Satara near Pune in Maharashtra is a wonderful place nestled among the western ghats(range of mountains).
One thing that struck me at Satara were the windows fixed everywhere. Most of them were of the sliding types.
There were double railings. The inner rail was fitted with sliding glass panes. The outer had lesser number of sliding frames of fine mesh panes. If one were to open the glass window, the mesh window would move into place as a cover from the second railing automatically! No portion would be left open! Fine Mesh will allow a good cover as well as enough air traffic!
Even at a height of 12 feet (just below the ceiling), the walls had a lengthy 6" gap running from one end to the other. A 12 feet wall's 6" gap would then have 4 divisions in which 3 glass strips of 3' each and 1 mesh strip of 3' would be fitted into metal frames and fixed. On the opposite wall 1 strip of mesh and 3 glass strips would be fitted to allow for cross ventilation as well as to let in light.
Not an insect entered our place unless the door was kept open.
When I enquired with the owner about such window types, he said due to hilly region all around, snakes were too many as were rodents though he hurriedly added that they have never harmed humans so far.
Such window types would effectively keep them out even while letting in light and air. This seemed to be a wonderful way to deal with such local problems. Invention is indeed the mother of necessity!
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
Friday, August 26, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Saabu Vada At Satara
We decided to have tea at a decent looking hotel near the Natraj flyover.
The waiter came with 4 cups of hot steaming masala chai which was refreshing. He asked us if we would have anything else. We said no and were about to move out when I noticed him serving some fat odd looking vadas in a plate. I asked him what it was and was told it was the saabu vada which is a special during the month of Shravana for those who fast (vrat).
I promptly ordered for a plate of those for each of us. They were piping hot and came with a bowl of sweet curd. These deep fried vadas were made of saabudana, mildly salted with just a few green chilli bits, some green corriander and cummin seeds. They were heavenly to taste. Crisp outer and soft inner core and big in size. 3 of them could easily fill the stomach.
I din't ask for the recipe but could guess it was a special saabudaana (jevvarisi in Tamil) which was used for these vadas.
Some tastes linger and this was one of them.
Mahalakshmi.
The waiter came with 4 cups of hot steaming masala chai which was refreshing. He asked us if we would have anything else. We said no and were about to move out when I noticed him serving some fat odd looking vadas in a plate. I asked him what it was and was told it was the saabu vada which is a special during the month of Shravana for those who fast (vrat).
I promptly ordered for a plate of those for each of us. They were piping hot and came with a bowl of sweet curd. These deep fried vadas were made of saabudana, mildly salted with just a few green chilli bits, some green corriander and cummin seeds. They were heavenly to taste. Crisp outer and soft inner core and big in size. 3 of them could easily fill the stomach.
I din't ask for the recipe but could guess it was a special saabudaana (jevvarisi in Tamil) which was used for these vadas.
Some tastes linger and this was one of them.
Mahalakshmi.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Food For Thought
Yesterday a lady had come with some problem and wanted my counselling.
First the problem:
Lady is a widow. Has a married daughter who has delivered a baby recently.
Facilities at the lady's home were inadequate for post child birth care.
Lady's mother, a retired pensioner, lives all by herself in a rented house. The mother asked them to move into her house for a couple of months.
It is a custom in India to take care of the mother and child for the initial 3 month period.
Lady said her own mother is not treating her properly ever since they moved into her house temporarily. She is tortured with temper tantrums and has no rest, has to slog the whole day looking after the baby, her weak daughter plus what surprised her the most was her mother who has turned so demanding, rude and has asked them out! Unable to bear this any longer she has started looking for an alternate accommodation for 2 months but decided to come to me for help and advice anyway.
Seemingly these appear to be unconnected but I asked some leading questions and got the answers from the lady as the session progressed.
Q: Who spends, how much and for what.
A: Lady bears half of all household expenses while the other half is passed on to her pensioner mother.
(I said, "Bingo! This is where everything went wrong for you"!!).
Break up should have been 2/3rds of expenses for the lady and her daughter and 1/3rd for the lady's mother and not 50-50 (leaving the new born out of all this).
Q: Who pays the rent?
