Watermelon-Onion-Feta Salad
Just as I mentioned in my previous post, I have taken up a challenge to lose as much as I can in 100 days. Today is the 10 th day and the first 10 days havent gone exactly to plan. I have succumbed to temptations on more than a couple of occasions. I just learnt that before starting on a diet regime, one should do a quick cleaning of the refrigerator. Having a litre of Tiramisu icecream in the freezer is not going to help you one bit. The weekends are even more dangerous. You just cant sit idly and watch your hubby and son relishing burgers, fries and classic icecreams from Baskin Robbins. But one thing I am happy about is that I persisted the soup – salad diet during the week days. I also noticed that alongwith the diet and an hour of work-outs , I am able to meet my targets pretty well. So, from now on I have resolved to resist my temptations for the next 90 days. Will suely keep you updated on the progress.
Meanwhile, this watermelon salad is one of my favourite and perfect to beat the summer heat. A bowl of this salad and a glass of buttermilk mixed seasoned with curry leaves, salt and asoefetida fills your stomach and cools your body. I saw this salad in one of Nigella Lawson’s shows. I dont remember the name of the show but luckily I had noted down the recipe.
Recipe : Watermelon- Onion- Feta Salad
Source : Nigella Lawson
Ingredients
Watermelon deseeded and chopped in cubes – 2 cups
1 red onion
juice of half a lemon
Chopped mint – 2 tablepoons
chopped parsley – 2 tablespoons
Feta cheese – 2 tablespoons
Sliced black olives – 2 tablespoons ( optional)
Method
- Slice the onion and soak it in the lemon juice. Keep it for 15 mts. This will turn the onions to a bright pink colour
- Mix the watermelon, mint and parsley in a bowl
- Add the onions alongwith the juice and mix well
- Add feta cheese and toss well
Enjoy the salad alongwith a glass of buttermilk.
Back to blogging with Friends and Friendship and a Challenge..
Its been 4 months since my last post. Other commitments became priorities and my blogging took a backseat, rather it was nowhere in the picture. Its been a month now since life is back to normal and I could have returned to blogging but I blame it on the laziness inside in me in not doing so. But, this post by my dear friend Anita woke me up from my stupor and I knew I had to write. Anita writes such thought provoking posts , sometimes all I do is like her post since I dont know what to leave as a comment. I just wish I could write as well as her.
Now coming back to Anita’s post, she asks a very pertinent question – Do Friendships come with an Expiry tag? Now most people would swear on friends and friendships being forever and ever, but honestly how many of us are still in touch with our childhood friends? No, not on Facebook and twitter but I refer to the sync we shared with them. If we meet our childhood friends say after a gap of 10-15 years,( a) we would just have memories to talk about and then updates on present status and then probably promise to be in touch and then move on or ( b) start off from where we left. In friendship, what matters is not for how long we are friends but how deep a bond we share. ( Courtesy: Katha Parayumbol). In the above scnario, if we opt for option (a), probably the bond was fickle and in case of (b),we are lucky to have shared so deep a bond.
So, as an answer to Anu’s question, I feel the expiry tag depends on how deep the bond is between the friends and as such, I do agree that some friends do come with expiry tags. With the advent of social networking sites, the definition of friend itself has undergone a seachange. In that perspective, there are increasing number of expiry tags and with some the expiry period is short , too.
I know I dont make sense in this post but a big thanks to Anu for having made me come out of my reverie and write something.
Now, to the challenge part, my weight has always been my challenge. Just to have something to look forward to, I have started on this 100 day programme for my weight loss. I intend to provide weekly updates on the progress along with some recipes that I used in my schedule. Hopefully, I should be able to make a visible difference this time.
So, watch out for the first weekly update this saturday and also the recipes that will follow.
