Remember the Tataguni estate in Bangalore where Devika Rani with her Russian artist husband spent their last years. They had eager caretakers - a couple who just came into their lives and had managed to sell chunks of precious land on the fringes of the large estate, years later by some fraudulant means.
The care-givers are very choosy, it would appear! They like to pick only the very rich or the famous for bestowing their attention upon. First they give care for a salary payment and then the servant gains absolute control over the master!!
Rich or poor, all humans need some kind of care and attention, especially when they are aging and sick. Most often many elderls are neglected by their own kith and kin. Outsiders step in and keep the insiders out after sometime. Then it becomes too late to save the elders in their family alongwith the family wealth.
Such is the human psyche. The rich attract the greedy. The greedy never latch upon their own family elders, should these elders be poor.
If we have something then people latch on to us, otherwise we can lead a fairly peaceful life without having somebody breathe down our neck to be at our beck and call. But all this only until one is healthy and moves about on his or her own.
May God give us good health and may we have the strength to be active until our very last breath.
Mahalakshmi.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Vulture Is A Very Patient Bird, Indeed!!
Office politics is not a dirty word at all.
It is part and parcel of our work culture in all offices across the globe.
I have observed from very close quarters how the juniors try to impress their supervisors, managers and the top guys at workplace.
This is something universal whether with office or with politics!
I always wonder whether quality work, creativity and hard work did matter as much as the ability to manage people and situations. If a person could combine both then you have a winner in hand.
1.
Take for example the Ex-IT minister, Mr.Raja's rise to the top! According to his mentor he was like any other budding lawyer, struggling to pay even his telephone bills in the rented office, not so long ago. Yet he rose to an enviable position to grant licences for 2G, 3G and what have yous, for an entire nation like India!
His people skills played a more important role than his abilities. News is trickling in about his meteoric rise to the top. He is supposed to have taken personal care of the late Murasoli Maran, (2nd in command in the DMK, a political party in Tamil Nadu) being at the beck and call of his star patient without second thoughts. He rose in the party later due to his proximity to the top cadres of the DMK. What an irony of fate that he was chosen to replace Maran's son, Dayanidhi Maran as the IT Minister by the CM Karunanidhi, in due course of time!!
Of course what happened after he became a union minister is not the topic I wish to discuss here.
All I would like to stress is how people make themselves useful to the powerful, at times sacrificing their own comforts and ambitions for the time being. All this, until they hit big time. In each and every case its the patience alongwith perseverance which seems to pay off ultimately. Remember the vulture is a very patient bird, indeed.
I have two more case histories to mention below before I wind up for the day:
2.
Another case is that of how the Late Smt.Priyamvada Birla was charmed by the care, attention and help rendered by the Birla family's chartered accountant, the Late Shri.Lodha who also passed away recently, though as a very rich man indeed.
Lodha used to reserve his entire time and energy to this elderly, childless widow who was ailing for many years. Left to herself, all alone in a palace full of servants and with very rare visits from own family members who lived nearby, she was made very much a part and parcel of Lodha's family. The other family members never came to give her company or enquire after her welfare, but tried to fight this clever man who usurped what belonged to PB which ran into billions of rupees. She willed it to him and this was fiercely contested in the Kolkata High Court between the Birla family and Lodha on the death of PB. Wills, Probates, et al.
3.
I should mention Smt.Lakshmi Parvati, a divorcee, who married the famed, but strict widower who had a very clean image where women were concerned, Shri.N.T.Rama Rao, a popular, evergreen hero of Telugu films and founder of Telugu Desam, a powerful political Party in Andhra Pradesh.
Smt.LP came to do her thesis on NTR's films and life and went on to become his life partner and advisor during his ailing last few years.
NTR is believed to have even mentioned in one of his interviews to a magazine that she cared for him when his family members did not even visit him out of courtesy to see how he was getting along in his old age.
What these families cannot understand is how can their rich and famous family member give away their family wealth to a rank outsider who just takes care of them in their old age or ailment? The belief is that the family wealth should remain within the family even if members don't take care of the needs or attend to these elderly people from within. If care is given from within then where is the need for any outsider to come in? This simple philosphy is never followed.
What is right and who is right? No one can say anything on this. But we can see that its all about money, money and money.
