Sunday, April 13, 2008

Puthandu Nal Vazhthukkal 2008

Our best wishes for a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year for one & all

Friday, April 11, 2008

Only in India

What the #$%^

Temper tantrums....or WWE

Vishruth, our little one, is really hot-headed for his young age of 21 months. Most notable incident among his recent outbursts was the one that happened yesterday after we came, running, from the park. Since the weather was very good yesterday (ah..finally), L and I took the kids to the park. Vidyuth and Vishruth had all the fun that they could playing in the slide, swing, mud etc. When it was time to leave, Vishruth, started crying and I just grabbed him and sprinted towards home which, thankfully, is right opposite the park. Running 500m with a crying 31lb toddler was not what I had planned as a relaxation last evening.

Once we reached home, to my utter shock and disbelief, Vishruth jumped up and landed on his rear, much like what we are used to seeing (or avoiding) in WWE-type fights. He did this at least 4-5 times to vent out his anger/frustration that we didn't let him stay in the park for as long as he wanted to. I have not watched WWE all my life and I'm quite certain that I have ensured that my kids haven't either, at least so far. I'm really clueless as to where he picked up this action/anger from. After a few mins of ignoring him (and I'm sure his rear hurt by now), he finally stopped and transformed into an angel that he usually is

Monday, April 7, 2008

Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary

It was this day, 6 years ago, that L & I entered into wedlock. Over the past 6 years, based on the all the experiences, both good and bad, that we have had together, has helped us both realize the love that we have for each other. The strength of our bonds of matrimony, which has matured slowly but steadily, has helped us understand each other and accepting each other for who we are.

I want to mention a beautiful quote that I read somewhere a while back. Since I don't remember where I read it, I'm unable to credit the source.

"The ultimate test of relationship is to hold hands even during a disagreement!!"

6 years and going strong

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to US:)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Tearful farewell to my friend Balaji

One of my close friends from college, CD Balaji Sankar - fondly called "CaDaBS" passed into the ages today at 12:55pm (IST). He had been battling, very bravely, the second attack of brain tumor for the past 6 months. The doctors who were attending to him gave up all possible hope and all of us were only praying for a miracle. He successfully fought the same battle for the first time 4.5 years ago. He is survived by his elderly parents, his wife and his 2 young girls. I really hope and pray that God gives his family all the strength and courage during this tough time

He was one of my closest friends in college. He was a quiet, kind-hearted, simpleton from Dindigul (a city in southern Tamil Nadu). Though he had no previous exposure to computers before coming to Pilani, he never gave up during all those challenging programming assignments. He worked really hard and came out with flying colors and got a job thru campus interview with TCS with whom he worked until he breathed his last

CaDaBS...you will be missed!!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Cash....ew!!! Pakoda

Based on the recipe that I saw here, I tried to make them at home last weekend for our Saturday night wine-beer session. The recipe yielded about 16 medium sized pakodas. The recipe is actually very simple and healthy and the pakodas came out reasonably well for a maiden attempt. L's parents, for whom I actually made these, enjoyed it a lot. This actually was a very good side dish for our Chianti and Heineken

I personally felt that the pakodas lacked crispiness and so if I were to make this again, I would probably increase the oil by another teaspoon or so to get them to be crispy.

PS: The pakodas didn't stay on the plate long enough for me to take pics :-)