Like this:
Eggless Moist,Rich Chocolate cake with Balsamic Strawberry Filling
What is a birthday without chocolate cake? Even people who dont like chocolate cake ( they do exist), like to have it for their birthdays. Sri was getting bored of all the brownies and chocolate cake I had been trying all this while. So he was suggesting that his birthday cake something which doesnt have chocolate in it.Blasphemy. I was so disappointed. But when his birthday was around the corner, he wanted a chocolate cake. I was doing a little jig inside while outwardly I gave this sweet smile and said , “As you wish. “. Ever since I saw this post in Deeba’s PAB, I have been wanting to make it. It didnt materialise in the couple of occasions when I had planned to bake. Meanwhile, I came across this Moist, rich-tasting choclate cakein the book , Bakin’ Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro. So, when Sri said that he wanted a chocolate cake, I found the perfect opportunity to combine the two – Chocolate Cake from the book and the filling and frosting from Deeba. And I am really glad I did. Without much ado, I will get down to the recipe.
Moist, Rich-Tasting Chocolate cake
Recipe Source: Bakin’ without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
21/4 cups granulated sugar ( I used 1 cup of brown sugar and the rest granulated sugar)
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teapoons baking powder
1/2 cup light sour cream ( can be substituted with yoghurt)
3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla essence
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160 C. Lightly butter and dust two 9 – inch round cake pans ( I used the same pan and baked twice)
2. In a saucepan, boil water and add baking soda, stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder. Then aadd baking soda- water mixture. With a handheld electric mixer, set on medium speed, beat in the water and beat in one ata time sour cream, oil and vanilla, stirring intil completely mixed. Scrap the sides in between while mixing.
4. Pour batter in the pans and bake for 40-50 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes on wire rack and turn out onto plates. Cool completely before frosting.
Filling and Frosting:
I sliced the cakes into two so that I had 4 layers. I followed the filling and frosting as shown by Deeba here.
This cake was likeed by all and the cake only gets better with days. Not that it will stay for many days. The book also says that this cake freezes well. This recipe is a keeper and I guess this is just the first of many times I will be making this. This cake gives you a satisfaction of having made something wonderful for your loved ones with its great moist and rich taste.
Roomie
“Would you like to move in along with me?” I asked in a tone which I thought was casual enough but in fact I was trying hard to hide the desperation, I felt within. I was asking this to Tara. She was taking her time and I was crossing my fingers with prayers in my heart.’God , please let her agree, let her say yes, please , please, please, ‘ I thought.
While she was mulling upon the offer, my thoughts flew back to where it all started. The prayers were going on but in a separate track, though. I had come to this beautiful little town-city to do my post graduation course. The admission and the hotel registartion happened on a Friday. While I was completing the formalities, I found a girl enrolling for the same course. We got talking and decided to ask for a same room in the hostel. After having completed the enrolment procedures , we were asked to meet the warden of the hostel. When we went there it was already lunch time. Since the canteen was far off from the hostel , we decided to have our lunch after finishing the hostel procedures.
Not surprisingly, the warden had an extended lunch session and came about 2:30 P.M. Ten minutes later, we were allowed to meet her. Once inside, we introduced ourselves. She then asked about our course details and then said that we will be put up in the Saraswathi block. We asked if both of us could be given the same room. She replied in the affirmative and added that there will be 3 persons in a room. We were happy that we got a room together and didnt bother much about the third person. We thanked her and proceeded towards the Saraswathi hostel.
The hostel was just like the way you expected any government university hostels to be. None of the Bollywood types rooms or dorms. The rooms were ok for two persons but three would definitely be a crowd. The hostel was empty save for a few students who had returned early for the new academic session. My new found friend kept her luggage in the room nad we proceeded to have lunch, happy with the way things had worked out. She was going to stay there for the weekend and I was going to visit my grandparents who stayed in a place which took a 4 -hr drive from the university. I was planning to come back early monday morning, drop the luggage in the room and then proceed for the classes. After lunch, we said our goodbyes and take cares and parted ways.
I spent a wonderful weekend with my grandparents in their quaint little place . I was pampered with attention and goodies to no end. I felt really sad to leave but promised to be back whenver I had a long weekend. When I sat on the bus, I was really looking forward to what lay ahead. New place, new people. I was all excited.
