People With Disabilities…

Everyone watches news though its all noise especially indian news channels. Debates where in they invite six or more people on the panel and the anchor itself takes half the show for introduction of the topic and no one is given the appropriate time to make their point as all are pouncing upon one another to prove their point.

Have you noticed that even during normal news programmes where only the anchor reads out the headlines and detailed topics there is no person shown in the corner screen showing any sign language for people who are hearing impaired and are not able to speak. Don’t they too want to know what’s going on in the country. I have noticed while watching international news channels most of them have a person using the sign and lip movements for the specially disabled people to follow the news. Even on important podiums there would be a person doing the sign and lip language for the people present there who might be journalists and reporters who are short of hearing or have speaking problems due to age or due to being born with that disability. Or even for the general audience who can involve people with such issues. That is not seen in indian news channels, atleast i haven’t seen till now.

I remember during my younger days while watching DD news, there used to be a special day that is Sunday where in they had news for the hearing impaired and that too once a week. They would broadcast the entire week’s news for such people on a Sunday. What about the remaining days?? Don’t they want to know daily as to what’s going on through news channels. Newspapers are there but reading through the length and breadth of the paper which is filled with useless advertisements is another struggle so people prefer watching TV. Guess our country don’t even consider such people capable enough to know what’s going in the country or even the news around the world. Its sad to know that even after these many years of attaining freedom our country isn’t physical disability friendly as in providing them basic facilities like slanting entries to enter and deboard public transports and even wheelchair facilities are not available in malls and prominent places. It is indeed sad.

Normal people struggle in their lives on a daily basis then imagine people of this category.

Clutter 😩😣

That’s a balcony in the picture above. Have a look at it. Attractive? No na. Isn’t it just full of clutter. Ugh. If you zoom into this picture, i bet one couldn’t find one useful thing in it. What i see are empty paint buckets, a pink dustbin, a red round based bucket, some cardboard boxes (if my eyesight is fine i see 2 of them). I mean a balcony is a place where one just goes to breathe some fresh air or to have a cup of tea while enjoying the outside view or just to stand out there to think, to take a break from the inside four walls of the house but if the balcony is like this, where one can’t even set their foot outside cause of not one inch space available to stand then no point.

Where ever we go, be it to any part of the world, we Indians have this habit of hoarding non – wanted stuffs in the name of sentimental values and emotions. I mean what does a broken bucket or a rotten wooden stand or some empty cardboard boxes add any value to our life other than taking up unwanted space and looking ugly. And balconies are the best dumping places for us Indians. If the balcony is equipped with box grill then it becomes a godown of things that belong to the stone age period!

Now see another balcony of the same design that’s free of clutter,

What a treat to the eyes! If you notice the balcony is already so small in size and this is how it should look.

Large balconies becomes a hub of storing nonsensical things which serve no purpose ever or it can be converted to heaven by keeping variety of outdoor plants with beautiful lightings that add to the charm of one of the extension of the house.

The choice is yours, to add clutter or to remove clutter, not only in your house but your mind too.

Leaves…

Green leafy vegetables are good for health.

Today having this 👇

Any idea what’s this? This is Moringa leaves or drumstick leaves. It’s very good for health. These leaves are enriched with potassium and calcium. Do you guys use them?

If yes, how? Give me recipes if you do use them at home. Ask your spouse, mother or domestic help if they make this for you or if you yourself are a good chef and prepare dishes out of these leaves, do share. Would love to know.

And… Ladies and gentlemen, this is how i prepared it …

Okay i know it looks yummy, thanks. 😌

For those who want to know how to prepare this, here it is.

Ingredients:

Mustard – 1/2 teaspoon.

Medium sized onion – 1

Green chillies – 2-3 nos

Coconut grated.

Salt – According to taste.

Haldi powder – Half a teaspoon.

Moringa leaves – Well washed and drain off the water completely.

This is 3 bundles of leaves that I’ve used.

