A healthy treat for the child in you!

I remember, once when my nephew was around 1 year old, there was a fancy dress show happening in our residential colony. My sis-in-law thought that it would be a good idea to take him there and so got him a tiny doctor's coat and a stethoscope. Since he hadn't started talking yet, I went along too as his mouth-piece! So when his name was announced, my sis-in-law led him onto the stage; he happily walked on and seeing so many people down there, got excited and started waving his stethoscope wildly, while I gave him a voice-over.
I said "An apple a day keeps the doctor away; but if the doctor is as smart as me-you better keep the apple away!"
But coming to the point of this long-winded story, no matter how ugly the doctor is, I actually prefer them to apples.
I just do not understand how sooooo many people seem to enjoy them. I have tried many, many times to eat one but I never could complete even a single apple. They look pretty enough, staring at me from the grocery stands-startling reds, golden yellows and fresh greens. But I am not tempted.
In fact, I think that if I had been in Eve's place, Original Sin would never have occurred-no one, evil or angelic could have possibly made me eat that apple!

Having said alllll this, sometimes I try to make my husband eat healthy and so bought some apples a few weeks back. But my husband,strangely,never likes to eat, let alone eat healthy. So there they were-unhappily awaiting their path to their destiny, namely the dust bin.
But in one of my rare moments of rationality, I decided today to turn them into something much more attractive to my palate. I searched online for all kinds of recipes and finally chose one, did some modifications and customizations and ta da-delicious Apple Oatmeal Muffins!

So lets trace the journey from here...

From Apple Muffins

to here!

From Apple Muffins

You will need:

3/4 cup all purpose flour (I used the self-raising variety so that I needn't
add any baking soda)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter
Handful of chopped mixed nuts
1 apple

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Core and grate the apple. I left the skin on, figuring it would give more fiber.
(And also because I am lazy ;-))If you want, you could peel them.

Mix all the dry ingredients together. So sift and add together both the flours, oats, cinnamon and salt.

Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs and whisk well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture along with the vanilla essence.

Stir till everything is incorporated well-maybe 3 minutes.

Either grease your muffin pan or line them with paper cups. I used paper liners.

Drop the dough into the muffin mould using a tablespoon and teaspoon. Level the surface of the muffins as otherwise you as the muffins rise up, cracks may form on the uneven surface and though the taste is not affected, the aesthetic appeal is!

Place the muffin tray in the oven and bake for 30-35 mins depending on your oven.
Start eyeballing from around 25 mins. The muffins may look a little under-done but they should be springy to the touch.

Remove from tray and cool.

Dig in!!!

From Apple Muffins

These muffins are easy, quick and tasty as well as nutritious since they contain whole wheat flour, oats, apples and nuts (I used walnuts and almonds.)
So here is a treat for all of you grown-up kids on Children's Day!
Happy Children's Day! Enjoy and Keep Smiling :-)

From Apple Muffins

The ME Experience

Weekends usually mean lots of lazing around, sleeping, watching TV and maybe some shopping for AJ and me. But this weekend was different.
A few weeks back we had been to Dubai to catch a movie. Since the show was not until late night, we decided on a whim to go to the St.Mary’s Church in Dubai. Whilst there, we noticed a poster announcing a ‘Marriage Encounter Weekend’ (No, not the kind of encounters where police and thugs and shooting are involved ;-)). We noted down the contact details and over the next few days signed up for it. And are we glad about that decision!

The weekend turned out to be quite interesting!
We were the youngest couple there, the ‘baby ME couple’ as they called us!
The two days are spent completely with one’s spouse with no outside interferences, influences or worries.
And contrary to popular belief, the world does not stop if you switch off your mobile phone and the sky does not collapse if you cut yourself off from the outside world for just a couple of days.

We stayed at a comfortable place; there was good food, lovely people and lotsa thinking to do! The ME Team Members are such gracious and loving people.
The ME Dubai Team is just a part of a dedicated Worldwide ME Group of volunteers, who unselfishly share so much with us.
Please don’t presume that one should attend this weekend only if your marriage is on the rocks – the ME Motto is ‘Making Good Marriages Great’. It is not just some senseless gyan. Anyone who would like to enhance and enrich their marriage can join in. It is open to people from all religions and all walks of Life. Check out their website: http://www.wwme.org/

I do not want to write too much and give away all the surprises!
But if you find an ME weekend taking place somewhere near you, please do make use of that opportunity. It will surely be a memorable weekend for both you and your partner!

