Anush says

. . .Amma if you water the plants they will feel so excited
she likes word dropping

. . .It is so dark- the sun and moon have gone to sleep- they are very tired- after cooking full day
must have picked that one up from my mom

. . .Amma i open cupboard and put on chocolate brown lip balm
That was my lipstick that she had smeared on!!

. . . Appa, why i am not there in photo in amma appa's college? ? why? WHY?
because baby then they would have expelled us!!

Aasa Dosai Appalam

Here is a very spiritual song inspired by the Golden discs of delight - appalam song and here is Appalam Chappalam and here I give you mine-

This Crunchy munchy treat,
Lifts your spirits when you are beat,
Like a snack some eat,
I think this rhyme should stop and retreat.

Appalams-
Source
Ambika and the local Brahmin street / area contact ( I have one) are the best. Bindu, Dots and Maanmark are the other known brands but i avoid them.
For poppadam go to the friendly Kerala Chips guy nearby or the Malayallee shop in your vicinity

Formats
You have the regular appalam ( which can roasted or fried or microwaved) rettai appalam, appla poo ( flowers)
Popadamas have a low shelf life both raw and fried . They cannot be roasted and are just fantastic with sevai/ avial/ Kerala cuisine

Flavours
You do not find too many variations in flavour in the south relative to the north Indian Papad. You can have a generous heaping of jeera or not.
But you do have alternatives such as the maracheeni ( tapioca/ kappa) appalam ( sometimes tempered with mud!! ) , jackfruit applam and pure rice applam ( neither can be roasted as i know)
Check this very moving blog out while it also brings the magic of poppadam alive

Papad
Any super market sells it. Synonymous with Lijjat for a long time you have other brands now and even the South Indian Ambika makes its Lijjat style papad
Flavours galore- With or without garlic, with pepper, methi, punjabi masala, jeera etc etc
Thanks Alan I visited this site and learnt more- and do NOT miss the jingle of yester years

Vadaam/ Vethal
Cousins of Appalam/ papads, it comes in smaller fritter size protions and eaten usually like wafers or with food.
Made in an assortment of vegetables( okra/ and/ or rice - gram flour. Some can also be fried and used in gravies such as " menthiya kozhambu"

Pots Post

Pots to me have always meant conventional ghamlas - the terracotta- mann thotti kind
I have seen some poorer families use Vanspati tins and some rich ones use Cognac bottles as planters.

Now we have a couple of new options:
- In Chennai at least you see these garish cement ones- supposedly more durable , definitely more colorful but am really unsure if they will let the soil breathe and so on
- The other is this a lovely glazed ceramic one- the paisley Jaipur style motif on it- surely not suited for direct planting given the amount one spends on it but interesting if one were to keep theplant indoors

And now introducing my idea- a discarded vegetable crate....the kind they transport tomatos in- if you paint it - would it not recreate a quanit European window sill flower planter kind of appeal? What do you think?

BTW Anush is one month short of being three and I actually forgot all about it till around an hour back. I am certainly making headway on the monthly b'day thingie- I told you.

Jaane tu ya jaane na

Anush enjoyed Guindy Zoo/ park a lot this time as well. An impulse visit on Saturday lasted a good hour and a half !!

She has for the first time been missing her father who was off to Chintmani and Blore for a few days.

Her father, Navy has been missing luggage. He is truly " the absent minded professor" if there was one. Historically, he has forgotten his wallet at a mall once and his suitcase at the airport. This time he left behind his own bag in Chintamani and realised only on reaching Blore!!

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Jaane Tu - The movie
I was sure I would enjoy this movie despite the average rating it had got from critics. It was more like I wanted to enjoy the movie- so I did.
This movie is better seen with your buddy/ flame from college ( to give it an edge) than the current love of your life- great if he happens to be the same individual.
I find Imraan a young and upgraded version of Joey in terms of looks. Like most women who have had a college romance, I could identify with it. Even the gang was akin to one of my many gangs.
I am waiting to see more of my favorite actress ever Smita Patil's son. I thought the older gen of actors were aptly casted.
And I could not get over the talking portrait scenes. They were a scream.
The girl who lived in the make believe world to get over her parent's differences- very poignant.

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Last couple of days, Anush has fever and seems to be enjoying it!! While she sleeps a little, she keeps jabbering away most of the time about how she will eat kulfi and cold water once she is well ....She also chose mid night to update me on her plans!! But seriously, kids just do not seem to know the meaning of the word rest- be it for themselves or for others.

New pastures

1 minute mehendi - worse than 2 minute noodles

Migrant workers I find a lot at the building site- in particular from Orissa and Andhra and at restaurants and parlours ( Nepal/ Darjeeling- passing off as Chinese)

Now on a recent visit to Panagal Park I saw lots of Mehendi ( henna) "appliers" from Delhi/ Rajasthan - at least 8 of them opposite the old Nallis- on the footpath. Women were flocking to them to get their hands adorned-though how they will manage to shop with that on beats me!

Also came across "toran" vendors for the doorways and pooja areas- with mirrors and rudraksh beads etc - willing to cheat the Tamil consumer and offer huge discounts to the Hindi speaking one : - ))

Chennai is truly becoming cosmopolitan!!

Wonder if I qualify as a migrant worker- but I belong no where- a Tamilian in Mumbai - a Mumbaikar in TN !!

Missing Humour

I am not sure if I have a sense of humour.

I do not relish mother in law jokes- I will be one some day and do not wish to seen as a caricature / a banshee. As if arguments are only with MILs- we disagree with our mothers too, don't we? And still love them....Also when you do not ( and often cannot) treat them as your mother, how can you expect to be treated as a daughter? These jokes doom the relationship even before it begins. Why not confront and sort issues , why resent and keep quiet? And where are FILs in all this?

Marriage jokes- find them sexist often and rather cynical too- why would the institution thrive, if it sucked so much as the "jokes" would have you believe

or Anti- Men/ Anti women jokes- very sad and sexist. Why box in millions of people?

I just wish there were as many nice things being said about these relationships as there are negatives being highlighted. It would even things out. Then I would not mind.

A big cheers to all the great Mothers-in- law ( mine and Navy's included), wonderful Daughters In Law( me leading the pack) , fantastic couples, gorgeous men and women ( all of us) - my heart goes out to you. You do a great job and keep it up.

In the meanwhile, let me go try and find my funny bone.

Law on laundry

There should be a law that bans clothes being dried on balconies...

Why can't some safe and roofed place be provided for each flat on the terrace or the basement for this?

Have you noticed how in Chennai and Mumbai gorgeous buildings look awful with the line of clothes drying in the balcony....Roofed because it might rain and if the couple is working then the clothes cannot be gathered fast, Safe because you do not wish to be rendered clothe- less

But sometimes ( very rarely) laundry hung out looks attractive as well- in photos.