What brings people together? Initially it all begins as sympathy, listening to the woes of the other person. Doing those little things for a person which others might take for granted. A bond is formed due to this whether such actions are genuine or not, the fact is that a human needs another human to interact with. Money involved is secondary to the person who has the money, but it becomes primary for the person who does little things for the moneyed person to get into the inner circle.
Am I being cynical about the whole thing? I have observed this for long enough and know the pattern instantly. At times I do wonder whether the moneyed fellow is ignorant of what's happening? No. (S)he may not be that ignorant but with time they get used to the attention, care, help and affection from any person and later get addicted to it. They throw all caution and all feelings for their own near and dear who don't seem to care anyway, who don't have time for them, otherwise why should these people turn to strangers for help, care, affection and attention?!
Life goes on.
Mahalakshmi.
It is part and parcel of our work culture in all offices across the globe.
I have observed from very close quarters how the juniors try to impress their supervisors, managers and the top guys at workplace.
This is something universal whether with office or with politics!
I always wonder whether quality work, creativity and hard work did matter as much as the ability to manage people and situations. If a person could combine both then you have a winner in hand.
1.
Take for example the Ex-IT minister, Mr.Raja's rise to the top! According to his mentor he was like any other budding lawyer, struggling to pay even his telephone bills in the rented office, not so long ago. Yet he rose to an enviable position to grant licences for 2G, 3G and what have yous, for an entire nation like India!
His people skills played a more important role than his abilities. News is trickling in about his meteoric rise to the top. He is supposed to have taken personal care of the late Murasoli Maran, (2nd in command in the DMK, a political party in Tamil Nadu) being at the beck and call of his star patient without second thoughts. He rose in the party later due to his proximity to the top cadres of the DMK. What an irony of fate that he was chosen to replace Maran's son, Dayanidhi Maran as the IT Minister by the CM Karunanidhi, in due course of time!!
Of course what happened after he became a union minister is not the topic I wish to discuss here.
All I would like to stress is how people make themselves useful to the powerful, at times sacrificing their own comforts and ambitions for the time being. All this, until they hit big time. In each and every case its the patience alongwith perseverance which seems to pay off ultimately. Remember the vulture is a very patient bird, indeed.
I have two more case histories to mention below before I wind up for the day:
2.
Another case is that of how the Late Smt.Priyamvada Birla was charmed by the care, attention and help rendered by the Birla family's chartered accountant, the Late Shri.Lodha who also passed away recently, though as a very rich man indeed.
Lodha used to reserve his entire time and energy to this elderly, childless widow who was ailing for many years. Left to herself, all alone in a palace full of servants and with very rare visits from own family members who lived nearby, she was made very much a part and parcel of Lodha's family. The other family members never came to give her company or enquire after her welfare, but tried to fight this clever man who usurped what belonged to PB which ran into billions of rupees. She willed it to him and this was fiercely contested in the Kolkata High Court between the Birla family and Lodha on the death of PB. Wills, Probates, et al.
3.
I should mention Smt.Lakshmi Parvati, a divorcee, who married the famed, but strict widower who had a very clean image where women were concerned, Shri.N.T.Rama Rao, a popular, evergreen hero of Telugu films and founder of Telugu Desam, a powerful political Party in Andhra Pradesh.
Smt.LP came to do her thesis on NTR's films and life and went on to become his life partner and advisor during his ailing last few years.
NTR is believed to have even mentioned in one of his interviews to a magazine that she cared for him when his family members did not even visit him out of courtesy to see how he was getting along in his old age.
What these families cannot understand is how can their rich and famous family member give away their family wealth to a rank outsider who just takes care of them in their old age or ailment? The belief is that the family wealth should remain within the family even if members don't take care of the needs or attend to these elderly people from within. If care is given from within then where is the need for any outsider to come in? This simple philosphy is never followed.
What is right and who is right? No one can say anything on this. But we can see that its all about money, money and money.
What brings people together? Initially it all begins as sympathy, listening to the woes of the other person. Doing those little things for a person which others might take for granted. A bond is formed due to this whether such actions are genuine or not, the fact is that a human needs another human to interact with. Money involved is secondary to the person who has the money, but it becomes primary for the person who does little things for the moneyed person to get into the inner circle.
Am I being cynical about the whole thing? I have observed this for long enough and know the pattern instantly. At times I do wonder whether the moneyed fellow is ignorant of what's happening? No. (S)he may not be that ignorant but with time they get used to the attention, care, help and affection from any person and later get addicted to it. They throw all caution and all feelings for their own near and dear who don't seem to care anyway, who don't have time for them, otherwise why should these people turn to strangers for help, care, affection and attention?!
