people waited in a line that stretched to 10 km to see the father of the Nation Joseph Stalin in 1953.. On tuesday ,Dec 10th, people from all walks of life stood united to show their respect for the "Giant of History"as Obama called him.
.INTERESTING FACT TO KNOW:
 Though the world know him as Nelson Mandela,South Africas anti-aparthied hero has five other names including Tata..At birth he was given the name Rolhahla Mandela.He was named Nelson at primary school..Mandela is also referred to as Madiba, Tata and Khulu...
                                     GOOD BYE TO
                                    ONE OF THE WORLD'S
                                       WONDERFUL MEN..

unforgettable evening

What do you do when you to have to go to some unknown place,where you know no one ,have no one to talk to,but your visit is mandatory..???"Your answer would be exactly,feeling bored,,wish I had stayed at home watching tv or reading a book.But ,,,,,I do plan something..I do something differently so that the instance becomes memorable..Here is one  such incident.
       Recently I had such an

experience,It was a buffet dinner hosted by Mr.Martin on his dear daughters wedding at ITC,Grand Chola..The name itself attracted me very much.I always had dreams of visiting it.my husband was also raising my expectations by giving extra build-up.Sep 14th  we went to the hotel....

           
               MAGNIFICENT is the apt word for the great great ITC-RAJENDRA HALL.The hall is bigger than our chennai office(Mahalaxmi offset printers pvt limited,chennai).around 30000sq feet.The Hall has a capacity to seat around 1000 people.I could see people everywhere. Beautiful  girls clad in bright red sarees welcomed at every junction.Once we entered the hall, we were bombarded with welcome drinks and starters.Fruit punch, sprite and another one(I dont know the name of it).The boys were so energetic and friendly that not a single person in the hall would have denied it.If we refuse to one boy,another one would come to us in few seconds and offer.But my husband had the brave heart to refuse it repeatedly.undoubtedly he should be given a medal for it..(here I need to add a smiley.....being in face book  constantly my hands were searching for a wink smiley ..forget it)I think he was saving it for the dinner.So many starters and everything was so yummy..

They had notice board in which we can write our wishes for the lovely wedded couples.Now a days this has become a fashion-I have seen this a few places before.I blessed the couple.As we had arrived early we were able to meet the host and wedding couple without any hurryburry,Mrs and Mr.Martin had few kind words with us and we posed for the photograph ,gave away the gift,blessed them ...and all those formalities were over.
         I could see photographers everywhere.So many people were taking photographs..Each one was having a different camera..I was wondering where do they get all these new models of camera..Even the CROMA, the electronic  mega store in chennai wouldnt have so many models in it.

We walked around to the buffet.It had about five stations..presenting with Indian breads,variety rice ,so many curries, salads,ice

creams,desserts and fruits.I had no one to talk to. Sudha Raghunathan was singing,but I had no interest in Carnatic music ,so I was just walking around and see if something interesting could happen.suddenly I had an idea..I asked for a chef cap to the serving boys,so that I could take a photograph like in Masterchef..GOOD GRACIOUS ,the boys went to the event management Chef-in-Chief Mr.Gaurav Mathur.VOILA!!! Mr.Mathur had one of his boys run to the store and get me one and presented it to'me.He asked to have it as a souvener.I became very happy and took photographs wearing it,SO the occasion became memorable and interesting to me

I was carrying it around with me even when we were having dinner.Everything was excellent .The best was a fish curry called meen moilee -had never ever eaten such a dish so soft,tender and delicious.Then I went  to conquer the dessert region.Only at this time my SAVIOUR  came in- my husband- very kind heartedly offered to have my handbag and the cap till till I finish it.So I was wholeheartedly enjoying everything on my way.Then I came back and asked for the handbag.He gave it to me with a big smile.I asked for the cap and he blinked..cant never ever forget that look in his 

face.HE LOST IT.

Unaware of the further things coming up,he said sorry.I couldn't control myself...BANG..I gave him a slap on his back and cooled down,We couldn't see the cap anywhere and so the cap is LOST.

Anyway we returned home after the 

hearty meal,The next day I mailed Mr.Mathur as a thanking note about the buffet,In it I mentioned about the cap being lost,The reply came within an hour,,it said ,he always welcomed us to his hotel and when dining there ,if he is informed,he will give another chef cap,

So,BEWARE my dear husband ,you have to take me to Grand Chola another day just for the sake of a chef cap,,ha,,ha,,

Post script: "Muru doesnt do different things

She does things differently"(apologies Mr,Shiv Kera)   ha..ha...lol

My 27th wedding anniversary this year

Since my last post, a lot has happened....I have been thinking for  a while-let me do the blogging.,maybe it will be interesting..Ideas strike to my mind when I am in the kitchen,working out in the gym or travelling in the car,I often run at once and note down the points on a notebook or some other thing,like even a bit of paper,And..,then ,when everything is finished and will not be disturbed for a while,I open my laptop and then now I go blank.Always resulting with nothing to write down.I come out with short one or two sentences,which may aptly look like facebook statuses..So I have been postponing my blogging for a while.

                But suddenly, this year on my wedding anniversary I had so many things to write about,,

Leave all those gifts that my husband showered on me..the gorgeous watch , the wonderful dress,the phone  calls..the best gift I ever received was from Thendralthendralsaravanan.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-post_30.html‎,my dear dear friend.She gave us a call to confirm whether it was our wedding anniversary and about two hours later she posted a video about  us online..how sweet!!

I couldnt control myself.,I was jumping .,literally ., my daughter Aruna would have wondered,"what happened to my mom?" She collected a few of our photographs and threaded them with a beautiful song and made it a movie,,Fantastic., how creative and thoughtful??/!!! Seen so many ladies wiling away their time in gossiping,but look at this smart girl,she learns everything-painting,poems,etc.,hats off to you my sweet sweet sweet darling!!!

Usually I dont make a fuss around my anniversary,It will always be just another day,I dont cook delicacies and all ...because the whole family is a poor eater and we dont have visiting friends or relatives and all.But the scene changed all of a sudden,My husband's friend called and asked Biriyani as a treat for his family,I became all enthusiastic,started cooking and made biriyani,mutton curry and chicken curry and sent them,then was waiting fingers crossed..the phone rang,Sekar annachi was that ,I popped with the question"annachi have I passed or failed???"he replied with subtle laugh"dont worry You passed.."(annachi is tamil slang which means brother).Good Lord.. had a wonderful morning cooking for them

So September 14 th this year was as interesting as sep14th of 1986..thanks to our dear loving friends..cant forget this day!!!