An interesting autodriver

I had been to Kumaran Stores to buy blouse pieces to be given as gifts for the women folk on the day of Neha's ayushhomam. On my way back I got into this brand new auto. The driver did not know the route to my place. I thought to myself that he must be new to Chennai. I asked him about this and pat came the reply "I was a manager in a jewellery mart for 15 yrs. I developed stomach ulcer and changed profession to get back in shape". Jumping into the fire from frying pan I guess.. Neways that is not what I wanted to write about... He gave me some gyan about the jewellery business. He is also planning to open up a jewellery shop on his own next year. A kg of gold costs 15lakhs as of today (or yesterday). He is waiting for the gold price to come down. He also said that Saravana stores gold jewellery (useful info) is quite good and also the best place to get diamonds is Rajmandir in Cathedral Road (useful at the cost of a big dent in hubby's purse).Interesting guy but a typical autodriver too in that he did not accept the fare I was willing though he did not know much about the distance/autofares in Chennai.

(M)Ad sense

The Hamam soap ad is really disturbing. The ad goes like this. A mom asks her daughter to buy a soap. In her hurry she forgets to tell her what soap to buy. She starts panicking and runs behind her daughter thinking about all the bad things in the world that would happen to her daughter if she got the wrong soap. That she would develop skin allergy and pimples, people will stay from her in school and she will become the object of ridicule in class and eventually lose all confidence in self. WTF? Who comes up with nasty ideas for a soap ad? It is the responsibility of the parents to make the child understand that it is ok to get pimples in the adolescent age and it is just a passing phase.It is nature's own way to say that the child is growing up. And who says Hamam can prevent all these skin problems?? It is not a even classified as a medicated soap for that matter.And the second thing is why should this ad feature a mom and daughter and not a mom and son?? Dont boys get pimples? This ad is aimed at girls/women and it will definitely spoil their minds. Women are achieving great heights and here we have this ad which says you need to look beautiful to make friends and to be recognised among your own folk.. A.T.R.O.C.I.O.U.S is all I can say. Is there a forum where we can opine our views on this??

Rasagulla made easy!

Disclaimer: I am no expert in cooking...
Makes 30 medium sized rasagullas
For the Paneer:
1 litre milk
1 lemon
For rasagulla:
4 cups(1 cup= 250 ml) water
2 cups sugar
cardomom powder
saffron if available
Procedure:
Boil milk without adding water. When it is about to boil add the lemon juice. Stir well and wait till all the milk is curdled. Once this is done strain it and wash the paneer in cold water to remove the lemony flavor. Now transfer the panner to a clean cotton cloth and keeps something heavy on top of it to get rid of the excess water(Preferably a big pan filled with water). Keep aside for 3-4 hours.
After the paneer has hardened, take it and knead it well until you can small balls with the paneer. Make very small balls about the size of a blueberry and keep aside.
Add sugar to water and heat it in a pressure cooker. Add little cardamom powder and little saffron to it. Bring this mixture to a boil. Leave it on high flame for 5 mins. Add the paneer balls one by one. Cover the cooker with the lid and cook on low flame for 20 mins. You might want to put the weight but allow no whistle. Once it is done, take the rasagulla out, refrigerate and serve it cold.

Ilam kandrum bayamarium....

I have been thinking to write a post on Baby N's fears. Today i get to write it finally. I have listed the things that she fears the most in that order
.... Cooker whistle
.... Mixie
.... Door bell
.... Bottle cleaning brush
.... Anything that moves unexpectantly
she is not afraid of darkness. I dont know if it is good or bad. That is the end of the list for now.

How possesive can someone get

The other day my father had bought a big suraikai(dont know the english equivalent for this vegetable). I held this in my hand and sang the usual jho jho and guess wat?? Baby N started crying thinking that I am carrying a baby and singing to her.. She doesnt like it when I lift other babies or even go near them right from she was 8months but this was heights.One part of me felt proud and another part a little worried.....At least there is someone who is real possesive about me..Worth all the pain.

Nehavum naangalum

Neha is 10 months now. I still remember the kutti pappa who slept like angel on my mother's lap... Not any more. She has become a real tomboy now. Constantly doing something or other.Hmm time is running. Soon it will be time to put her in school.
Some good things about her: $he can stand without support for few seconds, She can identify fan, she can put objects into a container and she knows how to use a comb. She used to be bald at birth. Now she has this Kramer like hairstyle with all that combing she has learnt. She can eat a piece of biscuit on her own now that she has cut 4 teeth. She likes curd, fruits,veggies and all non-baby food. She enjoys going out these days by walk or two-wheeler. She loves music. She is not interested in tv but loves the remote. She likes to play with ball and her father's glasses and of course with utensils of all shapes and sizes.
Now the not so good things.. She can pinch and beat you real hard. She can pick the tiniest bit from the floor and puts it right into her mouth. She refuses baby food in any form. Making her eat still takes a lot of time and energy. She still cannot say amma though she says appa sometimes. And then she wants to have a feed from me right before going to sleep. No one can put her to sleep... Each day i tell myself that i should not shout at her or get upset with her for not eating or sleeping. This thing will continue for one or the other reason for many more years to come i guess..... It is just the tip of the iceberg...

Thenaliraman poonai

Neha is slowly recovering from stomach flu and cold. Her appetite is still not good but when did she like food... Otherwise she is doing ok. Finally I had to go to my mom's place and take her to the doc who was her paed till I came to my in-laws' place. She said I should not have given the medicine that the skin doc prescribed for rashes(he diagonsed her with atopic eczema). The rashes have disappeared on their own though some appear after she gets from sleep and disappears soon after that. I would have litreally fallen on her feet for saving the baby. She was in such a bad shape. Severe diaorrhea, vomitting, severe cold and rahes all at the same time. She had to take 5 medicines 2 times a day for 4 days. At the end of 4 days she ran away the moment something was brought near her mouth. Poor thing. Thenaliraman poonai vallaththa kadhai ayiduchchu.... Each time I think of weaning her and getting back to work she falls sick and I end up giving her additional feeds and start all over. Lessons learnt: dont give any medicine for skin allergy and go slow on weaning.