Method of preparation :

In a pan, pour oil (can be any oil and as per your preference). Put in the mustard seeds. After they splutter add in the chillies and onions and saute well. Next put in the haldi powder till its raw smell goes off. Then put in the moringa (drumstick) leaves and mix well. Add the grated coconut, add salt to taste and mix all the ingredients well. Do not overcook as these leaves tend to taste sour if cooked for a long time.

That’s it, a simple, tasty and healthy dry dish. Its a dish that can be prepared quickly in no time and not much ingredients are required for it. Have it along with hot piping rice or chappati. It goes well with both.

😊

Furniture.. Hmm Blessings In Disguise…

Living outside your own country isn’t easy as you are away from your near and dear ones, you miss them, you can’t be present in their happy and sad moments, you miss the food, fun and frolic with friends back home but then you can’t have everything your way either.

Another interesting or rather funny part of being an NRI is when your friend or relative is leaving the same country as you’re in they need to dispose all the stuffs that they have with them like car, furniture and other non – prominent things which they do not want to carry along to their new destination. Many of the folks leave back things or try to sell them and in return incurr losses as no one pays them exactly the amount that they’re looking for and they end up receiving peanuts for things that they paid exorbitantly for.

Now this is the exact time that other friends or colleagues come into the picture as they too are trying to get hold of some things for their household purpose that they have been postponing to buy due to lack of time, budget or some other reasons. When they come to know that a close friend is leaving for good they obviously ask details as to what they plan to do about their things and ‘try’ helping them out to sometimes dispose it off by advising them to upload on sites for better reach or even give hints to them on planning to buy from them some furniture which exactly the seller (friend) has in hand so that in the end they themselves end up buying it rather than an outsider or a stranger buy it from them. An old trick up the sleeves but it works every single time when used.

And due to the closeness of the friendship they would give it up for free and that’s exactly what the buyer wants though he/she may offer money for it as courtesy but the good ‘ol friend would say,’ hey, i can’t take money from you. Its ok. You can take it and otherwise too i wanted to get rid of it and give it off anyway’. The buyer does a ‘happy dance’ in the mind thinking their mission is accomplished while their spouse (mostly wife) all along would have been like a possessed demon instructing and telling them to get hold of the particular centre table or TV stand or study table or whatever before anyone else claims it and the man of the house as per ordered would poke his/her friend atleast twice a week asking, ‘hey, what happened to the furniture, is it disposed yet? till he finally gets hold of it as he needs to keep in mind his wife’s happiness too and also see to it that no money goes out of his pocket else all this buttering will go waste.

And in this bargain all end up happy. The friend is able to get rid of the furniture who in turn got it probably from someone else for free and he is happy that he could give it to his close friend who in turn was eyeing it right from beginning to get it for free. The man of the house is happy that it didn’t alter his home budget else buying good quality new furniture costs a bomb and in this way his wife too ends up happy as money is not wasted and they end up with good furniture that they were probably planning to buy anyway but delaying due to ‘not-now-so-necessary’ factors.

So these are some good things when your friends or people you know leave the country and you end up getting things that you wanted that otherwise cost more and isn’t in your budget for the time being but you get it in a nominal rate or even free and its fine and what you do with it later on when you leave is in your hands. The vicious cycle continues, till then all is well till your basic needs are met.

Divorce.. Its becoming normal nowadays…

Just a look at them and most of the people will say, ‘what a lovely pair’.

But they are divorcing. Sigh. He is Mukesh, a famous actor from the malayalam industry and she is Dr Methil Devika, a famous dancer who is an ace Mohiniyattam performer and doing research in the field of dance hence the doctorate. Both very famous in their own fields.

Nothing new nowadays when one hears about divorce among celebrities. For both of them its their second marriage to each other and they both have kids from their previous marriages. Mukesh is an MLA and doing good with regards to his stint in the film industry too. He’s an old player and has fame, name and money and his life is all well settled. He’s 65. She, on the other hand is 44 and doing well in her field with regards to dance programs and fame. Then what’s the problem one may think?!