Life goes on.
Mahalakshmi.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
My Mother And Her Dear Friend Champa
My mother had a friend called Champa. They were classmates in the Keyes Girls' High School and studied together till the 1940s when they were in their teens.
Champa was a Tamil Iyengar girl(a category among Brahmins, like Iyers). She was the only daughter of very rich parents, who could afford to buy Tamil magazines like the Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalki, Tamil novels. etc., every week for their daugther.
My mother used to visit Champa's house often during the day as they used to stay very close by. They would study together, chat together, do things together. When her mother called out to Champa discreetly, to have her share of tiffin or snacks, this girl would loudly ask her mother to get it to her and she would share it with my mother.
Whenever, those Tamil weeklies and fortnightlies would arrive, Champa's mother would hide them away from my mother's sight. She obviously din't like my mother reading their magazine copies freely. Champa would have no such feelings. She would go, search out those new magazines and give it to my mother, to take them home to read, against her mother's wishes.
My mother would simply love Champa for all this and more. Champa was a kindly soul. As soon as they passed their Matriculation exams (incidentally, my mother was the state topper in Tamil and a bright student), Champa was married off to an Iyengar boy. Soon my mother too got married. Being in the same city, they met on and off and bonded closely.
Champa had one son and a daughter. My mother had 4 daughters. Champa soon developed health problems and died of cancer, soon after while still in her mid 30s. My mother was inconsolable and too shocked. She would cry often thinking of her friend, Champa.
Even years after Champa's death, my mother remembers her till this day.
Why did my mother like Champa so much?
Champa was caring and she shared her books with my mother freely without rancour. Perhaps she knew her clock was ticking away too fast. She spread her warmth around despite her mother not liking it.
Deliberately hidden Tamil magazines were searched frantically only to be given away to my mother so that she could read them and return them back quickly. My mother must have formed the habit of reading books very quickly due to this.
Perhaps these gestures left a deep impression on my mother's mind because even now, she likes to borrow books from the library and read, even though we can afford all those magazines and many more, but she would never agree.
Champa's memories live in my mother's heart long after she is gone.
Long live such pure friendships.
Cheers.
Mahalakshmi.
Champa was a Tamil Iyengar girl(a category among Brahmins, like Iyers). She was the only daughter of very rich parents, who could afford to buy Tamil magazines like the Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalki, Tamil novels. etc., every week for their daugther.
My mother used to visit Champa's house often during the day as they used to stay very close by. They would study together, chat together, do things together. When her mother called out to Champa discreetly, to have her share of tiffin or snacks, this girl would loudly ask her mother to get it to her and she would share it with my mother.
Whenever, those Tamil weeklies and fortnightlies would arrive, Champa's mother would hide them away from my mother's sight. She obviously din't like my mother reading their magazine copies freely. Champa would have no such feelings. She would go, search out those new magazines and give it to my mother, to take them home to read, against her mother's wishes.
My mother would simply love Champa for all this and more. Champa was a kindly soul. As soon as they passed their Matriculation exams (incidentally, my mother was the state topper in Tamil and a bright student), Champa was married off to an Iyengar boy. Soon my mother too got married. Being in the same city, they met on and off and bonded closely.
Champa had one son and a daughter. My mother had 4 daughters. Champa soon developed health problems and died of cancer, soon after while still in her mid 30s. My mother was inconsolable and too shocked. She would cry often thinking of her friend, Champa.
Even years after Champa's death, my mother remembers her till this day.
Why did my mother like Champa so much?
Champa was caring and she shared her books with my mother freely without rancour. Perhaps she knew her clock was ticking away too fast. She spread her warmth around despite her mother not liking it.
Deliberately hidden Tamil magazines were searched frantically only to be given away to my mother so that she could read them and return them back quickly. My mother must have formed the habit of reading books very quickly due to this.
Perhaps these gestures left a deep impression on my mother's mind because even now, she likes to borrow books from the library and read, even though we can afford all those magazines and many more, but she would never agree.
Champa's memories live in my mother's heart long after she is gone.
Long live such pure friendships.
Cheers.
Mahalakshmi.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Shouting And Cajoling At The Same Time!
This episode took place in the year 1972 when I had joined college.
There were many streams so as many students in each stream. It was an all girls' college with a strength of about 2000.
