My 10th Japanese bag!

This is my 10th Japanese bag in less than 10 months!! Phew! This one's for another young lady in the Gulf...hope she likes it!

Its a BOY!!

Our family has just had a new addition, a baby BOY!! Before you people jump the gun, my sister delivered a baby boy this morning. The fella arrived five weeks early!!! Too eager to see the world, I guess! Its been a happy day, a joyous welcome to the newborn....May the little one be blessed with a life full of health, wealth, and happiness. 

First birthday and 100th post!!

This is my second post today. As I was done publishing my previous post, I suddenly realized, today, 28th July is the first birthday of  "The World's My Oyster"!!! Exactly one year ago on this day, I took a nervous first step into the world of blogging and I must say, my journey has been wonderful!!! I take this opportunity to thank all my followers for having been with me, following me, and encouraging me to give my best.  Survived through 100 posts...and I AM NOT DONE YET!!!

Ninth Japanese bag!!!

Of all my crochet creations, the Japanese flower bag has been loved by most. Till date, over the last few months, I have made nine such bags at least. I am so familiar with the design now, that my sister jokes I will be able to make it in my sleep, one bag each night!! I wont be surprised myself if I manage to do that!!

Anyways, each bag is as loved as the others and each has been made with  love and dedication.  This one's for a young girl, S, in UAE whose favourite colour is PINK.

New bags!

Its been three months since my last post on crochet and my creations. Lots of obstacles in the last few months, like lack of new yarn, lack of time, lack of interest at times, lack of strength at times...so on and so forth....
Finally after three months, some more bags are ready.

This one is for my former classmate who ordered my bag through Facebook.

This one was ordered by Mak. Sorry Mak for the delay in the bags. Hope the lady likes it!

Today, I am proud that my bags have been bought and appreciated by many people and these bags have now reached US, UAE, Saudi, Thailand, and many cities in India. Thanks everyone!

A surprise gift!!

Today when I opened the door to the courier guy, I least expected something for me. Even though I knew a gift was being sent to me, it totally took me by surprise when the courier fellow told me that it was for me. I was very excited to see the sender's address. It was from Stranger's two daughters!!! Thanks S and S for the lovely gift!! Thanks to u too, Friend! The gift is very very pretty....a beautiful pendant-earring set and a lovely hair pin. Thank u soooo very much once again!

Attacked, yet again!

In contrast to my last post where I described how happy I am living in Mumbai, today is a gloomy and sad day! We have been attacked, yet again!!! This is the third terrorist attack in Mumbai since I moved here six years ago. The first time it happened was in 2006. We were on a short vacation to Pune when we got the shocking news of the train bombings. I had quit my job just 10 days prior to that incident.  I would have been in one of those trains had I been working on that day. It was the same route I took to reach home every day. After that tragedy, I avoided trains for quite some time but then trains are the lifeline of Mumbai. We have to travel by these local trains to reach our destinations. How much longer could I avoid them? Also the fact that my husband and many of my near and dear ones still traveled daily by these very trains made me resilient.  Again, in 2008, when the terrorists attacked the Taj, the CST, the Oberoi etc., I didn't let my husband go to work for a day. But then how long can we stay cooped up?  How long can we fear death and stop living? Living in Mumbai makes one resilient and ready for any eventuality. But every time terror strikes, it is shocking and scary! And every time we become more resilient! For a few days after such tragic incidents, we are all on our guards for suspicious people, suspicious objects, etc. Then life moves on...until the next strike. How many times will this repeat? How many times do we have to face death and uncertainty? Why are we not safe? Today, I think the only person feeling safe in Mumbai is Mr. Kasab who is protected by 50 commandos. It is ironic, isn't it that the person who unleashed terror on the people of Mumbai is today all safe and sound while the common man does not even know if he can reach back home safely tonight?
Today my thoughts are with the victims and their families whose lives have been changed forever, who have been wounded and scarred for life, whose dreams have been trashed,  who did not live to see another day......

We are cheap!

According to a recent survey, Mumbai is the third cheapest city in the world based on cost of living!!  Surprising, especially when buying a house (about 700-800 sq ft) here can easily set one back by a crore of rupees!!!

But there are many good things about Mumbai. When I moved to Mumbai post my marriage six years ago, I had been forewarned by my husband about the pollution and the population of Mumbai. He said if I could look beyond the two 'P's then I would love to live in Mumbai. He was right. Initially, I was overwhelmed by the population of Mumbai. At any time of the day or night, one can always see people rushing to their destinations. There are people everywhere!! Also Mumbai can be very very dirty especially during the rainy season. This was further proved by the deluge of 26th July 2005 when I had to wade through chest-deep water to reach home from work! It was barely a month and a half since I had stepped foot in Mumbai and hardly two weeks at my first job. Then there were the train bombings in 2006, terrorist attack in 2008, waterlogged roads almost every monsoon, so on and so forth. But despite all this, I LOVE Mumbai. The people here may not have time to look at each other, may be emotionally unattached, but will always help when asked. Another thing I like about this city is that one can never lose one's way around Mumbai and I can vouch for that! There have been times when I have had to travel to distant places alone, for work, but never faced any difficulty in reaching my destination. The best person to ask for directions is the Paan-wala.

Rickshaw drivers will NEVER cheat. They may refuse to ply to shorter distances, but never charge extra. At least in the last six years of my life here, I have never ever come across someone who did that to me.

 Fruit and vegetable markets especially in places like Borivali (where we reside), Dadar, Vashi etc are so enticing because of the freshness and the low costs of the products. My Mom who is not very comfortable with the crowded  Mumbai, would very happily visit the market any day!  The markets are full of the best seasonal fruits and vegetables along with the regular ones. Exotic food products such as imported fruits and vegetables as well as some seasonal ones which are native to my hometown of Mangalore are galore. True, inflation is hitting us middle class very hard, but when fresh food products are available in abundance, it softens the blow.