Balcony Ballads

We recently moved to a new apartment and are just settling down, unpacking boxes, arranging stuff and in the process of making it into a home. One thing that really makes me happy about this is new place is that, I have not one but TWO balconies! Yeah!
I have always wanted to be in a house with a balcony but unfortunately due to some reason or the other, none of the houses that I have lived in the recent past were equipped with one. Also I do not like balconies that have those metallic grilles built into them. I mean I do know that they are much safer, but me being silly ol’me, I would rather prefer an open and free balcony, where I can lean on the railing with the sun warming my face and wind ruffling my hair-which is exactly how these two balconies are!

We are on the 19th floor and so obviously the view is phenomenal. I can see the backwaters near the harbor on one side and a brightly lit football stadium on the other. After dark, the city’s skyline really comes to life and stands out, with cars moving like tiny glow-bugs, wayyyy down there!


Can You See The Sea?


View From The Top


Zoomed In View


Night View


The Football Stadium

Back in India, clothes would mostly be hung out to dry on the terrace. But living abroad in houses without balconies meant drying clothes inside the house itself. Though washing machines do a good job of drying laundry-the feel of a freshly washed, sun-dried, crisp and warm garment is oh so lovely! So this is what I use the back balcony for.

The front balcony is currently being used to satiate my green thumb!
I always believe that a touch of greenery brightens up any space – and what better place for a spot of verdant foliage, fragrant herbs and colourful blooms than the desert?! The fiery weather is cooling down slowly which is good for my plants. I only have a small collection for now as I wanted to experiment and get familiar without murdering too many of them! Happily they seem to be thriving well enough as you can see from the picture so it can be expected that a trip to the nursery is in the offing :-)




BTW check out this interesting post on Gardening at Work- A novel idea! http://www.livemint.com/2010/05/16194549/Reaping-benefits-in-an-office.html

The plants that I have currently were all bought as saplings but next time around I am planning to coax a few to grow from seeds, especially the easy to grow ones such as coriander, methi, mint etc. Freshly plucked organic herbs from my own garden, healthy as well as economical-it can’t get better than that! Agreed a garden on a balcony in a dusty country such as this will definitely contribute to some amount of dirt and sand. But with a little extra effort , you can have your own little oasis right there!

Published Articles

Movie Reviews:

Shutter Island

Twilight: Eclipse

Salt

Interviews:

Sandhya Rao: Tulika

Lavanya Nalli: Nalli

Short Story:

A Letter

Features:

More Than A Teacher

Love At First Sound

Fun Travel For The Older Person

The League Of Extraordinary Conwomen

The Sisterhood Of Philanthropists

Women In The Limelight 2010

Take Charge Of Performance Reviews

Dancing Across Cultures

A Crusade Against Trafficking

India:Confident & Optimistic

http://www.womensweb.in/blog/2010/11/15/76-gestational-diabetes-sweet-yet-bitter.html

Jus Wondering...

I read in the news today that Courtney Cox and her husband have separated after more than 10 years of being together. Makes me sad :-(
Of course, celebrity splits do happen on a regular basis, but I guess I always see Cox as Monica of Friends and who would want Monica to be unhappy???

But it also led me to wonder, as I have often wondered, what makes people split up after 10 or 20 or sometimes even 30 years of marriage?
A divorce within a year or a few years – maybe I can understand.
But after being soooo many years with a particular person, even if you don’t like that person much, wouldn’t you atleast be used to him/her by then?
As it has often been noted, human beings are extremely resistant to change. So if you have been around someone so much that you know him/her and his/her way/habits as well as yours, what would make anyone throw away all the efforts in all those years? Doesn’t it take an enormous amount of energy and strength to rebuild your life again all by yourself?
Or even if you find someone to help you out, you again have to start forging a relationship from scratch. Afterall a relationship requires lots of emotional investment.

Or is it precisely because of this that couples who have been married for decades together separate?
Maybe because, they have come to a point where they know each other so well that everything has become too predictable, boring and monotonous. It seems like they are stuck in the bylanes of their well-known neighbourhood instead of being in an exotic adventure discovering different things. Maybe they miss the hidden charms and sweet surprises that one experiences in the fledgling stages of a relationship, when everyday brings new revelations.

Being only a year into married life and also never having been a celebrity as well as coming from a typical-Indian-Middle-Class background , I admit that I am hardly in a position to understand or judge these situations.
All I am doing is thinking aloud…

Image Courtesy: www.dreamstime.com

Not my cup of tea!

Ladysfinger, or okra according to my internationally settled friends, is one of my favourite vegetables. Yet contrary to the old wives tale of ladysfinger giving one an aptitude for mathematics, I was-am-will be terrible with maths. It was the only exam (apart from Tamil) for which I used to sit up late, wake up early, cry buckets and worry myself into a fever.

So my family was justifiably surprised when I took up a job in Finance a couple of months back. Well if you know me then you probably also know that I am a software engineer and a budding journalist. But I just randomly saw this ad in the paper for a walk-in interview scheduled for the next day and thought I would give it a shot.

