So we arrived in Kochi yesterday..and the jetlite flight wasn't bad at all! But it took most part of the day to just get here and get to the hotel. We are staying at the Trident on the Willingon Island or is it the Wellington Island. The hotel is nice, although yesterday they just weren't in it...and that for hospitality is just not good enough. We were deciding waht to do this morning and spent the best part at the pool- this is not Kerala, it could be anywhere in the world. And that doesn't mean that it's not a change from the routine and relaxing at that!
Anuj and friends went looking for a restaurant specialising in seafood- turns out it was closed and would open only for dinner. Will write about how that goes later- we are going out for a walk to the docks now...
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Eat Pray Love
Hey, last sunday the two sunday old ritual was broken...Eat Pray Love- the new Julia Roberts movie (downloaded of course) didn't work! So, we battled with children who didn't want to eat breakfast, frustration at an unexpected problem in sunday morning film show etc etc.
This week I don't really think we will be following the ritual...off to Kerala! Hope the trip goes well..will give a nice account when I get back...am just so bone tired right now..worked late in to the night yeaterday and have been on my feet all day today!
This week I don't really think we will be following the ritual...off to Kerala! Hope the trip goes well..will give a nice account when I get back...am just so bone tired right now..worked late in to the night yeaterday and have been on my feet all day today!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Too convenient!
It darn well is...too conveneient to just log into blogspot and vent your frustration...but then it is too personal and you think...what the hell! in any case, it's not as if my dearest husband, who claims he "loves" all that I write- is just waiting to see if there's a new post(in fact even after my telling him to read my posts, he hasn't bothered to). By now it must be apparent to anyone who's landed up here, that I must've had a tiff with hubby dearest. Well don't we all?
The Zoya Factor
Reads just like a Mills & Boon...the hero with his "boost-brown eyes", biteable abs etc etc...the plot of the human charm is light and breezy...of course the end is predictable with the lucky charm holding back...but we like predictable, don't we?
Anuja Chauhan should def write another one, but this time an out and out M&B...I shall certainly buy it!
Anuja Chauhan should def write another one, but this time an out and out M&B...I shall certainly buy it!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Immigrant
Just finfished reading this book by Manju Kapur. It was a decent read. A bit predictable, but a decent read still. Though I must say, I had to speed read in a lot of places.
An indian dentist in Canada, having found his feet after some struggle, gets an indian wife. It's also because of his failure to perform sexually with white women, much as he wants to. The wife is an educated girl trying to come to terms with her new country, new husband and the new lack of sexuality in their relation. Then a process of both finding what they really want:
the husband- a white woman in bed and a docile indian wife for companionship
the wife- to work, to try and make this country her own on her own conditions and of course,sexual and mental liberation!
Read it - when u finish you favorite book and there's nothing else to read.
An indian dentist in Canada, having found his feet after some struggle, gets an indian wife. It's also because of his failure to perform sexually with white women, much as he wants to. The wife is an educated girl trying to come to terms with her new country, new husband and the new lack of sexuality in their relation. Then a process of both finding what they really want:
the husband- a white woman in bed and a docile indian wife for companionship
the wife- to work, to try and make this country her own on her own conditions and of course,sexual and mental liberation!
Read it - when u finish you favorite book and there's nothing else to read.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Still no fan following!
Sob! Sob!
I have nobody who reads me...even my own husband hasn't read any of my posts!! And this inspite of my telling him every single day, "baby, did you read my post today?"
Actually in a way, it's a bit of a relief. I didn't realise what a personal space I'd made my blog to be, and though I want to delete some of my posts (they are way too personal); I won't really. Because this is my personal diary!
And if anyone thought that personal diaries were not meant to be read are just kidding themselves. Maybe not during their lifetimes, but later they are found and much is made of their secrets if not of their writing skillS.
I am hoping someone will stumble upon my blog, find my writing absolutely irresistible and make me a fabulous offer of either writing a film or a book.
Who knows!!!
