Fun-loving Four at Mumbai - 4/3/11

Gateway of India
L-R   Pradeep, Faiz, Daulatram and Me

The historic Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai
L-R    Faiz, Me, Daulatram and  Pradeep






















We had a blast for two days!! yeh Hyderabad loga ki tehzeeb hai, Hau!
You are most welcome to join us on our next trip to Pune in September!!

For the road, Vazhaithandu vadai!!

The weather in Hyderabad is Gorgeous right now with a capital ‘G’, I mean Hyderabad’s Green terrain and 3 beautiful roses in our roof garden of mostly Tulsi plants, thanks to the daily rain! 

Being rainy, meri Choti eagerly asked her mother to make the proverbial Potato Bajji or Onion pakoda while she was dicing Vazhaipoo and tender Vazhaithandu into tiny bits, being the menu for tomorrow! The absence of aloo in the pantry eventually made her ask, “Amma, can you make bajji out of the uncut vazhaithandu discs? At this point of time most of it was chopped and only 6 discs were left uncut. Almost instantly, her mom decided to make Vazhai  thandu pakodi which eventually transformed into crispy golden vadais!

This is how recipes are born! When you bond with family! Especially when at the other end of the globe, My badi Beti and Damaad are about to venture into the Outer Banks of North Carolina to test the waters for us. She would indeed be very pleased to have a few of these delicious vadais ‘For the Road’ today!

For the uninitiated, Vazhakkai (raw banana), Vazhaipoo (banana inflorescence) and Vazhaithandu (stem of the banana plant) are all edible delicacies of the South. The mention of these delicacies is enough to make her mouth water and she is indeed very joyous while patting out the vadais into hot oil! It instantly tugs her Kerala roots! You could see her priceless expression while she spoke about this recipe to her parents!

The recipe, according to her is simple and can be done in a flash! 

Ingredients for those interested in a tasty-bite on a rainy day are as follows:

200 gms Besan, 50 gms of cornflour, 50 gms of rice flour, 2 large handfuls of diced Vazhaithandu, 1 large diced onion, two garden-green/red chilies slit and cut, coriander cut finely, a brief rain of hing, salt to taste, rain of juice from half a lemon. Blend all the ingredients well to the right consistency while the oil is getting heated. 

Deep fry! Sit back and enjoy with a steaming hot cup of tea !!

* Photo credit: Ritu Gopal

You get back what you give! With love from Shanghai!

WA gift* from Pearls of wisdom!

'WLU'... .. .. ... ! 

We love you too dear!

Do not fear,

For you are near,

In our hearts, minds,

In the image clear!

Ever joyful!

Our hearts are full!

Brimming with Love,

Changing with seasons!

For no rhyme or reason.

Question not,

Look into your future,

Beyond nature and nurture,

Your dreams floating in the Universe,

Beyond the umbrella gleams!

Gleams like The Cosmic mirage!

Your silver strokes and notes,

A silky image, 

Worth a billion Yuan?

Priceless, 

Yes. Not worthless,

Life comes full circle,

Oh! Brahms!
 Barely one, She shrieks with delight,

To the tune of dance # 5

While her tender digits bloom and grow,

Bloom to the joyous Mazurkas!

*Framed again! Priceless digital gift!! Not for sale!

By the Colorado River - December 1996

I shall always cherish memories of my visit to Grand Canyon!! 

It was biting cold and yet pleasant. My 4-year old, with wee gloves, sports shoes and blue jacket had to be sheltered in the car while we walked around to glimpse into the abyss and zenith beyond! It was beauty of a different kind, feel and dimension. We were struck with awe! 

These pictures were sent to us. A 'quote'  of 1997, by the girls' aunt, behind the photo, was noticed and laid up for view.  This is now a treasured gift.. given for our sweet 27th! 

Thank you my girls in Dallas, Habshiguda and Richmond. Yeh Daulat Hamesha hamara hai !!

Treasure from Vijaya's Archives!!

See below a quote which was on her desk at work for years and posted here with a hope to preserve that through this blog!!

A digital image of an oil painting on paper.. also from her Archives!! so carefully preserved. You can see it from the edges.. her roots .. palm fronds swaying gently in the breeze....Upon reflection into the yesteryears, the proverbial quote...