When I entered my room, I saw a third cot bang in the middle of the room and I saw my friend getting ready on her side of the room as discussed earlier. I waved at her cheerfully while she just gave a perfunctory smile. I was puzzled.And then when I saw to the other side which was supposed to have been mine was occupied. The bed had been slept in and clothes and books were arranged. I threw a questioning look to my friend ( at this stage , I was not so sure of the friend), she said , “Sapna is our third roommate. The middle cot is for you. Ok. Gotta rush now. Bye.” She rushed off without even waiting for a reply. I just kept my luggage on the cot and decided to have a discussion after the classes. By that time, Sapna came back. She said, ” Oh, you have come. Ok. Then will you mind keeping the luggage properly. Seeing it lying about there is getting on my nerves.” It took me a moment to get this straight after which I replied, ” I am not in the mood to arrange it right now. Will do that after the classes.” So, saying I walked off. While I was walking to my class, I was very disappointed. I was not looking forward to stay here anymore. I wanted to go back. But I had to stay, no matter what. I was staying in a room where I was feeling very unwelcome. To add to the misery, the rest of the girls from my batch have seem to have bonded well during the weekend. I was feeling like an outsider.
This uncomfortable stay went on for a month. One fine day, just as the second month started it was announced that the new hostel block which was under construction till now, will be open for occupation and the new batch of students will shift to the new block. There will be 2 persons per room. My retort to Sapna had not gone down too well with the rest of the girls. Since Sapna and my friend for one day were sharing a room, I was left to look out for somebody to share my room with. And as luck would have it, everybody had somebody. I left it at that and hoped the problem would solve by itself.
Meanwhile, we had an assignment for which we had to visit the town for some supplies. A bunch of us classmates went alongwith Tara who knew her way around town. Now, Tara was in our class and was already in the University doing her MCA. She wanted to study further and joined this course of ours. So, she was our guide around the University and around town. So, it was during this trip , I blurted out this question.
I was still waiting for the answer and my fingers were still crossed. And then she said, “Yes, I wouldn’t mind shifting along with you.”. I uncrossed my fingers and let out a huge sigh of relief. I sent a dozen prayers towards the sky. Its only in instances like these I have a strong belief in God Almighty.
A couple of weeks later, all of us shifted to the new hostel. This was a much much better place than the previous hostel. The walls were painted new, the beds had not been slept in and the most important of all, the washrooms were new and very hygienic. It took almost a week to settle down. And then , the honeymoon was over. With Tara , that is. She and I were totally opposite. So, though we shared the same room we were not exactly pally -pally. Moreover, she was a neatness freak and I was not. She used to diligently keep her side of the room , so spotlessly clean that I was forced to clean my side of the room. But then, I could never keep up with her. At one point of time, she even told me that looking at my side of the room gave her a headache. Days passed. The girls in the other rooms were so close to their roommates , that it was like a family. They confided in each other, they went out together, they ate together and even did the assignments together. Tara and I did none of this. We were each in our own different world. We were like a separated couple living in the same house.
One evening, while I was coming back to the hostel after visiting the town, I met Siya (another of our classmates who stays in the hostel) who was headed outside. She stopped and asked me, ” I think Tara is not well. She was in the room all day long. Hasnt eaten the whole day and when I went to see her , her eyes were red. Looks like she has been crying the whole day.” I told her that I will go check and rushed to my room. Tara was still in her bed and was surrounded by her friends. They were kind of comforting her and I didnt intrude. That night, she stayed in one of her friends’ room and a couple of days after that. All classmates were enquiring me as to what happend to her and I could tell them as I didnt know myself. People were surprised that I didnt know what happend to my roomie and loudly wondered what sort of a roomie was I. I was getting irritated by all these and rushed back to my room. I found Tara there and after acknowledging eachn other’s presence with a nod , both of us retreated into our own shells. I didnt ask anything and she didnt say any thing and we left it at that.