I have nobody who reads me...even my own husband hasn't read any of my posts!! And this inspite of my telling him every single day, "baby, did you read my post today?"
Actually in a way, it's a bit of a relief. I didn't realise what a personal space I'd made my blog to be, and though I want to delete some of my posts (they are way too personal); I won't really. Because this is my personal diary!
And if anyone thought that personal diaries were not meant to be read are just kidding themselves. Maybe not during their lifetimes, but later they are found and much is made of their secrets if not of their writing skillS.
I am hoping someone will stumble upon my blog, find my writing absolutely irresistible and make me a fabulous offer of either writing a film or a book.
Who knows!!!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Delhibabies!!!
Here's a letter I posted today on this baby network based out of Delhi, basically consisting of snooty foreigners with a chip on their shoulders the size of a cricket stadium!
Hi All,
Now I am the laughing stock of all my friends and family, in Delhi and abroad.
The reason being that I have been unable to find maids in the land of plenty!!!
It can't be because my levels of hygiene etc are too high (me an indian...i must be joking) or that I expect too much from them...or even I close my eyes to all the times I should. Maybe it is that I spoil them a bit and then expect them to work!! It certainly can't be beause I pay them less.
It just is that they probably don't want to work with Indians.
So,I count upon the niceness of your kind hearts to give me maid references (pls do confirm that they are not averse to working in indian household).
I have two boys- one and four and am currently almost immobile because of a severe case of cervical spondylosis and vertigo.
Best Regards
Mala Mangla Dattta
Hi All,
Now I am the laughing stock of all my friends and family, in Delhi and abroad.
The reason being that I have been unable to find maids in the land of plenty!!!
It can't be because my levels of hygiene etc are too high (me an indian...i must be joking) or that I expect too much from them...or even I close my eyes to all the times I should. Maybe it is that I spoil them a bit and then expect them to work!! It certainly can't be beause I pay them less.
It just is that they probably don't want to work with Indians.
So,I count upon the niceness of your kind hearts to give me maid references (pls do confirm that they are not averse to working in indian household).
I have two boys- one and four and am currently almost immobile because of a severe case of cervical spondylosis and vertigo.
Best Regards
Mala Mangla Dattta
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Mostly Martha
It's a nice german film. If you know of the Catherine Zeta Jones starrer "No Reservations", you know Mostly Martha already!
NR is an almost scene by scene copy of MM, but it fails to impress you the way MM does, although the latter was made almost 20 years before. The earnestness of Martha is just not conveyed by Jones.
For those who have no ideaabout the film:
It's the story of an almost-obsessed-by-food-chef- Martha, whose life though centered around her job as a chef, lacks passion even for the food she cooks.
Which is why, cooking for her is not just a matter of the senses, but more so of precisions (well she is german, could've been swiss as well). So a particular dish will taste a particular way after having been cooked for a particular amount of time.
She has no social life apart from her shrink visits.
She is suddenly left in charge, of her sister's young daughter, when her sister dies in a motor accident.
The coming together of the aunt and niece, the emotional upsets, the arrival of a new sous chef, the love that Martha discovers she is capable of feeling- both with the niece and predictably with the new italian sous chef- all of this is very subtly and undramatically portrayed. There are not many hysterically emotional scenes- neither when the niece's father comes to pick her up nor when Martha goes to get her back.
It's perfect for a sunday watch!
NR is an almost scene by scene copy of MM, but it fails to impress you the way MM does, although the latter was made almost 20 years before. The earnestness of Martha is just not conveyed by Jones.
For those who have no ideaabout the film:
It's the story of an almost-obsessed-by-food-chef- Martha, whose life though centered around her job as a chef, lacks passion even for the food she cooks.
Which is why, cooking for her is not just a matter of the senses, but more so of precisions (well she is german, could've been swiss as well). So a particular dish will taste a particular way after having been cooked for a particular amount of time.
She has no social life apart from her shrink visits.