A: The pensioner mother is paying the rent. I was trying to point this out saying her mother's burden then was more than 50%.
Lady is financially weak, but has a job. Her daughter is also working and must be getting maternal leave with salary. The son-in-law is also earning. Lady has borrowed some money for the delivery and post delivery expenses.
My solution for this problem was as follows:
During such times getting a decent shelter with security is a big deal.
Mother has offered a place to stay which is itself an act of kindness.
If she were to hunt for a house now, she would have to shell out rents plus the caution deposit.
Think over these facts and from today itself refuse to pass on any share in the expenses to your mother. Tell her you love her too much to even think of burdening her with bills.
Express your love and gratitude to your mother for offering help when you and your daughter needed it the most.
By this the elderly person will feel the affection and the atmosphere will turn positive for everyone. No more temper tantrums.
The daughter is watching all this.
Set a good example to your daughter as your own time to face a similar situation is round the corner.
It is through such practical and positive actions that we become role models for our nexgen.
Lady got upset when she heard the solution to this problem.
This is an example of how and why problems crop up.
There is so much joy in giving and doing for our own as well as for others.
Money will come and money will go but pleasant memories, good times, timely help, unconditional love and affection stay on forever. Unfortunately, these are the hardest to come by! That's the whole truth.
Mahalakshmi
First the problem:
Lady is a widow. Has a married daughter who has delivered a baby recently.
Facilities at the lady's home were inadequate for post child birth care.
Lady's mother, a retired pensioner, lives all by herself in a rented house. The mother asked them to move into her house for a couple of months.
It is a custom in India to take care of the mother and child for the initial 3 month period.
Lady said her own mother is not treating her properly ever since they moved into her house temporarily. She is tortured with temper tantrums and has no rest, has to slog the whole day looking after the baby, her weak daughter plus what surprised her the most was her mother who has turned so demanding, rude and has asked them out! Unable to bear this any longer she has started looking for an alternate accommodation for 2 months but decided to come to me for help and advice anyway.
Seemingly these appear to be unconnected but I asked some leading questions and got the answers from the lady as the session progressed.
Q: Who spends, how much and for what.
A: Lady bears half of all household expenses while the other half is passed on to her pensioner mother.
(I said, "Bingo! This is where everything went wrong for you"!!).
Break up should have been 2/3rds of expenses for the lady and her daughter and 1/3rd for the lady's mother and not 50-50 (leaving the new born out of all this).
Q: Who pays the rent?
A: The pensioner mother is paying the rent. I was trying to point this out saying her mother's burden then was more than 50%.
Lady is financially weak, but has a job. Her daughter is also working and must be getting maternal leave with salary. The son-in-law is also earning. Lady has borrowed some money for the delivery and post delivery expenses.
My solution for this problem was as follows:
During such times getting a decent shelter with security is a big deal.
Mother has offered a place to stay which is itself an act of kindness.
If she were to hunt for a house now, she would have to shell out rents plus the caution deposit.
Think over these facts and from today itself refuse to pass on any share in the expenses to your mother. Tell her you love her too much to even think of burdening her with bills.
Express your love and gratitude to your mother for offering help when you and your daughter needed it the most.
By this the elderly person will feel the affection and the atmosphere will turn positive for everyone. No more temper tantrums.
The daughter is watching all this.
Set a good example to your daughter as your own time to face a similar situation is round the corner.
It is through such practical and positive actions that we become role models for our nexgen.
Lady got upset when she heard the solution to this problem.
This is an example of how and why problems crop up.
There is so much joy in giving and doing for our own as well as for others.
Money will come and money will go but pleasant memories, good times, timely help, unconditional love and affection stay on forever. Unfortunately, these are the hardest to come by! That's the whole truth.
Mahalakshmi
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Taking Medicines Regularly
We had to spend time waiting in a taxi which we had engaged to go in and around visiting Kolhapur.
The taxi driver was an elderly man of about 75 years.
We passed our waiting time in the taxi by talking to him about the local markets, vegetarian hotels, clothes, kolhapuri chappals, the ancient and famous Mahalakshmi temple...and his children, his having lunch in the taxi itself on some busy days.