Days passed and all of us were busy with the sudden tests, assignmnets and projects. It was a Sunday night and I was giving final touches to a report I was supposed to be submitting the next day. Tara was busy with her report. I think. I had a couple of more slides to go and the suddenly the lights went off. It was pitch dark everywhere. There was a sudden flash of lightening and a deafening thunder. A light drizzle started and then it became a downpour within minutes. The hostel was silent and everybody kept to their rooms. I closed my books and was watching the rain from my window. Not that I could see anything but I was just looking out. I was engrossed that I almost jumped when I felt a hand on my shooulder. It was Tara. ” You scared me”, I said. She was laughing and said, “I just wanted to offer you some chips. I felt like eating and thought you might like to have too.” I took a few and continued looking out while munching on the chips. She stood next to me , munching and looking out too. For a while, we could just hear the crunch of the chips. Suddenly, she asked,” you like watching rain?” I replied to her while continuing to look out, ” Yes, I have so many memories attached to the rain”. I went on to tell her about my first rain dance when my father carried me on his shoulders while my mom was screaming at both of us, the day when I went with my friends to a movie without telling my mom and how the rains delayed us and the subsequent lectures at home and many such incidents. Surprisingly, she came out with her own stories too. We kept munching on the chips and talking. When the chips were over , I brought out biscuits and chocolates. We kept talking and talking. About our first crushes, first heartbreaks, friends, parents, cousins, school , college and then we also talked about her recent break up with this guy whom she was dating for quite sometime. The rains stopped pouring but we were pouring our hearts out to each other. We didnt notice the time and we were talking as if there was going to be no tomorrow. We were making up for lost time, I guess.
The first ray of dawn appeared and slowly we could hear the chirping of the birds. It was the beginning of a new day, a new dawn and the beginning of a new relationship with my roomie. My own roomie. A person with whom I cherished the next 15 months.
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MWS 4 – The “Girl – Seeing” Event
Wishing all of you a very happy new year!! Its pretty late in the day but I was held up in shifting to a new house and all the packing and unpacking left me with little energy to write. Now all settled in my new house, I intend to keep up my new year resolution of being more regular in writing. God willing.
A small recap of the story so far in My Wedding Story – My Wedding Story , as the title says, is the story of my wedding which was arranged by my parents. This is just a record of what I experienced during the whole process of horoscope matching, picture exchange, email chat and finally one -on-one meeting which is technically called the “Girl-seeing event”. You can read the earlier chapters here,here and here.
The world of arranged marriages(AM) has its own vocabulary. Some new, some derived and some translated , literally. Say, for example, a boy in the normal course of language means a male who is less than 18 years of age. But in the AM jargon, a boy implies an unmarried male looking for a bride , irrespective of the age. This “girl -seeing” event is also one such event which has been literally translated from the tamil ”ponnu paarkkal”. Traditionally, this is when a the prospective groom’s friends and relatives land up in the girl’s house to see the girl. ( Remember the initial scenes from the movie “Roja”, where the hero comes to a village to see a girl). They are served with some snacks and coffee. The coffee is served by the girl to the relatives and sometimes she is even asked to sing. Then the boy decides whether he likes the girl or not. The girl’s opinion was usually not taken. Thankfully it is not so these days.
Today was my first “girl-seeing” event. First of many but thankfully not traditonal. The guy’s parents were meeting me at my office lobby and I wont be serving coffee. The pantry boys will take care of that. So, after a surprisingly good night’s sleep (I didnt expect any , after my dad’s call the previous night), I woke up to the sound of my mobile phone ringing. I picked it up and said, “Good morning, Ma”. I knew it would be her call and it was. More of one sided conversation studded with do’s and dont’s. Suddenly she suggested I wear a sari. I threatened to go on sick leave. She left it at that. The call ended with my assurance that I will be at my best behaviour.
I reached my office earlier than usual despite taking more than my usual time to get dressed. I was restless and apprehensive the whole day. Never the one to miss anything even remotely out of ordinary, my immediate boss , G asked ,” Whatsup Gayathri? You look different today and you are restless. All well? “. I just nodded in reply and brought her attention back to the banker about whom we were discussing. Back from G’s cabin, I sat down to draft a reply to the queries raised by the banker about whom we were discussing earlier. This took my mind off from the impending meeting. After going to and fro between me and G, the draft was ready for the final version. It was 4 o’clock and in another half an hour, they would be here. My stomach was doing somersaults inside and it had nothing to do with the fact that I had skipped lunch that day. I went to the washroom, to check my presentability and by the time I came back to my desk, my intercom rang. I answered it only to find G aking me to come to her cabin. She asked me to take the final copy of the letter to our boss J and get it signed for release. I took a printout and after giving it a once over took it to J’s cabin and just as I was entering it, my mobile rang and it was from reception. The receptionist told that I had visitors. I asked her to tell them that I will be down in about 5 minutes. I entered J’s cabin and gave him the letter. He asked for the initial letter from the bank , which I luckily had with me. He read the bank’s letter and our reply in detail. I was checking my watch. A couple of questions followed and then he signed the letter. I heaved a sigh of relief and rushed back to give instructions to my team mate to deliver the letter to the bank after taking copies for our record. I then rushed down to the reception lobby.