They both are out of the stage of puppy love and wanting space in their relationship as they are mature with regards to their age. Both financially sound and not having to depend on each other for anything. After 8 years of their marriage she decides to call it off with reasons unknown. Reports of domestic violence seem to be popping up and if it is, its absolute shame on his part at this age raising hand on a woman whom he married out of his own will and called, ‘wife’.

When asked she stated yesterday to the press , ‘mukesh is a good man but not a responsible husband.’ His earlier wife too had many times in various interactions with the press and interviews stated that mukesh had absolutely no respect for women in his life and never bothered about her or his kids while in the marriage and also later on when they divorced. But then she too can’t be believed as he did not talk about her anywhere nor did he declare anything about why his marriage broke off with his first wife. In this case too he remains silent and hasn’t given his statement.

After marriage with this woman (Devika) and having an age gap of 21 years and he declaring that finally he’s found love, when you get to hear all this it kind of makes you think what is it that these people want in their lives?? They are never satisfied with anything.

Its sad for the kids involved in this but then they too gradually get along with this trauma and live their lives. Crumbling marriages are a fad now but then no two egotistical and super ambitious people can stay together for long under one roof. It becomes suffocating with time. Such people actually shouldn’t marry or should be ready to bend and compromise but if they aren’t they will end up making a hell in each other’s lives and finally the bubble will burst and they are left with no other option other than a divorce.

Why am i bothered, i don’t know. Its their lives but i kind of like Methil devika, she’s got that charm and grace that can make you think that she’s a beautiful and mature person inside out. I have seen her interviews and she answers with such poise and beautiful attitude that one can never think that she can be the reason for a marriage going wrong. Well, i maybe wrong and i don’t know her personally to make such statements but celebrities and their lives kind of creates a spark of interest in our not-so-interesting lives.

But then, ‘humko kya’ wala attitude develops in us yet we like to follow all the gossips , duh!

And nowadays eyes don’t roll on hearing the word ‘divorce’ anymore as it’s becoming normal and we see it happening around us quite frequently. Some boldly go for it while others ‘for the sake of kids ‘ compromise and live their lives so that no one knows about it.

Some people know only to love and will be a disaster if got into the bond of marriage, while some don’t know to love but will be a great person to marry. I think that’s how it works!

Those Were The Days…

Bring me back those days,

Where you smiled and walked past me,

When our eyes met but our lips didn’t speak,

When friends were around yet something felt amiss,

When your, ‘hello’ sent thousands of shivers unknowingly,

When your absence was felt and nothing made sense to me,

And your presence was more than enough for me.

One day you left,

I searched for you far and wide,

And realised you weren’t anywhere close by,

Yet I dwell in those memories,

Knowing atleast no one can snatch those from me.

Pic courtesy :Google

Why.. I wonder 🤔

It was just some days back that i was watching news of unrest going on in South Africa and how the president was pleading to the citizens to stay calm with regard to matters concerned with racism and vigilantism. The conditions looked out of hands and would take some time to be in order and return to peaceful state in the coming future atleast.

The news report showed how local people were looting malls and taking with them whatever they could lay their hands on. Fruits, vegetables, bedspreads, mattresses, clothes, juices, medicines, you name it, they had it.

But one thing that intrigued me was that one person was carrying along a mannequin with him. He didn’t have anything else in hand well obviously coz this itself was a heavy and manly figure to carry around and nothing else would fit in his hands but why did he choose a mannequin of all the things i wonder?! 🤔

What and why could he possibly want a mannequin for at this time of chaos and mayhem??

Mmm… any funny/interesting answer to this strange item of seizure from the mall at such critical time of violence?

ONLY that man can answer this question but i don’t know him and neither does he know me nor does he read my blog, hehe but i sincerely wish i knew! Maybe he could get only that while others looted other things of use, ah, just my two cents.

Issh.. Still.. why a mannequin.. 🤔😕

People are weird, i must say!

You… Us..

Let me drown in your eyes till sunrise.

Let me kiss those lips till i lose myself in your tight grip.

Let me feel your skin like smooth satin.

Let me feel your warm breath as you lie next to me in bed.

Let me stroke your hair while the winds blow cold air.