I would always walk off with the first prize for singing in college. So I was a familiar with the girls and the lecturers. I used to sing many songs but ‘Bole Re Papeeharaa’ from Guddi was a crowd puller with the audience chanting 'once more'.
In the 2nd year any student could take part in the union elections. I watched from afar how the rich and famous girls got together to fight out the posts of president, secretary, treasurer, office bearers, etc. They formed groups and divided the posts amongst themselves and were spending such huge amounts on fancy, colorful, big-sized banners and posters to announce themselves. They also went around the college premises in an open jeep with speakers. The fever had caught on. There were new entrants in the fray in a matter of days.
We sisters would always share news of college events and things. My elder sister told me that I could also stand for the President's post and take a chance, if I wished. I was shocked at the suggestion but with time, I got used to the idea. Before the deadline I filed my application for the President's post as nothing less would do for me!
I had to make myself visible to net those precious votes from all the students. I did not have much money to spend on those grand advertisements, banners, screen-printed posters, jeep tours, etc. My sister asked me to make some posters on my own and canvas for myself in all the classes just before the class hour started.
So my humble posters were stuck here and there. There were objections from some girls about me competing against them for the post. Some girls openly told me I stood no chance at all and ordered me to withdraw from the contest. All this made me more determined to fight it out, whether I was a winner or a loser.
I would go early in the mornings. Classes would begin at 9.15am so I would start doing the rounds of as many classrooms as I could from 9am. I would briefly introduce myself with my name and ask them to tick my name for the post of the President. I would also tell them not to tick any other name as that would be treated as an invalid vote. I would quickly move from class to class to announce myself. Many would laugh at me. This went on for about a week.
Then just a day before the election date, all the candidates were to go on stage, talk for 5 minutes about themselves, before an audience of about 2000 girls and then the campaigning would have to be stopped as that was the last day one could canvas for votes.
My name was called out. I went up on the stage. Stood before the mike and was about to begin my prepared speech of, "Good evening everybody..." But a section of girls who were opposing me, would boo me each time I uttered one sentence. This went on thrice and the crowd got restless and everyone seemed to be having fun at my expense. My principal got up and asked the girls to keep quiet but it had no effect on the wild crowd. It was my turn to get wild with anger and I used my entire lung power to shout through the mike, "Shut up" so loudly that the noisy, fully packed hall fell absolutely silent! Then I quickly grabbed the opportunity to modulate my voice to a calmer tone and just continued to introduce myself as if nothing took place moments ago!! The crowd listened to me in silence. I could not make out anything of their silence, neither did I care much, once I was done with my speech.
The election day arrived. I cast my vote so did many girls. Counting of votes began the next day. I was there watching as the vote count against our names began appearing on the black board. If one was to win she had to get 1001 votes but that seemed doubtful as there were 4 contestants for the president's post. So the votes would get divided. Midway through, my senses got numb as I saw the numbers increasing rapidly against my name on the board. At one stage it had surpassed the magic number of majority. I knew I had won hands down with the maximum votes ever. When the counting would be through, our principal would announce the successful candidates. I was mentally and physically drained by then, not waiting for the official announcement and left the venue knowing full well that I had won.
I came home and told my sisters of the good news. Those were such happy moments. I learnt that simple strategies work better than complicated and costly ones. My opponents had spent in thousands while I could hardly afford Rs.100 for the posters and the color sketch pens. All posters were hand written by me, in phrases like, 'east or west rama is best' etc.
I laugh to myself at the loud ‘shut up’ one minute and the humble and sweet voiced ‘Good evening everybody…’!
Being the President of the Students' Union in a college did change my life forever in many ways. I got closer to the lecturers and the principal. Would organize events. Would get an opportunity to read out the Presidentail address at every college 'do'. Above all, I enjoyed the power which came with it. The recognition wherever I went around college. These were some of the highs I experienced at a young age of 18 or 19.
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
There were many streams so as many students in each stream. It was an all girls' college with a strength of about 2000.
I would always walk off with the first prize for singing in college. So I was a familiar with the girls and the lecturers. I used to sing many songs but ‘Bole Re Papeeharaa’ from Guddi was a crowd puller with the audience chanting 'once more'.
In the 2nd year any student could take part in the union elections. I watched from afar how the rich and famous girls got together to fight out the posts of president, secretary, treasurer, office bearers, etc. They formed groups and divided the posts amongst themselves and were spending such huge amounts on fancy, colorful, big-sized banners and posters to announce themselves. They also went around the college premises in an open jeep with speakers. The fever had caught on. There were new entrants in the fray in a matter of days.