The interview lasted for approximately 2 minutes, as I had no clue about finance/sales/marketing and the interviewers had no idea about software engineering. Somehow I landed the job (applause!) and decided to try it out just for the heck of it.

I quote Chetan Bhagat here “It is bad news when you hate your job in the first hour of the first day of office”. I agree whole-heartedly.

I was supposed to sell car insurance as well as savings accounts to prospective clients. ME??!?? Car Insurance?!?? Okay I had about 1% knowledge of cars in the first place. There were only 2 kinds of cars according to me-big cars and small cars.
4 wheel drive? Didn’t all cars run on 4 wheels??!!
Saloon? Isn’t that a synonym for barber shops??

I went back home and cribbed my heart out to my husband. Aware that this was just the first of many similar-complaints & cribbing-filled-evenings, he said “Okay quit if you don’t like it”

But I had just blown away a good part of his salary to buy myself some work wear (just an excuse to go shopping!) and felt a teensy weensy bit guilty.
So I closed my eyes and conjured up my motivational image, namely mall-hopping!! Then I took a deep breath and decided to hang on for some more time.

Once training was over, I started selling-or atleast started trying to sell.
Here are a few samples of the conversations between 3 of us- My Mouth (MMo), Client(C) and My Mind(MMi).

MMo: Sir this is so-and-so from *******, regarding car insurance. May I know if you own a car?
C:Yes yes I already have credit card.
MMo: No sir not carddddd – am talking about carrrrr.
C: No no I don’t want car!!

MMi: Okay so you thought some random person would call up and offer you a car??!? Keep dreaming dude!

********************************************************

C: You know, fortunately or unfortunately my wife’s name is also Anne.
MMo: Oh is it sir!? That is such a nice coincidence!

MMi: Did I ask?! Do I care?!??? Are you gonna buy this product from me or not?!!

********************************************************

MMo: Sir, our insurance covers your car against natural calamities such as floods, earthqu-
C: Dear what happens here is not called floods-go to Pakistan that is what is called floods!!

MMi: Why don’t you go there and drown yourself?!??

*********************************************************

MMo: Introductory statements
C: Plleeassee!!! Pllleeaaseee!! Yahhyen huwlllo hsyawhulla Arabic?!?
MMo: Ok sir, I shall ask someone who speaks Arabic to contact you soon.
C: You don’t know Arabic?
MMo: No sir.
C: Why?!

MMi: Because I do not need to know alllll the languages of the world!!!! Y don’t you know English anyway?!!!!

***********************************************************

MMo:Sir, did you receive the application form sir-I had emailed it to you a couple of hours back.
C: Anne I have a job here. I cannot keep checking my emails.

MMi: Okay then why did u ask me to email it to you, you moron!!

***********************************************************

MMo: Sir, our insurance covers your car against natural calamities
C: Okay so what if a cat scratches my car?

MMo & MMi: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***********************************************************

MMo: Standard greetings & introductions. So may I ask if you own a car sir?
C:………………………..
MMo: Sir? Are you there??
No response
MMo: Hello?
C: mmmm?

MMi: Wake UP!!!!!

***********************************************************

MMo: Standard greetings & introductions
C: See what is this? Early morning you are asking me about car insurance?!??

MMi: Okay if 10 AM is early morning to you then what do you call sunrise time? Midnight!?!??

***********************************************************

C: I want to open a joint account for my wife and myself.
MMo: Sure sir, can I have the contact details of both of you?
C: Why? Are you going to call her up and check if she is my wife??
MMo: NO sir, we just need those details to fill up your application form.

MMi: Why so paranoid!??

***********************************************************

MMo: Sir would you like to open a free savings account with us?
C: Madam I am a poor man. No money to save. If you give me money I will open the account.

MMi: Well if I had sooo much money as to distribute to random strangers I wouldn’t be doing this job would I now?!?

***********************************************************

I had actually wanted to note down the various responses from people but due to tight schedules I couldn’t and now I can’t recollect man of the notable ones.
Anyway after numerous clients, hundreds of calls, unrealistic targets , a monotonous routine and a realization that the only happy thing about this job was the paycheck-I quit. So here I am back to what I like doing best!! If you have noticed, there has been a gap of more than 2 months between this post and my last one. Hopefully I would be more active on blogger now!

Image Coutesy:http://www.dreamstime.com/

This, That & Everything Else...

Almost everyone on Facebook (including me) has a photo album titled 'Random'. You put in miscellaneous photos which are probably too general to be classified into any other album. This post is similar to that.