She is suddenly left in charge, of her sister's young daughter, when her sister dies in a motor accident.
The coming together of the aunt and niece, the emotional upsets, the arrival of a new sous chef, the love that Martha discovers she is capable of feeling- both with the niece and predictably with the new italian sous chef- all of this is very subtly and undramatically portrayed. There are not many hysterically emotional scenes- neither when the niece's father comes to pick her up nor when Martha goes to get her back.
It's perfect for a sunday watch!
Foodie Sundays!!!
So we've started a new tradition- that of taking it totally easy the first half the day!
Believe it or not we would be rushing around even on Sunday mornings. But since the last two weeks, A and I have started taking Sundays with a complete 'chill pill' (much as I hate this expression)!
What we do is this:
Anuj gets a foodie film, a film which centres around food/ restaurants/ cooks etc
I make breakfast early in the morning
We treat ourselves to breakfast in bed, letting crumbs fall all over; infact by the time we finish, one needs to vaccum the whole room!!!
WE WATCH MOVIE AT 7.30/8 A.M.!!!!!!!!!
The first time we did it, it felt forbidden (am still talking about watching a movie so early in the morning); especially as the children are allowed only half hour t.v. time a day- never in the morning or early afternoons- t.v. to be used only when there literally is nothing to do.
But we all had so much fun.
And so we decided to repeat it. So we did.
And the movies we saw- Mostly Martha, Like Water to Chocolate
Movie reviews in a different post.
Believe it or not we would be rushing around even on Sunday mornings. But since the last two weeks, A and I have started taking Sundays with a complete 'chill pill' (much as I hate this expression)!
What we do is this:
Anuj gets a foodie film, a film which centres around food/ restaurants/ cooks etc
I make breakfast early in the morning
We treat ourselves to breakfast in bed, letting crumbs fall all over; infact by the time we finish, one needs to vaccum the whole room!!!
WE WATCH MOVIE AT 7.30/8 A.M.!!!!!!!!!
The first time we did it, it felt forbidden (am still talking about watching a movie so early in the morning); especially as the children are allowed only half hour t.v. time a day- never in the morning or early afternoons- t.v. to be used only when there literally is nothing to do.
But we all had so much fun.
And so we decided to repeat it. So we did.
And the movies we saw- Mostly Martha, Like Water to Chocolate
Movie reviews in a different post.
Congrtulations!!!
I have finally done it!
I have broken my own record of 8 posts a month; including this one, it's now 10.
Yipeeee!
I have broken my own record of 8 posts a month; including this one, it's now 10.
Yipeeee!
When did we stop speaking Hindi?
Well, we haven't stopped completely, but while talking to a friend yesterday I realised that we were lamenting upon the fact that our respective children are finding it a bit difficult to make hindi speaking friends- or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe it's the other children who can't really understand K, have difficulty in communicating and he's told me about the funny comments about his hindi; which though I admit is a little tentative, it is by no means bad!
So how come a child born off Indian parents, in a hindi speaking milieu, surrounded by people whose english is at best passable; start having troubles with his mother tongue? I think this is where the influence of "MOTHER TONGUE" comes in!! Although I am fairly decent with many languages, and hindi is one of my strongest; the language we communicate in- Anuj and I, are english/french! Why? I don't know...I really don't know.
A whole lot of reasons- school environments, work environments, friends; till the time you reach a point that it does become easier to talkn in what is essentially a foreign language.
Hindi is by no means our national language either, with India being such a huge diversity, we can't even proclaim (much as the politicians would like to)that hindi unites all. No, that honour lies with english- the language we were colonised by; the language we all (and we won't admit it) aspire to master and the language which remains (much to our chagrin) a measure of our respective levels of education and exposure.
Let us be honest to ourselves and remember the last time we literally looked down our noses at the girl whose english was far from perfect; the delievery guy? the saleman?
And of course it all stems from our inherent insecurity; the inability to be proud of ourselves, our heritage, our culture.