We sisters would always share news of college events and things. My elder sister told me that I could also stand for the President's post and take a chance, if I wished. I was shocked at the suggestion but with time, I got used to the idea. Before the deadline I filed my application for the President's post as nothing less would do for me!
I had to make myself visible to net those precious votes from all the students. I did not have much money to spend on those grand advertisements, banners, screen-printed posters, jeep tours, etc. My sister asked me to make some posters on my own and canvas for myself in all the classes just before the class hour started.
So my humble posters were stuck here and there. There were objections from some girls about me competing against them for the post. Some girls openly told me I stood no chance at all and ordered me to withdraw from the contest. All this made me more determined to fight it out, whether I was a winner or a loser.
I would go early in the mornings. Classes would begin at 9.15am so I would start doing the rounds of as many classrooms as I could from 9am. I would briefly introduce myself with my name and ask them to tick my name for the post of the President. I would also tell them not to tick any other name as that would be treated as an invalid vote. I would quickly move from class to class to announce myself. Many would laugh at me. This went on for about a week.
Then just a day before the election date, all the candidates were to go on stage, talk for 5 minutes about themselves, before an audience of about 2000 girls and then the campaigning would have to be stopped as that was the last day one could canvas for votes.
My name was called out. I went up on the stage. Stood before the mike and was about to begin my prepared speech of, "Good evening everybody..." But a section of girls who were opposing me, would boo me each time I uttered one sentence. This went on thrice and the crowd got restless and everyone seemed to be having fun at my expense. My principal got up and asked the girls to keep quiet but it had no effect on the wild crowd. It was my turn to get wild with anger and I used my entire lung power to shout through the mike, "Shut up" so loudly that the noisy, fully packed hall fell absolutely silent! Then I quickly grabbed the opportunity to modulate my voice to a calmer tone and just continued to introduce myself as if nothing took place moments ago!! The crowd listened to me in silence. I could not make out anything of their silence, neither did I care much, once I was done with my speech.
The election day arrived. I cast my vote so did many girls. Counting of votes began the next day. I was there watching as the vote count against our names began appearing on the black board. If one was to win she had to get 1001 votes but that seemed doubtful as there were 4 contestants for the president's post. So the votes would get divided. Midway through, my senses got numb as I saw the numbers increasing rapidly against my name on the board. At one stage it had surpassed the magic number of majority. I knew I had won hands down with the maximum votes ever. When the counting would be through, our principal would announce the successful candidates. I was mentally and physically drained by then, not waiting for the official announcement and left the venue knowing full well that I had won.
I came home and told my sisters of the good news. Those were such happy moments. I learnt that simple strategies work better than complicated and costly ones. My opponents had spent in thousands while I could hardly afford Rs.100 for the posters and the color sketch pens. All posters were hand written by me, in phrases like, 'east or west rama is best' etc.
I laugh to myself at the loud ‘shut up’ one minute and the humble and sweet voiced ‘Good evening everybody…’!
Being the President of the Students' Union in a college did change my life forever in many ways. I got closer to the lecturers and the principal. Would organize events. Would get an opportunity to read out the Presidentail address at every college 'do'. Above all, I enjoyed the power which came with it. The recognition wherever I went around college. These were some of the highs I experienced at a young age of 18 or 19.
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Rural Wisdom
My husband's family had a large house at Chennai till about 2003. with 7 mango trees, 11 coconut trees, 2 of sapota, 3 jackfruit, 2 guava, 1 badam, 1 lime and a host of flower plants and creepers. It was a garden which was always blooming with something or the other everyday.
Each tree would be of a different variety. Like the 7 mango trees bore 7 different varieties of mangoes. Each would have a different seasonal flowering pattern. So there would be mangoes from one tree or the other through the year at home. Some would bear fruits in 1000s and some very rarely and that too only under a dozen like the malgoa variety.
