the best part about

facebook,

i discovered after i clicked on

deactivate

roach extermination

*gory post*

i am trying everything. roach repellent spray. boric acid+ jaggery+maida. broom stick bashing.

i was telling the kids of my latest modus operandi.

“Suddenly, there was a roach in the sink. quickly i slid on a plastic bag in my hand and captured the wiggly roach. and i pachaked the life out of it, and emptied the contents into the waste bin… .”

firstborn: “ma dont do that!”

me: “why firstborn?” thinking he was eyuuuuuuuu-d out by the goriness.

fb: “you shouldn’t waste plastic ”

updates

and just when i was doing so well in the smiling@chennai department,

friends from KL dropped by for tea …

and my mind quickly goes to rewind . smiling is frozen until further notice.

**
in other breaking news: “kindness to spouse” is already on hold, and he only just landed in the airport.

it’s easier to finally start be-kind-to-spouse week…

…esp. since he’s already on tour.

three months is my hangover recovery time

i’ve been having KL-withdrawal symptoms, so i didnt feel like smiling

i mostly had a sour face and a dour attitude .

and i can feel it vanishing slowly…

i think i smiled in chennai (for no reason)

**
did you hear the deepavali sms for chennaiites: may your prosperity increase like the gold price and petrol and diesel price, and may your sorrows be like the chennai power-cut : suththamm.heh heh!

been having a lot of fun reading

the adyar times…

read and learn

1. “adyar cabs” doesnt have branches. they’ve put this msg way above their phone number, way way above cards are accepted. that they have ac and no ac vehicles. perish that thought that adyar cabs has branches.
2. yuvan shankar is performing in *sigh* KL; i dont know one song off hand that he’s famous for, but *sigh* KL, I miss you a lot…
3. Sweatha Electronics is giving “spot cash” for Ac’s, geysers, motors, fridges even in “dead condition”
4.in the “wanted” section there’s a big ad for an expert wanted for 1- to-1 Maths Tutor fora class XI, cbse student: must be “motivational”, says the ad. heck to deal with CBSE motivational wont do evangelical would be better.

here’s the cover photo that i quite liked…

this photo is about a joint family in besant nagar. meenakshi guides her daughters i law saradha, shantha, vasanthi, uma and lekshmi in preparing sweets etc. her granddaughter vidya and great grand daughter shivani are also in the team…
(me thinks shivani’s ears should be tweaked for nearly stepping on those crispy looking shankarapalles)

but the editorial was about festivals in the metro being passe and that no one makes sweets at home.

@chox

looks like i should be able to reach 30 posts in a day, rather than one post daily for 30 days.hmmm.

routine is the four letter word, chez moi.

birthday report

the 80th birthday bash was a lot of fun, i thought

400 guests, a grand tiffin, waking up at 2 am, fitting into my niece’s blouse because mine looked like a shirt
and in the mandapam there was nadaswaram and piping hot kaapi
and everyone who was remotely related to thatha got a duty.
firstborn was at the arrivals counter (smiling at the guests)

my duty was *no vadas for guessing* taking care if the guests were served at the dining hall.

and luckily for me, the food was superlative. about 400 guests beamed at me, looking as content and round as tanjore paintings, thinking I was responsible for the gourmet levels of the food

we zeroed in on the chef . a mr. patappa.
and here’s the bill:
kaapi 200 numbers at rs. 15
tiffin: 350 banana leaves full at Rs. 180
lunch Rs. 200 and 50 leaves
and add to miscellany of tamboolams and pal koya and transport charges, we got a roundish figure of rs 1, followed by plenty of zeroes.

pictures cant capture

the crisp in the rava dosa
the aroma in the pooris
the lemony twang of the sevai
three kinds of chutney and finger lickin pudina thuvaiyal
and chubby servings of pongal, peeping with black peppers
sambar that was delicious even if it was served in a paper cup
and ghee dipped sweet, pumpkin halwa

i think it’s time to wish you all a happy deepavali!

the man who saw a thousand moons

and that is the back of my head with the dab of malli poo

grandpa (or my fil) is the baby of the family.
he needs his lunch on time, or he’ll tantrum
he wants to play with baby param’s toys.
he wants to read firstborn’s ack’s before firstborn.
he hates it if someone steals his sudoku page.
he sleeps in mid-sentence sometimes.
and just like that he turned 80… and a priest pours down a pot of water on our collective heads to celebrate

kl love

i am not a flying kiss type. it looks best only in a Kjo movie. once. period.

i used to think it was perfectly odd expression of love: grownups, babies, toddlers etc. “you look stunningly ridiculous, if you must know IMO” was my thought bubble.

and my kids were zapped to see their ma, blow a kiss to a billboard in the middle of guindy ( while driving )

*am sure the chennnaiites who spotted me promptly Ctrl + C’d the aforementioned thought bubble and placed it above their heads)*

… well, there’s a huge billboard of an airasia or Malaysian Airlines which flies 5 times to KL, and a view of the Petronas Towers…

and in those few seconds, i went back into the embrace of the beautiful country that loved me like a hug …