The Workings of an Overactive Mind

    The World of Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar etc.....     I still remember my childhood days when we waited for Friday evening 'Oliyum Ozhiyum' song show in DD-Tamil to watch latest movie songs. There wasn't any other channel to compel/compete to change. On one occasion my family had booked tickets for 'Kadhalan' movie & a song from that movie was aired in 'Oliyum Ozhiyum'. It was great treat for us & it built the anticipation for the movie.      Then came the age of Sun TV, Raj TV, K TV, Vijay TV & then Star World, Movies, HBO, TLC, FOX Life etc. I used to plan my day around the various programmes. Today we have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar, Youtube & many other Pay-per view channels. After joining work I never really had time / energy to watch TV & the constant fight for screen space with Varun, Rajesh & my MIL made me to move on to Fire TV Stick. I was against having a TV in our bedroom for so ma...

    The teasers, songs & trailers set a building anticipation for this movie & I wanted to watch it. All my favorite stars Vijay Sethupathi, Simran, Trisha cast in the movie gave me even more reason to watch at the earliest possible.     So on a Monday night the day before Pongal, after a full day of work, Rajesh & I along with Varun set out for second show. This was Varun's second Rajini movie in theatre & he was super duper excited. Our biggest mistake was giving him ice cream, not any ice cream - COTTON CANDY ice cream. Add Pepsi to this & we had a super pumped, sugar charged toddler. For Rajini's intro we all cheered & clapped. The movie went uphill & Varun headed south. He couldn't sit still, he was hitting the front seat (Facepalm!!!), shouting & wanting a separate seat. Finally after the interval he fell asleep & the movie started to drag(Y God Y!!!)     This is a complete Rajini movie. You get ...

Book 5: Rusty - The Boy from the Hills by Ruskin Bond      A few years ago I got to read an e-book of this author & from that point I'm a huge fan of his works. His books are written mostly for children but they have so much message & frankly anybody can read them.      This book is about the childhood of the author himself. His life with his grandfather is so adventurous & laugh-out funny but nearing the end of the book the author will make you cry for the little boy. The author literally paints pictures with his words & illustration that sometimes you'll be transported to the various places in the book. You get a glimpse of all the places in the book through his words. The book was so engaging, entertaining, thought provoking & I'll rate it 5/5.     

        My weekdays are super busy with packed breakfast & lunches before 7.30 in the morning & one pot dinners in the evening. To come up with the menu itself is tiring. So on saturday I dont go anywhere near the kitchen. We usually get from outside. But Sunday's are different. I feel guilty for not cooking on Saturday & make something special for my two boys.     Fish is the favorite non-veg for all of us. A picky, choosy eater like Varun just sits & devours the rice if there is fish. So I made fish curry, fish fry, payaru thoran, Kerela red rice & papadom. The name of the fish curry is Thatha curry(Grandfather curry). My mother's maternal grandfather lived in a village alone after the grandmother's death. His daughter Ponnu Aachi who lived in the next village Kadukkarai sends his lunch every afternoon. The fish reaches the village in the 12 PM bus. By this time, the rice is ready & the gravy will be boiling in ...

            By now everyone would have known my love for Cappuccino. But Tea has a special place in my heart. Not the traditional milk chai. That is still out. A cup of black tea with honey on a cold morning like today just warms the soul. I love black tea with different flavours like ginger, cardamom, lemon, Sulaimani from 'Chai Kings'(OMG, they taste awesome)....     I also love flavored green teas, Hibiscus tea, Mint tea, Tulsi tea, Pomegranate, orange etc. When I was pregnant with Varun, I was off coffee & was not sure whether I could drink the flavored teas. On my first visit to the Dr I asked about Hibiscus & Rose tea(my favorites). The Dr gave me a weird look & laughed at me saying "Yen ma poova thalaila veika asa paduvanga, nee enna Kudikura!!!"(Everybody will want to adorn flowers on their hair, why are you drinking it!!!)     So again with the tea making came many perks. I collect...

        Growing up I hated the smell of coffee powder mixed with milk & the making of tea actually made me sick. So I didn't care for them both. But it all changed when I started reading novels(I swear!!!) Some books made black coffee sound so delicious & after trying I too liked it. Same with black tea. Judgement was still out on adding milk to them.     PV is tea lover through & through. But my tea making skills drove him to drink black coffee/black tea at home & he enjoyed his regular chai at tea shops near our place. One fine day years back we went to Cafe Coffee Day & I tried Cappuccino. It was love at first sip(Blush!!!). And this exception is still only for Cappuccino.     Over the years I tried different instant coffees & they never tasted good. Then I tried the filter coffee grounds & the coffee started tasting better. Now finding the correct equipment for filter coffee is very import...

       I have taken up a challenge to read 52 books this year one book every week. And yes its a mountain of a challenge. My saturdays are whole lot of reading & less of other life. Book 1 : True Believer by Nicholas Spark     The book is about a how a guy from New York city falls in love with a woman in a small county in North Carolina. Sorry to say but the book was boring. I thought i could not go wrong with Nicholas Sparks!!! Had to force myself to finish. Too many unwanted things clubbed together to form a very flat book. I would give this book 2/5. Book 2: The Wedding Tamasha by Sudha Nair    Few years back PV gifted me a Kindle & though i love reading I was never a fan of ebooks. Physical books especially Hardcovers are my favorite. So I read books by authors who i have never read before in my kindle. There has been times when i loved the ebook & got the physical book to add to my collection. Now coming to this ...