He said he has 3 daughters and a son, all married and with grown up kids. He told us he was staying with the son, daughter-in-law and their only son.
Where was his wife then? He said she passed away 12 years back.
I asked him what happened to her and was he there at that time.
He said he was very much with her. Both had had dinner and were sitting and chatting. All of a sudden she started complaining of acute pain in both her hands and legs. Even in that pain she had given her son's phone number and asked her husband to call over their son and daughter-in-law immediately. They rushed and began pressing her legs and hands. Later took her to a hospital where the doctor began testing her. Alas before any treatment could be administered, she had a massive heart attack and passed away. She was just 54 years old, he said. When I remarked that it was quite a young age to die, he told me that his father-in-law and wife's elder sister too died at 54! He wondered whether it was some family curse. I said it could be due to some other reason and asked whether there was something else that stressed her or was she on regular medicines for any ailment like BP, Heart or sugar complaint?
Yes she was taking BP drugs everyday.
Minutes before her death she was talking about their only son who was married but unemployed, roaming around, borrowing money from his mother on the sly for his expenses and wondered whether he will get alright, if at all.
I enquired whether she took those drugs regularly as per the doctor's advice?
He revealed that she had secretly given her son, the money kept aside for buying her medicines and how she had stopped taking her BP medicines for a week prior to her death. She had hidden that fact from her husband and used to complain often about some dizziness and pain during that last week.
Later he sold his cloth shop to buy 2 taxis. One for himself and one for his son to eke out a living. Now his son is responsible and takes care of his family and his aged father too. The mother is no more to see this! In fact there were two taxis waiting at the stand, but we engaged the elderly man's taxi. If we had hired the son's taxi, we would have been treated to a different version of the same story at least how fortunate he and his wife were to have pressed her hands and legs minutes before his mother's death.
The rate we fixed for the round trip was Rs.500/- but he grinned so I gave him an extra Rs.100/- which was purely for the story session! He had unburdened himself and I my purse!
A similar incident occurred to a relative of mine. He died because he neglected taking his regular medicines for just 2 days due to some function at home (leading to irregular and delayed meals) for which he paid with his life.
It is due to neglect to take medicines on time and regularly, 'if' the doctor advises the same for BP, heart condition or sugar complaint as stopping them for any reason could prove fatal. These are prescribed for life long for long life!
Mahalakshmi.
The taxi driver was an elderly man of about 75 years.
We passed our waiting time in the taxi by talking to him about the local markets, vegetarian hotels, clothes, kolhapuri chappals, the ancient and famous Mahalakshmi temple...and his children, his having lunch in the taxi itself on some busy days.
He said he has 3 daughters and a son, all married and with grown up kids. He told us he was staying with the son, daughter-in-law and their only son.
Where was his wife then? He said she passed away 12 years back.
I asked him what happened to her and was he there at that time.
He said he was very much with her. Both had had dinner and were sitting and chatting. All of a sudden she started complaining of acute pain in both her hands and legs. Even in that pain she had given her son's phone number and asked her husband to call over their son and daughter-in-law immediately. They rushed and began pressing her legs and hands. Later took her to a hospital where the doctor began testing her. Alas before any treatment could be administered, she had a massive heart attack and passed away. She was just 54 years old, he said. When I remarked that it was quite a young age to die, he told me that his father-in-law and wife's elder sister too died at 54! He wondered whether it was some family curse. I said it could be due to some other reason and asked whether there was something else that stressed her or was she on regular medicines for any ailment like BP, Heart or sugar complaint?
Yes she was taking BP drugs everyday.
Minutes before her death she was talking about their only son who was married but unemployed, roaming around, borrowing money from his mother on the sly for his expenses and wondered whether he will get alright, if at all.
I enquired whether she took those drugs regularly as per the doctor's advice?
He revealed that she had secretly given her son, the money kept aside for buying her medicines and how she had stopped taking her BP medicines for a week prior to her death. She had hidden that fact from her husband and used to complain often about some dizziness and pain during that last week.