It is very safe to travel, even at night, especially because of the local trains. There have been some instances of crime but then every city has its share of it. Nothing new in Mumbai. Every city has its pros and cons, so does Mumbai! But when we compare it to any other city in India, nothing matches to Mumbai!! Maybe it is the Mumbaikar in me speaking, but yes I am proud to be a Mumbaikar and proud to say, we are cheap!!

Long time, no see!!

Hi, All!!! Its been a long time since my last post, almost three weeks!!! Never have I been away so long from blogging since my first post in July 2010.  When I first started blogging last year, I requested my immediate family to kindly follow me.  Even as the number of my followers grew, I was wondering if they even read my posts. Then over time, I got more followers and more comments on my posts and currently I have 41 followers following my blogs. But, I always saw the same few people commenting regularly on my posts. These people have been my motivators and critics. But I never realized how much my followers love me. Over the last few days, I have received several emails and messages from some of them, including our dear friend, Stranger, who have been beseeching me to actively blog again!! Thank you, Guys, for showering your love on me!! It feels great to be wanted and be appreciated!

Now, the reason why I have been away for such a long time...I have started giving tuition to school kids, I have rejoined the gym again, and I have been busy on the personal front too. Teaching has always been a passion for me. I have always loved to teach. In school and college, I used to help the weaker students with their studies, especially the girls from vernacular regions who found it difficult to follow lectures in English. It was not a favour I was doing for  them, but it was my way of studying. I learnt more when I taught someone. It was a proud moment for me when almost 99% of those girls went ahead to do their post-graduation. I am always game to teach anyone as I believe imparting education and knowledge to someone is a way to enrich one's own thinking. You only learn more when you teach.

After many years, I got back to  teaching and this is the very first time I was teaching someone as young as 6 years old and mind you, she is teaching me too...teaching me to be patient, teaching me to be prepared for all her innocent questions, and teaching me to control my temper.

   But her innocent smile brightens up our days and my husband and I look forward to seeing her each day. I have a few other students too from higher classes, and they all help me become a kid again! I enjoy every session with them, although I must admit they can get on my nerves too especially when I see them spending more time than needed on  simple arithmetic problems, the ones that should be done in an instant!!!!

What is more perplexing is the attitude of parents these days! Recently I came across a lady who wanted me to tutor her child. When I asked how much her child scores, I was stunned to know that the child scores a 95+ in her papers. In spite of such great scores, the parent wanted me to tutor her child. I fail to understand why!!! She was offering to send her child to me late evening and I had to remind her that her child would probably be so very tired after a tiring day at school and that it would be preposterous to expect her to  stay awake with her studies so late at night.  I can't understand why parents push their children so much! When we were growing up, the only times I went to private coaching classes was for my board exams. But private tuition seems to be the trend these days in spite of the high quality of education in schools these days. My parents never had to sit with me even  for a single day regarding my studies.  I was left on my own and I fared very well.  I understand that weaker students would need some extra coaching, but when the toppers are also expected to take private tuition, isn't it too much?? Among the various reasons parents give to justify the need for private coaching the most common ones are:
1.  I don't have time to supervise my child's studies.
2.  I don't know the subject.

Regarding time, I cannot say much, to each his own. But regarding knowing the subject, this is what I have to say. If you find that the subject is tough, in spite of the detailed explanations given in the textbooks these days, how can you then pressurize your child to learn it and score a perfect score in all exams? We should help our children learn and understand their subjects. We should make learning an enriching experience, something that will help them for the rest of their lives, not only for scoring in their final exams. A person can also memorize everything by heart and replicate it in the papers and top the papers, but will that help him in later life?  The real method of learning is to understand what we are learning. Only when we understand and picturize it in our minds, will that knowledge remain with us for a very long long time. This is what I feel. But since I do not have a child of my own, I am curious to know what you all think about the same. Please let me know your opinions regarding our education system.

 

Haldi paan patholi / sweet dumpling on turmeric leaf

Haldi paan patholi or sweet dumpling on turmeric leaf is a Konkani delicacy. The turmeric leaves used to make these dumplings infuse its aroma into the dish. Though this dish can be made using banana leaves in stead of the turmeric leaves, the end product is not as flavoursome.

Patholi has an outer covering of rice and coconut ground together. Inside it lies the sweet coconut stuffing made with jaggery and richly laced with cardamom.

Ingredients: This makes 21 patholis.

Outer covering:
Rice - 250 g (soaked for an hour)
Coconut - 2-3 tbsp freshly grated
Salt to taste.

Grind the rice and coconut together to make a fine paste, slightly thick, dosa-batter consistency. Mine turned out to be a little thinner and flowing.

For the filling:
Jaggery - two lemon-sized.
Coconut - 1 cup
Cardamom - 10 finely powdered.

      Firstly, melt the jaggery on a medium flame. Take care not to burn the jaggery. You may sprinkle a few drops of water to avoid burning. Cook it until a string  forms when you press the melted jaggery between your thumb and your finger.

 Then add the coconut. Mix well and cook until the coconut and the jaggery form a gooey mass together. Then add the cardamom powder.

                                                    Turn off the flame and cool.

Wash the turmeric leaves and wipe them dry.

Trim both ends of the leaves and lay them on a flat surface.

Now streak the leaf with a ladleful of the batter.

Next, add a thin line of stuffing along the middle of the leaf.

Fold the leaf  into half along the length and place them into a steamer and steam for 10-15 minutes (until the leaves change colour).

Peel away the leaves and serve hot with ghee.