Time for a wake up call- I am aleady speaking in hindi only to my boy...what about you?
So how come a child born off Indian parents, in a hindi speaking milieu, surrounded by people whose english is at best passable; start having troubles with his mother tongue? I think this is where the influence of "MOTHER TONGUE" comes in!! Although I am fairly decent with many languages, and hindi is one of my strongest; the language we communicate in- Anuj and I, are english/french! Why? I don't know...I really don't know.
A whole lot of reasons- school environments, work environments, friends; till the time you reach a point that it does become easier to talkn in what is essentially a foreign language.
Hindi is by no means our national language either, with India being such a huge diversity, we can't even proclaim (much as the politicians would like to)that hindi unites all. No, that honour lies with english- the language we were colonised by; the language we all (and we won't admit it) aspire to master and the language which remains (much to our chagrin) a measure of our respective levels of education and exposure.
Let us be honest to ourselves and remember the last time we literally looked down our noses at the girl whose english was far from perfect; the delievery guy? the saleman?
And of course it all stems from our inherent insecurity; the inability to be proud of ourselves, our heritage, our culture.
Time for a wake up call- I am aleady speaking in hindi only to my boy...what about you?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
A Great Thing!
A fabulous thing happened to me yesterday...I got a job!! It is not what I have done in the past, which is mostly radio; but is interesting 'quand meme'...more on this later.
Also my parents came back after 5 long months from the u.s...I really didnt think I would be saying this on a public forum 10 years ago..but I missed them like hell...puts your own relationship with your own children in perspective.
Also my parents came back after 5 long months from the u.s...I really didnt think I would be saying this on a public forum 10 years ago..but I missed them like hell...puts your own relationship with your own children in perspective.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Food Blogs
Now if chef Chloe can have such a nice blog (she looks smashing as well...while I would probably have a bad hair day and a bad mood pic EVERY day), why can't I?
Well, I did try and do this cooking blog! And failed miserably. Not that I don't cook anymore, it's just that after taking care of two children (I have a new respect for my mother who single handedly raised three very different, very headstrong girls), general household chores, dropping and picking up K from school and cooking; I had no energy left to eat/ check my mail(whatever was more important that day), much less write a blog about it.
Wow that was a long sentence!
So if chef Chloe can do a food blog then why can't I? Her blog is nice and bright and it seems quite recent (and frankly the beach cookies looked quite unnn not me). All the very best to her in this endeavour...one day...one day!!!
Well, I did try and do this cooking blog! And failed miserably. Not that I don't cook anymore, it's just that after taking care of two children (I have a new respect for my mother who single handedly raised three very different, very headstrong girls), general household chores, dropping and picking up K from school and cooking; I had no energy left to eat/ check my mail(whatever was more important that day), much less write a blog about it.
Wow that was a long sentence!
So if chef Chloe can do a food blog then why can't I? Her blog is nice and bright and it seems quite recent (and frankly the beach cookies looked quite unnn not me). All the very best to her in this endeavour...one day...one day!!!
Wasting Time!!
I was just trying to remember a day from my life 4 years ago- I just couldn't. I do remember my life as it was at this point in time, but a particular day- oh no! Except of course the days marked with good things and of course bad ones...
Made me realise a very basic thing; one I'm going to try living my life with now- It is so important to have fun every bloody day of our lives or it just passes. I was 23 yesterday, so full of youthful arrogance with a devil may care attitude, with no specific goals or ambitions in life and today I am 35 already. 35 used to be half dead in my dictionary, now of course I think it's when you truly begin to understand what life is about!
But I am meandering again...the most important thing is to have fun; because you dont know when you're going to cop it and when you're drawing your last breaths, you are not going to be able to remember any of the days filled with the mundane, petty things- you will only remember the truly happy or the truly miserable ones.
My advice to you- whatever you do, do it with a passion or else it's just not worth it!