I slowly opened the door and saw 2 ladies sitting in the sofa and talking to each other in low voices. As soon as they saw me, they quit talking. I approached them with a smile ( I think) and introduced myself. The conversation went something like this:
I :” Hello, I am Gayathri. I am extremely sorry for making you wait. Something came up which had to be attended to immediately.”
Aunty 1: “Thats ok. We understand. I am Jai’s mother and she is my sister ( I smiled at her sweetly ( I hope)). Jai’s dad was held up too. Since we had already scheduled to meet today, I came along with her.”
I asked if they would have something to drink and they said they will have coffee. I excused myself for a moment and called the pantry to get a couple of cup of coffees.
When I came back Aunty 1 asked me, ” So, where did you do your schooling?” I replied about my schooling in Trichy, Chennai and Delhi.
Aunty 2: ” What do you do in your spare time? Have you learnt music?” I told them about my reading, writing and travelling stuff and the music classes I attended for 2 years, a long time back.
Aunty 1, ” Jai loves watching cricket. He doesnt like to read novels and all. He loves listening to music expecially, Illaya raja songs. He likes to spend his holidays at home rather than going out.”
Aunty 2: ” You stay alone? Do you cook for yourself?”
Aunty 1: ” Yes, I wanted to ask the same thing. Jai is a complete foodie. He always prefers home cooked food to eating out. Whenever he comes home, he always has this list of dishes he wants me to prepare. “
I : ” Depends on the time, Aunty. If its late , I prefer ordering from my nearby restaurant and if I get home early I cook and on sundays I do some elaborate cooking.”
Aunty 2, ” How late you get back from work?”
I : ” Again depends , Aunty. Usually I am back by 7 but if there is something urgent to attend to,it takes 9 sometimes even 10.”.
They both exchange looks.
Aunty 1, “Jai is always back by 6:30″.
I smiled in reply.
Aunty no: 2 ” Will you like to work after getting married?”
I : ” I would like to but again it depends”.
Again, another exchange of looks between the sisters.
The coffee comes now and they both take their cups.
Aunty 1 : ” Wont you drink?”
I: ” No aunty , thanks . I dont drink coffee.”
Some 5 minutes later, when they are done with the coffee, Aunty 1 says, ” Nice coffee. You want to know anything about Jai?”.
I: ” Yeah. Will he be in Andamans only or will he be posted around the country?” . ( He was working in a bank)
Aunty 1:” Andamans is a very lovely place. Jai likes it so much. He is there for 2 years now. Given a chance, he will like to stay there only. So, lets see..”.
My mobile rings and its G calling. ” Where are you, Gayathri? Can you meet me ASAP?”. I replied, ” Yes, G. Give me a couple of minutes”.
The sisters take the cue and Aunty 1 said,” Ok ,dear. We will leave now. We will talk to your parents.” I accompanied them till the main entrance and saw them off with a smile . I never knew I was capable of smiling so much .
One tension over and I was now worried about G’s call. Somehow the tone of her voice didnt sound good.
By the time, I reached home – I had repeated the evening conversation a number of times to my mum and dad, got an earful from G for a typo error in the letter ( thankfully, it wasnt delivered to the bank) and another earful from J from whom I had to get the letter signed all over again.
I took a take -away for my dinner and when I hit the bed, I had a feeling that Jai was not the one. But I had to wait for the call from the aunties to be sure. With enough excitement for one day, I slept thorougly exhausted.
My mum called me while I was on my way to work and she confirmed my feelings. With great disappointment, she told me that Jai’s parents do not want to proceed further. I was like, ” Thats goo…bad, ma. Its ok, ma. Maybe somebody else.”. She didnt reply and asked me to take care and disconnected the phone.