Later he sold his cloth shop to buy 2 taxis. One for himself and one for his son to eke out a living. Now his son is responsible and takes care of his family and his aged father too. The mother is no more to see this! In fact there were two taxis waiting at the stand, but we engaged the elderly man's taxi. If we had hired the son's taxi, we would have been treated to a different version of the same story at least how fortunate he and his wife were to have pressed her hands and legs minutes before his mother's death.
The rate we fixed for the round trip was Rs.500/- but he grinned so I gave him an extra Rs.100/- which was purely for the story session! He had unburdened himself and I my purse!
A similar incident occurred to a relative of mine. He died because he neglected taking his regular medicines for just 2 days due to some function at home (leading to irregular and delayed meals) for which he paid with his life.
It is due to neglect to take medicines on time and regularly, 'if' the doctor advises the same for BP, heart condition or sugar complaint as stopping them for any reason could prove fatal. These are prescribed for life long for long life!
Mahalakshmi.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Indispensable
Men may come and men may go but the company goes on forever! This phrase is used to describe how men (and women) are not indispensable.
Work anywhere will go on, even though it may take time, effort, some stumbling, some healing, etc., to get on. It also gives others a chance to prove themselves through such new openings/opportunities. Make way for the down-in-line to prove themselves. Also they need to gain experience even if they need to by stumbling and bumbling!
We hear such good words at the farewell parties when someone is retiring, leaving job, etc. that he or she will be sorely missed, that the person has been indispensable and what will the organization do without him now. But experience tells us that we are fools to even believe such things that the organization will crumble once we leave our jobs. There will be someone who will take on our work - whether that someone is up to the mark or not will take time to tell. Still there is someone who is trying to step in to continue from where we left work.
The organization may have been running before we made our entry. We make a difference to our jobs in the way we best can. Someone else may come in and deliver better or worse goods than us! Soon the company or organization will not have time even to think about us and that's the truth.
It is wrong to assume that we are the only ones who carry the burden on our shoulders and it is because of us that the show runs. How far from the truth!
Today is the last working day for the Infosys founder, Narayana Murthy. Work at Infosys will go on as usual, I am sure, even though he will be missed. His role play has now come to an end as far as the company is concerned. The worth of the company stands at $6 Billion today. It may become $600bln or may also get reduced to $.6bln. He has contributed such a lot not only to his company but to his state, his country and the world of IT. Yet he is a very philosophical man to understand that as soon as he leaves the company he founded and ran for many years will not crumble upon his exit! He seems to be a level-headed person and a karma yogi.
So with human lives. We see around us how a spouse is left alone due to the other's death or due to separation. Maybe for a while, memories will haunt intensely, with time that intensity also gets diluted. Life does not stop for the surviving spouse. One learns to move on by getting more occupied with his or her work or developing a new hobby or interest. This helps to control the mind from dwelling too much upon any sad event often which does no one any good - not for the living and never for the departed, anyway.
The human mind needs to get diverted away from revisiting pain or painful situations for one's own good.
Has life and living ever stopped if the father passed away. Has life come to an end if the mother passes away? Someone else (relatives like grandfather, granny, an uncle or an aunt) often takes over some responsibility to fill the lacuna.
And we think we are indispensable and we are the ones who run the show. Sigh!
Mahalakshmi.
Work anywhere will go on, even though it may take time, effort, some stumbling, some healing, etc., to get on. It also gives others a chance to prove themselves through such new openings/opportunities. Make way for the down-in-line to prove themselves. Also they need to gain experience even if they need to by stumbling and bumbling!
We hear such good words at the farewell parties when someone is retiring, leaving job, etc. that he or she will be sorely missed, that the person has been indispensable and what will the organization do without him now. But experience tells us that we are fools to even believe such things that the organization will crumble once we leave our jobs. There will be someone who will take on our work - whether that someone is up to the mark or not will take time to tell. Still there is someone who is trying to step in to continue from where we left work.
The organization may have been running before we made our entry. We make a difference to our jobs in the way we best can. Someone else may come in and deliver better or worse goods than us! Soon the company or organization will not have time even to think about us and that's the truth.
It is wrong to assume that we are the only ones who carry the burden on our shoulders and it is because of us that the show runs. How far from the truth!