Since our backyard was always evergreen with fruits, raw and ripe, all round the year, there were visitors like the squirrels, crows, insects, birds - all of them getting to taste them first! At first I would wonder when was the best time to harvest the fruits straight from the trees instead of picking dropped ones. It was difficult to guess as the outer color of the skin would have barely changed. It could as well be raw inside and not yet ripe! But my husband would know. He told me to observe. What I found was whenever the fruits were ripe enough, squirrels and crows would start pecking at them. They would never touch a raw mango, jackfruit or guava. When they pecked at it a few times, the stem would give way and it would fall down. Then we knew it was time to harvest the lot from that tree. And then there would be tresspassers who would just jump over to pluck whatever was in sight and within hand's reach. Humans never waited like the birds and bees did. They would tear down even very small ones without a thought.
There was a man who supplied us milk from a distant village. He would cycle all the way each day before dawn. He also had a lot of wisdom about these things since he came from a rural area called Kellambakkam, way beyond Chennai in those days. (Now Kelambakkam is more urban than Chennai! It is the new destination for the hundreds of IT companies and Engineering colleges dotting the Old Mahabalipuram Road, aka Rajiv Gandhi Salai).
What the milkman said made such a lot of sense to me. He said in the villages, any produce is mentally divided into 3 portions or parts. The farmer or owner would know he would get only a third of the produce. The other 2 portions had to be written off for the birds and bees and those trespassing human beings!! I liked his philosphy and it makes the acceptance of such things so much more easier on the mind, instead of worrying who stole our fruits and how to get back at them when we chance to spy them in the act of stealing. Its simply not worth the trouble at all to lose sleep over. The Law of Nature at work.
Chao!
Mahalakshmi.
Each tree would be of a different variety. Like the 7 mango trees bore 7 different varieties of mangoes. Each would have a different seasonal flowering pattern. So there would be mangoes from one tree or the other through the year at home. Some would bear fruits in 1000s and some very rarely and that too only under a dozen like the malgoa variety.
Since our backyard was always evergreen with fruits, raw and ripe, all round the year, there were visitors like the squirrels, crows, insects, birds - all of them getting to taste them first! At first I would wonder when was the best time to harvest the fruits straight from the trees instead of picking dropped ones. It was difficult to guess as the outer color of the skin would have barely changed. It could as well be raw inside and not yet ripe! But my husband would know. He told me to observe. What I found was whenever the fruits were ripe enough, squirrels and crows would start pecking at them. They would never touch a raw mango, jackfruit or guava. When they pecked at it a few times, the stem would give way and it would fall down. Then we knew it was time to harvest the lot from that tree. And then there would be tresspassers who would just jump over to pluck whatever was in sight and within hand's reach. Humans never waited like the birds and bees did. They would tear down even very small ones without a thought.
There was a man who supplied us milk from a distant village. He would cycle all the way each day before dawn. He also had a lot of wisdom about these things since he came from a rural area called Kellambakkam, way beyond Chennai in those days. (Now Kelambakkam is more urban than Chennai! It is the new destination for the hundreds of IT companies and Engineering colleges dotting the Old Mahabalipuram Road, aka Rajiv Gandhi Salai).
What the milkman said made such a lot of sense to me. He said in the villages, any produce is mentally divided into 3 portions or parts. The farmer or owner would know he would get only a third of the produce. The other 2 portions had to be written off for the birds and bees and those trespassing human beings!! I liked his philosphy and it makes the acceptance of such things so much more easier on the mind, instead of worrying who stole our fruits and how to get back at them when we chance to spy them in the act of stealing. Its simply not worth the trouble at all to lose sleep over. The Law of Nature at work.
Chao!
Mahalakshmi.
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Story Of The Stale Almonds!
Some people would ring me up for recipes or for tips to save grocery items from getting rotten, stale or spoilt.
Once such request came (a long time back) from a lady living in Anna Nagar, Chennai. She wanted me to advice her on how to use and what to make of 2 kgs of almonds sitting on her shelf.
2 kgs is a big quantity. Yet 4 or 5 items can be prepared to use up the lot.
I gave her the following suggestions:
1. Dry roast 250gms until crisp. Add a little salt and pepper powder while still warm to enhance taste. Wait until its thoroughly cool. Makes a good snack.
2. Soak a handful of almonds in warm water. De-skin and garnish her breakfast cereal with them.
3. Soak a handful of them in warm water, de-skin, add 1/2 cup of fresh coconut gratings, 1 red chilly, salt to taste. Grind them all into a course paste. Season with spluttered mustard seeds and curry leaves in hot oil. Good as chutney for Idly or Dosa.
4. Soak a handful of them, de-skin and grind to a paste. Boil and cool 250ml of milk. Add 2 teaspoons (or to taste) sugar, a pinch of cardomom powder, mix in the almond paste, refrigerate and a cool drink is ready to enjoy! That's almond thandai.