Though I felt sad for my mum, I felt happy that I still had time. I silently sent up a prayer thanking God.I entered my workplace with a song on my lips and looked forward to another day.
To be continued….
MWS – Tall, Fair, Slim and Professionally Well Qualified…
It was not as bad as I feared it would be. My dad was right( as he usually was). I didnt get married the next day after registering my name. Life was going on as usual but somewhere at the back of my mind , I was aware that all this was going to change and the clock was ticking.
One lazy Sunday morning, as I was having my morning cuppa and browsing through the newspaper, my mother called me. After the initial inquiries and a mild lecture on having my morning cuppa at 10:30 AM, her tone underwent a change as she said,”Ammu, there is something I need to talk to you about”. My mom was never the one to indulge in preliminaries and the fact she was doing just that caught my attention and my alarm bells started ringing. With great anxiety,I asked her,” What is it? Is everything ok? ” and then fearing the worst I asked,” Am I supposed to meet someone?”. She hurriedly refused that and put me in ease. If that was not the case, I can take anything else. Or so I thought.I am not going into details into the rest of the conversation as it was mainly one – sided with the occasional ” hmmms” from my side.
After the call, I sat thinking over what my mum had said and my eyes fell on the matrimonial ads on the Sunday magazine. As I glanced through the ”Brides Wanted” (Urgh !) section of the Classifieds, I could actually understand my mom’s apprehensions. Most of the ads invariably described the bride to be fair, slim,beautiful and professionally qualified. Since I was not fair, slim and pretty average on the looks department, my mom felt I was at a disadvantage. So she had suggested that I get on to a weight loss regimen on war footing and ditch my specs and switch to contacts. I was not angry with my mum. She did not want her daughter to be rejected. I perfectly understood.
But on the other hand, I was also sure of one thing that if someone wants to marry me ,it better be for the way I am. I didnt tell this to my mum though.This episode made me dread the entire process even more.
It was back to work as usual on Monday morning. Monday mornings at work makes one completely oblivious to the rest of the world. There was an agreement to be signed on Tuesday for which the final touches were being given. Monday whizzed past and the sign -off happened smoothly on Tuesday. That was one of my first major assignment and the successful completion gave me a high.
Thoroughly contended, I was on my way home. I was in no mood to cook and just ordered a simple meal from neighbouring restaurant. A good day and a good dinner later , I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. And then , you guessed it right, my dad called. Again a one sided conversation.
It was happening finally. The parents of a prospective groom wanted to meet me the next day. Expected and Accepted. The guy was based in Andamans and the parents wanted to see me in person before proceeding further. They will be dropping by at my work place to have a chat with me. Ridiculous. But then, I saw a positive side – If it was getting too long, I could escape saying I had a meeting.
And the good night’s sleep was reserved for the next day.
To be continued….
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MWS – Project Wedding Kickstarts
I knew all along that I will be having an arranged marriage and I was prepared for that. The first time this topic came up was when I had finished my graduation. My maternal grandmother did the honours of initiating the discussion. But good sense and my good luck prevailed and I proceeded to complete my MBA. I got a job offer which required me to stay in Chennai while my parents were still in Delhi.
I was so preoccupied in settling into my job, I hardly noticed the initial 2 months whiz past me. I was thoroughly enjoying my work, my new found monetary independence and the time I was spending with my friends. I was blissfully unaware of the sudden turn life had in store for me.
One fine evening, thoroughly contended after a good day’s work and an early dinner with a classmate, I was settling down for the night with a book I had been wanting to read for quite a while. It was a thriller and I was quite engrossed in following the clues the murderer had left in the story. So, when my mobile rang, it kind of startled me.
My mom was calling me and after taking a moment to collect myself I answered the call. After initial inquiries on my health and work, she said,” Ammu, your dad wants to talk to you”. Sometimes, one does get an intuition of something important about to happen and when my mom said this line, immediately I was sure this was going to be serious. One more reason was that, whenever my mum& dad start plotting and I was involved, my mum let my Dad do the talking. I can never say no to him.