Today is the last working day for the Infosys founder, Narayana Murthy. Work at Infosys will go on as usual, I am sure, even though he will be missed. His role play has now come to an end as far as the company is concerned. The worth of the company stands at $6 Billion today. It may become $600bln or may also get reduced to $.6bln. He has contributed such a lot not only to his company but to his state, his country and the world of IT. Yet he is a very philosophical man to understand that as soon as he leaves the company he founded and ran for many years will not crumble upon his exit! He seems to be a level-headed person and a karma yogi.
So with human lives. We see around us how a spouse is left alone due to the other's death or due to separation. Maybe for a while, memories will haunt intensely, with time that intensity also gets diluted. Life does not stop for the surviving spouse. One learns to move on by getting more occupied with his or her work or developing a new hobby or interest. This helps to control the mind from dwelling too much upon any sad event often which does no one any good - not for the living and never for the departed, anyway.
The human mind needs to get diverted away from revisiting pain or painful situations for one's own good.
Has life and living ever stopped if the father passed away. Has life come to an end if the mother passes away? Someone else (relatives like grandfather, granny, an uncle or an aunt) often takes over some responsibility to fill the lacuna.
And we think we are indispensable and we are the ones who run the show. Sigh!
Mahalakshmi.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Trip To Satara
Out of circulation for 2 weeks!
Reason was a trip to Satara.
Satara is approximately 124 Km from Pune and nestled in the western ghats.
The weather is similar to Ooty and Kodaikanal. Mahabaleshwar is just 47 Kms from Satara. Mahabaleshwar is a hill resort and famous spot for bollywood shootings. But we could not go there due to constant drizzle.
Besides a cool climate, this place is blessed with fresh air. I loved the just-plucked fresh vegetables from near by farms, brought to the market only towards evening each day. You just had to put the knife and the vegetables would get cut like it were a piece of butter! That tender each one was. I went crazy cooking most vegetables I could lay my hands on, as our family was put up in a company guest house with full kitchen facilities. The cow's milk was good. Its Ghee was even better. So was the malai paneer with which I made some of our family's favorite dishes like aloo-gobi-paneer, paneer-methi, stuffed paneer paranthas and mutter-paneer. It was sad that I found out about fresh paneer too late otherwise, it would have been paneer this or paneer that, all through our stay. Thank God the family escaped the paneer over-do punishment!!
The view from our first floor rooms was too good. Each morning we would wake up to the sight of misty clouds floating over lush green mountains. There would be drizzle but never a heavy down pour. The few minus about this place was that no tar roads are laid except the main thoroughfares resulting in too much slush all over. On top perhaps due to the cold weather, everybody would spit freely on the roads, anywhere and everywhere!!
The area is full of greenery and trees housing parrots, pigeons, sparrows, etc., which could be seen from close quarters. We shot some pictures which I am going to share.
My elderly cousin from Hyderabad gave me a hint to visit the Chinna Chidambaram, the famed Nataraja Temple built by the Maha Periyavaal, Sri Chandrashekhar Swamigal of Shankara Madom, Kanchipuram. I was fortunate to visit it and also recite the Lalitha Sahasranamam as an offering on a Friday to the Divine Mother.
My wish to visit the famed Kolhapur's Mahalakshmi temple also came true and I could sing the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam in HER divine presence inside the premises which was another high for me. Lesser crowd than usual made it possible.
Having left my elderly mother alone for a full 13 days was indeed worrisome, yet all of us sisters kept talking to her on the cell. I had also made arrangements with my neighbour to visit her at least twice a day. She did that wonderfully well because I and my husband have never hesitated to help her whenever there was a chance to help them. The servant also never let me down. My mother has always been the independent type and she must have loved to be on her own and do her things her way for 2 weeks! In fact when we arrived, she prepared crisp dosas with very good chutney and sambar. It was heaven to be back home and see mother. I have never been away from her for longer than 1 or 2 days at a time.
Mahalakshmi.
Reason was a trip to Satara.
Satara is approximately 124 Km from Pune and nestled in the western ghats.
