No more chocolates

"Aaj kaal government ni chocolates dena band kela ahe" said M. ("These days the government has stopped giving out chocolates").


Driving up and down the Nh-4 , most toll booths instead of giving back the Rs 1-2 change would hand out chocolates. Last trip though all of them handed out exact change. Hence the observation...

And they came....

With thunderous drum-rolls,
With lightening as fire-works,
With howling wind accompaniments,
The big, fat raindrops,
Descended from the clouds.

Of women empowerment

This post by Solilo and the comments received prompted me to pen down my own thoughts on this subject.
I entirely agree that the life of working, career-oriented women in general is a lot more tougher than their male colleagues. That glass ceilings and gender biases definitely do exist and women need to fight these. The joke - "Women have to work twice as hard as men to be considered half as good" holds very very true.
Yet, women empowerment is not only about being able to work and climb the corporate ladder. It is also about women being in a position to make a choice of whether they want to work, or stay at home or do both. It is also about women getting the support from their families and work-places to do what they choose, in terms of help from the husband in sharing household chores, flexibility at the work-place such as flexi-timing, creche at the work place and work-from-home facilities.
Just as there are instances where women are not allowed to work by their in-laws and/or husbands, I have also seen the reverse cases where women are forced to keep working inspite of not wanting to, because of the financial benefits.
Is it fair to look down on women who are happy and content taking care of the house , husband and children? After all, most of our mothers would belong to this category.
Is it fair to dismiss women with great careers who spend 12-14 hours working as bad home makers and/or mothers? A lot of women today are striving to achieve a balance and are succeeding.
So at the end of the day, it is all about having a say and getting the support for whatever a woman has decided. Be it from the family or the work-place. That would be real women-empowerment.

The Wait

Black soil, upturned
thirsty, waiting.
tall mountains, brown
burnt, yearning.
clear skies, blue
still, unyielding.

come soon, monsoon...

Summer

Mirages on the roads

Sweat dripping from foreheads

Mango juice dripping down hands

Stiffling stillness in the air

Gulmohars blossoms spewing fire

A Haiku

Now that I am four and thirty,
Remember the days I was seventeen.

The dreams that I dreamt...
The amount of energies spent...


That was half a lifetime away.....

Batter nostalgia

These posts by DotThoughts, took me back to the days when I was trying my hand at the batter routine for the first time. Married to a mallu and at the time staying abroad where there were no udipi restaurants meant that I had to pick up batter making skills. My husband P kept telling me how sorely he missed those soft fluffy idlis and golden crisp dosas his mom made.
My mom used idli-rava and urad dal and I tried that route once only to be told that the idlis were good, but they weren't the real idlis.
Phone calls were made back to India and precise amounts of rice, par-boiled rice and dal were obtained from the m-i-l and the batter made. But no, it did not ferment properly although I placed it right next to the heater all night long. With baking soda to the rescue the batter was somehow finished.
Another phone call and we were told that "uluva" methi seeds were the most important ingredient and those would do the trick.
Off we went to the indian shop in the city center and bought a packet of methi seeds. The other ingredients were all measured out and a spoon ful of methi seeds added. Ah, we are going to have great dosas I said to myself, before going off to bed. The methi seeds packet was lying there right next to the soaked dal.
Woke up in the morning and sauntered to the kitchen and to my horror found that the methi seeds packet was half empty and the vessel with dal seemed to have a layer of methi seeds on top. I shrieked. The hubby came running in and confessed to have added the seeds. The methi seeds are the ones that will get the batter to ferment he reasoned so the more the seeds the better the fermentation.
"Do you know that methi seeds taste bitter?" I asked.
"No" he replied...
The next half an hour went in removing as many seeds as we could followed by grinding the batter. After another 10 hours the batter was fermented very nicely and with fingers crossed I made the first dosa.
Hubby was waiting anxiously. The Dosa looked good, nice golden brown and crispy. He took the first bite with me watching out for his reaction. "Not bad" he said," just a little bitter".
I took a bite. Eew, bitter definitely bitter!

Tried all sorts of things after that, added rava, maida, more ground dal but the batter remained bitter and we had to throw some of it away.
Sigh! Those were good days.Now of course the batter is never a problem and hence there are no stories to tell................................