                                 … by Carl Sagan

"If we look at the universe in the large, we find something astonishing. First of all, we find a universe that is exceptionally beautiful, intricately and subtly constructed. Whether our appreciation of the universe is because we are a part of that universe – whether, no matter how the universe were put together, we would have found it beautiful – is a proposition to which I do not pretend to have an answer. But there is no question that the elegance of the universe is one of its most remarkable properties. At the same time, there is no question that there are cataclysms and catastrophes occurring regularly in the universe and on the most awesome scale. There are, for example, quasar explosions which probably decimate the nuclei of galaxies. It seems likely that every time a quasar explodes more than a million worlds are obliterated and countless forms of life, some of them intelligent, are utterly destroyed. This is not the traditional benign universe of conventional religiosity in the West, constructed for the benefit of living and especially of human beings. Indeed, the very scale of the universe – more than a hundred billion galaxies, each containing more than a hundred billion stars – speaks to us of the inconsequentiality of human events in the cosmic context. We see a universe that does not exclude a traditional Western or Eastern god, but that does not require one either”

Preserve the quote, the Universe, the painting, freeze that memory, the breeze....

From Bank Street to Marredpally!! Down memory lane...

The fact that I kept this photo all these years speaks volumes of a place full of integrity. Click on it for a larger view.  Yes indeed, The State Bank of Hyderabad of which I was a part and those memories shall remain with me forever!!

We, particularly at the Shanti nagar branch, set our own rules only to add depth and meaning to our customers. Such was the unity amongst my colleagues. Often we pitched in money to satisfy our customers and did not look at the consequences or rulebooks. 

We knew how to deal with our managers and vice versa. We knew how to count cash literally and metaphorically! As a consequence of being good Samaritans, the bank prospered and customer count increased manifold. We were extremely popular for our deeds that were the consequence of our collective and united actions! 

Now most of these customers are my friends for life!  This is the real world – real social networking!! Trustworthy down-to-earth pals! Dost hai Bai!

You will see me standing in the back row, a flashy tie. Despite being a Hyderabadi, I liked to dress well and knew when to dress formally. Being easy going, I had a large following of friends who would chill out and not worry about the consequences of having confided in me. Well, I am totally innocuous despite my pride of being a Mulki. 

Well, my wife, also a Mulki, treasures this photo not because I was the Group leader during my banking career, but because she lived down this lane in Marredpally years back when I did not even know that one day she would eventually be mine! 

The staff training centre used to be a beautiful place. The architecture of houses in Marredpally, the lovely lawns and trees are vivid in my memory. The house was adjacent to the New Club where her Dad used to play Tennis with Jaisimha and other pals. Most of them are stardust now but have left their legacy for Indian cricket! 

She is as attached to Marredpally as I am to Sultan Bazar. The irony of it is that as soon as she was out of this famous planned locality i.e. Marredpally (also known as Nehru Nagar) alias Indus valley, I too decided to quit the bank in order to embark upon the humble beginnings of my childhood buddy! That certainly requires to be posted as a separate blog!!

Coffee is synonymous with The Hindu!

A very special brew indeed, my morning cup of cheer!

I have a new protocol, even more stringent than it earlier was.

1. Buy Krishna coffee in Kingsway (i.e. ask for freshly-roasted peaberry with 10% chicory in multiples of 200gms). Chicory more than this is just not acceptable. Store the brown paper coffee packets wrapped up in a polythene bag at -20 deg Cand use one packet at a time. This preserves the flavours of coffee.

2. Put decoction the previous night using the steel coffee-filter. Add 5-7 heaped teaspoons of the ground coffee powder into the upper column and press it with the steel press.

3. Pour boiling hot water from a height, as far as the arm can go up, over the steel press to fill it to the brim and position it even if it scalds your finger. Cover with the steel lid but not completely, as this can create a vacuum. Gently tap with the lid, tak, tak, if the first drops take long to exit into the lower collection chamber.

4. Ask me for that cup of cheer :), that requires a delicate mixing of the decoction, milk and veneer.

No more steel tumblers, except for her - she prefers a kutti steel glass. Of late, she converted to coffee; such is the irresistible aroma when I make it just right with all that aathufying to get that froth without the davara-glass! The Mug-Vaal pathiram aathufying is probably as far apart as my arms can get and with that extra dash of sugar for myself, my morning is Bindaaz with this first cup making my 5-km walking in Kakatiyanagar all the more enjoyable!

This coffee-drinking habit is a sharp contrast to my Hyderabadi culture that I nurture despite being raised as a Tam-Brahm, speaking Hyderabadi-Tamizh or as she puts it, Koti-bashai, in the gullies of Sultan Bazar where I grew up and imbibed my Dad's habit of reading The Hindu.  For a while, I would even distribute the newspaper.

Reading The Hindu, my Bible, also has a protocol. 

Look for a vantage seat in the living room with sunlight streaming down your back. Pick up the newspaper on the left hand - and 2nd cup of frothy Dikashan-Kapi, in a white mug, on the right hand and read on.... 

I give full credit to what I am today to my daily 'Bible'.

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