The weather is similar to Ooty and Kodaikanal. Mahabaleshwar is just 47 Kms from Satara. Mahabaleshwar is a hill resort and famous spot for bollywood shootings. But we could not go there due to constant drizzle.
Besides a cool climate, this place is blessed with fresh air. I loved the just-plucked fresh vegetables from near by farms, brought to the market only towards evening each day. You just had to put the knife and the vegetables would get cut like it were a piece of butter! That tender each one was. I went crazy cooking most vegetables I could lay my hands on, as our family was put up in a company guest house with full kitchen facilities. The cow's milk was good. Its Ghee was even better. So was the malai paneer with which I made some of our family's favorite dishes like aloo-gobi-paneer, paneer-methi, stuffed paneer paranthas and mutter-paneer. It was sad that I found out about fresh paneer too late otherwise, it would have been paneer this or paneer that, all through our stay. Thank God the family escaped the paneer over-do punishment!!
The view from our first floor rooms was too good. Each morning we would wake up to the sight of misty clouds floating over lush green mountains. There would be drizzle but never a heavy down pour. The few minus about this place was that no tar roads are laid except the main thoroughfares resulting in too much slush all over. On top perhaps due to the cold weather, everybody would spit freely on the roads, anywhere and everywhere!!
The area is full of greenery and trees housing parrots, pigeons, sparrows, etc., which could be seen from close quarters. We shot some pictures which I am going to share.
My elderly cousin from Hyderabad gave me a hint to visit the Chinna Chidambaram, the famed Nataraja Temple built by the Maha Periyavaal, Sri Chandrashekhar Swamigal of Shankara Madom, Kanchipuram. I was fortunate to visit it and also recite the Lalitha Sahasranamam as an offering on a Friday to the Divine Mother.
My wish to visit the famed Kolhapur's Mahalakshmi temple also came true and I could sing the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam in HER divine presence inside the premises which was another high for me. Lesser crowd than usual made it possible.
Having left my elderly mother alone for a full 13 days was indeed worrisome, yet all of us sisters kept talking to her on the cell. I had also made arrangements with my neighbour to visit her at least twice a day. She did that wonderfully well because I and my husband have never hesitated to help her whenever there was a chance to help them. The servant also never let me down. My mother has always been the independent type and she must have loved to be on her own and do her things her way for 2 weeks! In fact when we arrived, she prepared crisp dosas with very good chutney and sambar. It was heaven to be back home and see mother. I have never been away from her for longer than 1 or 2 days at a time.
Mahalakshmi.
Trip To Satara
Out of circulation for 2 weeks!
Reason was a trip to Satara. Its approximately 95 Km from Pune. It is nestled in the western ghats.
The weather is similar to Ooty and Kodaikanal. Mahabaleshwar is just 40 Kms from Satara. Mahabaleshwar is a hill resort and famous spot for bollywood shootings. But we could not go there due to constant drizzle.
Besides a cool climate, this place is blessed with fresh air. I loved the just-plucked fresh vegetables. The milk was fresh and good too. I went crazy cooking most vegetables I could lay my hands on as our family was put up in a company guest house with full kitchen facilities. The view from our first floor rooms was too good. Each morning we woke up to the sight of misty clouds floating over lush green mountains.
The area is full of greenery and trees which house parrots, piegons, sparrows, etc., which we could see from close quarters. We shot some pictures which I am going to share.
Reason was a trip to Satara. Its approximately 95 Km from Pune. It is nestled in the western ghats.
The weather is similar to Ooty and Kodaikanal. Mahabaleshwar is just 40 Kms from Satara. Mahabaleshwar is a hill resort and famous spot for bollywood shootings. But we could not go there due to constant drizzle.
Besides a cool climate, this place is blessed with fresh air. I loved the just-plucked fresh vegetables. The milk was fresh and good too. I went crazy cooking most vegetables I could lay my hands on as our family was put up in a company guest house with full kitchen facilities. The view from our first floor rooms was too good. Each morning we woke up to the sight of misty clouds floating over lush green mountains.
The area is full of greenery and trees which house parrots, piegons, sparrows, etc., which we could see from close quarters. We shot some pictures which I am going to share.
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