Made me realise a very basic thing; one I'm going to try living my life with now- It is so important to have fun every bloody day of our lives or it just passes. I was 23 yesterday, so full of youthful arrogance with a devil may care attitude, with no specific goals or ambitions in life and today I am 35 already. 35 used to be half dead in my dictionary, now of course I think it's when you truly begin to understand what life is about!
But I am meandering again...the most important thing is to have fun; because you dont know when you're going to cop it and when you're drawing your last breaths, you are not going to be able to remember any of the days filled with the mundane, petty things- you will only remember the truly happy or the truly miserable ones.
My advice to you- whatever you do, do it with a passion or else it's just not worth it!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Simple Pleasures...mmmm
Of eating a particularly simple to make but oh so comforting dish!!!
I am talking this time of pita bread filled with cheese of some kind (mozarella/cheddar) and with a very generous sprinkling of zatar; and baked for just about 7 minutes or so...mmmmmmm
Thanx to my neighbours from the second floor, I now possess original zatar powder with white sesame seeds which came all the way from Israel...and that's not the best part- I have been promised more , so I can afford to eat lots of my fav spice!
I am talking this time of pita bread filled with cheese of some kind (mozarella/cheddar) and with a very generous sprinkling of zatar; and baked for just about 7 minutes or so...mmmmmmm
Thanx to my neighbours from the second floor, I now possess original zatar powder with white sesame seeds which came all the way from Israel...and that's not the best part- I have been promised more , so I can afford to eat lots of my fav spice!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Citronella...and Perfume (the film)
Citronella- probably the only thing that can work against mosquitos!
Delhi has become this ugly place where dengue, malaria, typhoid and other horrendous diseases are creating a havoc right now. What do you if you have children? Forbid them from setting foot outside? from school?
I have started burning citronella oil night and day in the bedroom just to make sure the mosquitos stay away- or that's what I'm hoping. Who would've discovered the medicinal properties of this oil? Or other oils for that matter!
Reminds me of the film I saw the other night- a 2006 release " PERFUME" ). What a movie...or was it? Well it was quite gruesome as a theory/ storyline but quite different to see. If any of you has seen the movie, you would know the distorted connection to citronella!!
It does become a little predictable towards the end, with a film scene with maximum number of nude bodies but the absolute end is quite fitting.
Delhi has become this ugly place where dengue, malaria, typhoid and other horrendous diseases are creating a havoc right now. What do you if you have children? Forbid them from setting foot outside? from school?
I have started burning citronella oil night and day in the bedroom just to make sure the mosquitos stay away- or that's what I'm hoping. Who would've discovered the medicinal properties of this oil? Or other oils for that matter!
Reminds me of the film I saw the other night- a 2006 release " PERFUME" ). What a movie...or was it? Well it was quite gruesome as a theory/ storyline but quite different to see. If any of you has seen the movie, you would know the distorted connection to citronella!!
It does become a little predictable towards the end, with a film scene with maximum number of nude bodies but the absolute end is quite fitting.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
So tired!
Isn't everyone else?
It's as if there is a race to be run from the time you open your eyes in the morning till the time you go to bed. Of course one could sleep when the babies sleep and catch up on that part of your life at least; but then you don't want to lose out on the couple of hours of kid free time and then before you know it's midnight and past...and then it starts all over again...phew!
It's as if there is a race to be run from the time you open your eyes in the morning till the time you go to bed. Of course one could sleep when the babies sleep and catch up on that part of your life at least; but then you don't want to lose out on the couple of hours of kid free time and then before you know it's midnight and past...and then it starts all over again...phew!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is not bad at all- no sir!
Well she conforms to what a pop star should look like, and I had my reservations about her talent quotient.
But she can sing, and she can write as well- not the grammy for most but not bad either!
And I got to know of her from my 12 year old niece!!!
Well she conforms to what a pop star should look like, and I had my reservations about her talent quotient.
But she can sing, and she can write as well- not the grammy for most but not bad either!
And I got to know of her from my 12 year old niece!!!
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