5. Dry roast and pound it with some red chillies, salt, asoefotida. Store in a clean, dry glass jar. Will stay fresh for 2 weeks. Can have with steamed rice. Good for health. That's almond spicy powder.
I went on with some more recipes on the phone like making a porridge/payasam or a thick gravy for some spicy curry, etc., etc.
All this while she was listening with rapt attention and in perfect silence. I had to ask whether she was still holding the line :D
She said she understood all I told her. Still she had one doubt.
The almonds were at least one year old (read stale)! Is there any way in which these could be revived, made alright, the smell removed, made fit to eat....?
I felt like a punctured tyre at that moment.
I told her there was no way we could make those almonds alright now except to junk them. The oil in the nuts would have turned bad. The taste would be so repulsive that some of us could suffer from food poisoning if we force ourselves to eat it, just because they are costly and we don't want to waste them. (That's when we remember to share it with someone!).
By this time I was laughing uncontrollably at the funny situation.
Anyway I could not put the phone down without giving her 2 more tips on how to save 2 kgs of fresh almonds from going bad, at least in the future :D
1) Pack them in a nice plastic pouch or ziplock bag and place them in the freezer. They will not spoil so fast as when they are left outside. I gave her another idea of splitting quantities into, say 200gms and storing in the freezer. When she needed them for a dish she could pull out just one pack and use it so that the other packs are not opened and re-sealed again!
2) If she could not use the entire quantity then she could share half of it with her relatives or friends when its still in good condition. Almonds are good anti-oxidants and such sharing will not only contribute towards good health but also create loads of goodwill! But this is the hardest part. Of parting with stuff which is still good. Its so easy to share when its spoilt or about to spoil. More on that subject sometime later!
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
Once such request came (a long time back) from a lady living in Anna Nagar, Chennai. She wanted me to advice her on how to use and what to make of 2 kgs of almonds sitting on her shelf.
2 kgs is a big quantity. Yet 4 or 5 items can be prepared to use up the lot.
I gave her the following suggestions:
1. Dry roast 250gms until crisp. Add a little salt and pepper powder while still warm to enhance taste. Wait until its thoroughly cool. Makes a good snack.
2. Soak a handful of almonds in warm water. De-skin and garnish her breakfast cereal with them.
3. Soak a handful of them in warm water, de-skin, add 1/2 cup of fresh coconut gratings, 1 red chilly, salt to taste. Grind them all into a course paste. Season with spluttered mustard seeds and curry leaves in hot oil. Good as chutney for Idly or Dosa.
4. Soak a handful of them, de-skin and grind to a paste. Boil and cool 250ml of milk. Add 2 teaspoons (or to taste) sugar, a pinch of cardomom powder, mix in the almond paste, refrigerate and a cool drink is ready to enjoy! That's almond thandai.
5. Dry roast and pound it with some red chillies, salt, asoefotida. Store in a clean, dry glass jar. Will stay fresh for 2 weeks. Can have with steamed rice. Good for health. That's almond spicy powder.
I went on with some more recipes on the phone like making a porridge/payasam or a thick gravy for some spicy curry, etc., etc.
All this while she was listening with rapt attention and in perfect silence. I had to ask whether she was still holding the line :D
She said she understood all I told her. Still she had one doubt.
The almonds were at least one year old (read stale)! Is there any way in which these could be revived, made alright, the smell removed, made fit to eat....?
I felt like a punctured tyre at that moment.
I told her there was no way we could make those almonds alright now except to junk them. The oil in the nuts would have turned bad. The taste would be so repulsive that some of us could suffer from food poisoning if we force ourselves to eat it, just because they are costly and we don't want to waste them. (That's when we remember to share it with someone!).
By this time I was laughing uncontrollably at the funny situation.
Anyway I could not put the phone down without giving her 2 more tips on how to save 2 kgs of fresh almonds from going bad, at least in the future :D
1) Pack them in a nice plastic pouch or ziplock bag and place them in the freezer. They will not spoil so fast as when they are left outside. I gave her another idea of splitting quantities into, say 200gms and storing in the freezer. When she needed them for a dish she could pull out just one pack and use it so that the other packs are not opened and re-sealed again!