I said, ” Ok, what is it about?”. ” He will tell you himself. Just a sec”, is what I got in reply. I could feel the tension in me rising. In a moment, I heard the rich baritone of my dad’s voice.
Dad: “Ammu, how are you doing? All well at work?”
Me: ” Yes, Dad. Fine. How are you?”
Dad: ” Achcha, listen..we are planning to register your name and the horoscope with this matrimonial service centre. I guess its the right time now to start searching for a suitable groom.”
Me: ” But, dad, isnt it a bit early? Atleast let me complete a year at work.”
Dad: ” Ofcourse, it isnt as if you are going to get married tomorrow. We are just starting the process. And we are only registering your name and you know there is a long process involved.”
Me: “But, dad…”
Dad: ” No ifs and buts, Ammu…Its high time now. You wanted to do your higher studies after graduation , we said yes and then you wanted to take up this job in Chennai and we let you do so. Now its your turn to listen to us. Ok”
I couldnt reply to the finality in his voice. I whispered a barely audible yes.
Dad: ” What? Hello..Hello..”
Me( weakly and meekly): ” Yes, Dad”. There, the Project Ammu’s Wedding kickstarted - not with a bang but with this weak yes
Dad: ” Good girl. Have a good night’s sleep.”
And the line was disconnected. It is left to anybody’s imagination about the ” good night’s sleep” I had.
To be continued…
Like this:
My Wedding Story
Before I proceed I would like to explain a few things:
a. I come from a conservative Tam Bram family. The Brahmin community from the Tamil speaking state Tamil Nadu in the southern India is often referred to by this name.
b. Most of the marriages in this community are arranged.
c.The process goes like this : -
- The parents of the prospective groom or the bride contact the parents of the prospective bride or the groom. The information of the eligible boys and the girls are procured either through advertisements in the newspapers, matrimonial sites or the good old aunties. The aunties are a goldmine of information. If you are 24 0r 25, and an aunty visits your house, rest assured she will definitely have someone who is related to her thrice removed cousin and they are looking for a girl/boy for the son/daughter as the case may be.
- The family background and the economic status are checked during the initial conversation and the the most important thing happens..
- The horoscopes are exchanged. The horoscopes are matched with a dozen astrologers who give opinions ,after studying the houses in which the planets are positioned, on whether it is safe enough for the girl and the boy to marry and stay in the same house.
- If the horoscopes are found to be compatible, the girl and the boy meet either at the girl’s place or in a public place( mostly, it is in some temple (hoping for a divine intervention , perhaps)).
- The boy and the girl are introduced to each other and are left to talk to each other for about half an hour. The boy and the girl ask each other their favourite pastimes, favourite actor, favourite sport etc..By the time, they move on to more serious topics the elders come back and the meeting ends there.
- The life altering decision is taken in this half an hour. If the girl and the boy like each other, the parents initiate the wedding arrangements starting from the engagement. If not, the advertisements are scourged again and aunties are inquired about for other prospective groom/bride.
So, now that I have given you a fairly good idea about how marriages take place in our community , I would like to share with you how I went through this rigamarole and how I ended up getting married.
To be continued….
Brownies – Egg free and Dairy Free
If ever I had to make a list of all things good and man-made, I guess Brownies will definitely feature in the top 5. Brownies are my favourite baked goodies. When I ventured into baking, brownies was the n.1 on the To-do list. But the results are far less than satisfactory when I tried baking eggless brownies. Until I found this recipe. I chanced upon this book called “Baking without Eggs” by Rosemarie Emro while searching for books on eggless baking. The result was a brownie with a chewy centre and a crisp top.
Egg free Diary free Brownie
Recipe Source : Bakin’ without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro
Ingredients:
11/4 cups unbleached all – purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
11/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a 8 X 8 inch pan with oil and dust it with flour. Alternatively, you can use vegetable oil spray
2. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients ,except nuts, with a wooden spoon. Fold in nuts. The batter will be thick
3. Spoon evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
The above photo is bad, but I just posted it coz, I wanted to show the difference in the top of the brownie and the centre. Hope it is clear enough..:) Sorry about the picture