Let me whisper sweet nothings while you understand everything.

Let’s get lost in each other and forget about the world altogether.

Let me admire and tell you how my love for you is forever and true.

Pic courtesy : Google

Jackfruit… Its not a fruit, its an emotion. 🥺

Jackfruit or ‘Chakka’ as we malayalees call it, is a fruit that’s found in every household in kerala as in every house compound one can find a jackfruit tree. Along with this you can also find mango and imli (tamarind) trees. Generally the jackfruit season is around march- may when one single tree can bear around 5-10 or more of these gigantic fruits.

Then its jackfruit festival in the household. Every item will be prepared with this fruit. I remember when we had our school vacations and we used to visit kerala, my grandmother would prepare so many delicacies with it. Literally everyone would finally get fed up with the overdose of jackfruits. Then the distribution of these fruits would take place to everyone who would pass by our homes. Even a beggar or a ragpicker would be given one chunk of jackfruit when they would come asking for alms.

As every household would have abundance of this fruit for their own use, it would be gifted to other households and neighborhoods who were themselves trying to get rid of the overwhelming produce of this fruit in their own trees and after self consumption. This fruit would then become a source of ‘passing the parcel’ to every home and then one becomes clueless as to what to do with it as everyone slowly starts refusing and makes excuses of not accepting it saying they had enough of it!

Now that i stay out of india, i miss those days of having a tummy full of this fruit but we do get this fruit here and we buy it out of greed to get a taste of nostalgia. Jackfruits from Indonesia and Sri Lanka are available here but its nothing compared to the ones that arrive from india. But if one is lucky enough then one can end up with a juicy and ripe one. Yesterday bought a piece that was neither too big nor small after many rounds of inspecting it from outside and smelling it to know the ripeness and today was the day to cut it open as the whole kitchen smelt of it and we knew by the aroma that its well ripened enough to consume.

And viola it turned out to be tasty with well ripened slices and with every bite i remembered my sweet grandmother who would sit for hours on the kitchen floor sorting and carefully picking out slices of ripe and unripe ones. The ripe ones for eating and the unriped ones for preparing other items.

Its a marvelous fruit and every part (except the hard outer part) is used for preparing several things which are sumptuous. And add to it the calories it gives you freely with the over binging but then who cares. Its not everyday you get to eat such tasty foods and if you are lucky to have people who lovingly feed you then what’s the harm in putting on some weight. 😊

The seeds of these fruits are equally healthy and can be put in sambhar, avial and other dishes.

For those who have never eaten jackfruit, you guys are surely missing out on something delicious and in the ‘not- to – be – missed’ category fruit.

Abandoned Areas Of The House…

When we select a flat (could be your own /rental) or an independent bungalow of our choice we generally like something about that place that makes us fall in love with it and we finalise on the deal and start living in it.

One’s favorite spot in the house could be a verandah, a garden, bedroom and even the washroom! But later on this same place does not really interest us anymore (not generalizing) as it had sparked interest in the beginning phase.

When i visited this flat during house hunting, i loved the window area in the living room and i had decided that very day that if at all we plan to move into this flat i would everyday have my morning or evening tea standing by this window place admiring the blue skies and just enjoy every sip. And guess what, i still haven’t stood there till date! And why has this happened, i don’t know. But i blame the cosy couch that’s placed a bit away from the window that stops me from going there. The couch is more cosier and i just can’t drag myself to the window how much ever i try. I find this crazy, strange and weird. Forget the skies and birds, i wouldn’t trade my comfort of sitting in the sofa with that of standing by the window. *facepalm*

And while sitting on the sofa i never for one day miss looking towards the window as if to say, ‘sorry not today, for sure I’ll visit you tomorrow.’

We generally settle for things that’s comfortable and easy going and the couch is that for me. But i have noticed in several houses of friends and elder relatives that i have visited when they tell me that they hardly go into the next room even other than an occasional change of bedspreads in case they have guests who stay over or if their kids are coming over for vacations else they never bother going to the next room which was once their favorite room.

And such areas in the house later on get categorised as abandoned. Sigh!