2) If she could not use the entire quantity then she could share half of it with her relatives or friends when its still in good condition. Almonds are good anti-oxidants and such sharing will not only contribute towards good health but also create loads of goodwill! But this is the hardest part. Of parting with stuff which is still good. Its so easy to share when its spoilt or about to spoil. More on that subject sometime later!
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Shah Rukh Khan & Hema Malini - Stories of Hurt & Rejection
Read a comment made by the Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan on his meeting with Steven Speilburg at some international movie festival (Cannes or somewhere). This must be long time back, though.
Khan was very excited to see Steven who was sitting right next to him in some film festival abroad. Unfortunately there was no response from the great man who looked through our Khan like he was some transparant glass! Khan was upset and commented that Steven must have thought Khan to be some fan-type of person, trying to get some attention. He vowed to prove that he was no fan-type but great star material. Everyone knows his movies have opened at theatres abroad, to housefulls and he has made a name as a successful star.
Yet two things come to my mind:
a)If not for fan-types will these stars survive? But for these fan-types a hero's movie cannot expect to run, why deride them by referring to them this way?
b)Khan should be thankful that someone prodded him on to perform better even if it was just to show that he was no ordinary celebrity-crazy fan-type.
It always happens to all of us in our own lives.
Someone insults us or we think they insulted us.
We remember that insult but they never even have the faintest idea that they insulted or hurt us.
This slight or hurt often propels us to work harder even if it is to prove someone else that we have talent or skill.
I recall reading way back, how a very young Hema Malini, who got a chance to meet Vyjayantimala who was a big star then, din't bother nor oblige her with an autograph. Hema Malini felt very let down due to this. She was nicknamed as the 'dream girl' and later went on to prove herself to be a very successfull Bollywood actress of her times.
Vyjayantimala may not even remember this episode. For Hema Malini, it must have acted as a propeller to work harder to show she was something who mattered in the movie world.
Fan types or not, success is got due to channelling our energies due to someone's failure to recognize us or our talents.
The person who hurts is not important but the hurt getting converted into positive action from inside us is very important. The fire to prove is lit and its upto us to keep the fire burning until we succeed.
I am sure there will not be a single human, who may not have gone through some kind of rejection, failure, hurt in life. We cannot lie down feeling sad forever. We have to get up, get going, perform some action which leads us to overcome this rejection, this failure or this hurt.
Success is most often achieved this way.
May the Festival Of Lights show us all the right path.
May we all prosper with good health, wealth and joy.
Happy Diwali.
Mahalakshmi
Khan was very excited to see Steven who was sitting right next to him in some film festival abroad. Unfortunately there was no response from the great man who looked through our Khan like he was some transparant glass! Khan was upset and commented that Steven must have thought Khan to be some fan-type of person, trying to get some attention. He vowed to prove that he was no fan-type but great star material. Everyone knows his movies have opened at theatres abroad, to housefulls and he has made a name as a successful star.
Yet two things come to my mind:
a)If not for fan-types will these stars survive? But for these fan-types a hero's movie cannot expect to run, why deride them by referring to them this way?
b)Khan should be thankful that someone prodded him on to perform better even if it was just to show that he was no ordinary celebrity-crazy fan-type.
It always happens to all of us in our own lives.
Someone insults us or we think they insulted us.
We remember that insult but they never even have the faintest idea that they insulted or hurt us.
This slight or hurt often propels us to work harder even if it is to prove someone else that we have talent or skill.
I recall reading way back, how a very young Hema Malini, who got a chance to meet Vyjayantimala who was a big star then, din't bother nor oblige her with an autograph. Hema Malini felt very let down due to this. She was nicknamed as the 'dream girl' and later went on to prove herself to be a very successfull Bollywood actress of her times.
Vyjayantimala may not even remember this episode. For Hema Malini, it must have acted as a propeller to work harder to show she was something who mattered in the movie world.
Fan types or not, success is got due to channelling our energies due to someone's failure to recognize us or our talents.
The person who hurts is not important but the hurt getting converted into positive action from inside us is very important. The fire to prove is lit and its upto us to keep the fire burning until we succeed.
I am sure there will not be a single human, who may not have gone through some kind of rejection, failure, hurt in life. We cannot lie down feeling sad forever. We have to get up, get going, perform some action which leads us to overcome this rejection, this failure or this hurt.
Success is most often achieved this way.
May the Festival Of Lights show us all the right path.
May we all prosper with good health, wealth and joy.
Happy Diwali.
Mahalakshmi
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