Have you seen the Russell Peter's show on how women always keep thinking? - An observation that is seconded heartily by mon cher husband. And I do agree. Yes I am a woman and so my brain keeps thinking some random thought or the other almost always. Some of these may act as a germ of an idea for something that I can write or say elaborately. While others are just some knick-knacks which pop in and out. So I thought to collate all such ponderings in this post. This will probably be a living post-in the sense that I may keep adding to it as time goes on...

In the year 2010, as of today, I haven't earned a single penny. My most unproductive year? Maybe.
But I have blogged 17 posts in this blog so far this year, which is the maximum in the 3 years since I started blogging. Added to that I have picked up and taught myself, successfully if I may say so myself, 2 very interesting hobbies-oil painting and knitting. Apart from that, considering the fact that my first non-fiction article has actually been published (okay it is only a review and it is only a fledgling online magazine-still it IS a start!)- I must say that it looks like this has been my most creative year in a looonnggg time!

It feels wonderful to go to bed AND wake up thinking something like "What shall I knit today?" or "What shall I write today?", or "What shall I paint today?" or "what shall I read today?" or even "what shall I cook today?"
Believe you me, it is a zillion times better than "Ohhh God! Am gonna be late for my meeting!! ^*&%!!" or "The deadline is tomorrow and I still have to test 2 whole modules! Goddd save me!" or even "Am I EVER gonna be married???"

Of late, 2 or 3 people have sincerely told me that I remind them of their mother(s).
I am still undecided as to whether this is a compliment or not.

I HATE it when people make spelling/grammatical/pronunciation mistakes in English. Please note that I DO NOT claim to be an expert in this or that I never make mistakes myself. I do. Plenty (V remember insatiable?!??! ewwww!!). And yet it irks me sooo much that I always end up correcting the person. But recently, I have come to realise how irritating that can be. Most of the time, I am always the one with the better English. Until I met my husband. So now I am getting a taste of my own medicine. I both love him and dislike him for this same reason ;-))

I have noticed a few friends of mine, both boys & girls, who don't seem to be bothered enough to update absolutely anything about their spouses/married life on any social n/w site that they are in. I mean of course I know that it is not mandatory to post every tiny little thing happening in your life (although some ppl do that too!). And there r some ppl who just simply have an account but aren't very active. That I can understand. But when u keep posting pics of u freaking out with friends or even status msgs about how sick ur dog is-I would think that there would be atleast 1 snap of u as a couple or at the very least a change in relationship status?? Usually these ppl conveniently leave out mentioning anything about relationship status-which means they have no obligation to change it/update it in the first place. I can even understand this with ppl who have been married for years together. But when ppl who have been married only for a yr or so or at the most 3-4 yrs do this, I am kinda intrigued... After all it is the first few yrs that are supposed to be all sugary and dreamy right? So if that enthu is missing then.... It is not a major crime or anything but somehow it strikes me as a lil odd...

I don't care if I sound like a stuck-up prissy but I do not like it when people constantly use swear words when I am around or even for that matter when any lady is around. Now I know that many ladies also use them frequently-which I dislike even more. I accept that occasionally, nothing can express your feelings as emphatically as a swear word can-but do you have to use it sooooo much?!??!!! It just sounds bad.

It feels strange to me to see people getting all nostalgic about college life. Mainly because I don't feel that way. I am glad that I made a few good friends but apart from that the tiresome travelling up & down everyday, the rude staff (except a few), a classroom that actually leaked when it rained(!), allll the boring classes, stupid guys passing stupid comments and such dreary things - No Thank You-I Do NOT Miss you!! I can understand people feeling bittersweet about college times but I can not relate with them.

I feel exactly the opposite from the above, about my school life though.

Whenever I heard that something good, something which I am longing for has happened to a friend of mine, (for example last yr it was getting married) it seems to me like there are two people inside me at the same time. One person is extremely happy and excited for my friend(s). But this other shadowy person feels a teensy weensy bit - I don't know exactly how to term it - Frustrated? Disappointed? Unjustified?. I don't think it is Jealousy coz honestly I am truly happy for you, my dear friend-as delighted as I would have been if the same good fortune had befallen me in fact. I smile often thinking of your happiness and my day brightens up coz I know that you are blessed. Mind you, I wouldn't in my worst state dream of anything happening to take that happiness away from you-God Forbid! And it would indeed depress me to see you sad. But still I have to accept that sometimes there is a part of me which feels a nudge of something else too...

My favourite spice is fresh, sweet-smelling Cardamom.

I am hardly an organized person but it is only recently that I realised that I am so list-oriented. I make a list for almost everything-either on paper or my computer or just in my mind. A list for shopping, a list of to-do things, a list of all my problems - in fact I even made a list of the reasons why I should/shouldn't get married to AJ ;-) My most recent list? A list of my wishes. So if anyone out there wants to send me anything (Hear! Hear!) please let me know-I shall send you my list-for your convenience ;-))