I first heard about the Naadi Shastra Pandits from my mother. She said that they are  Tamilian astrologers who have migrated to different parts of India. They read your life story from palm leaves that are nearly 2000 years old! That was a bit too much for me to believe. How could someone have written about me that long ago? I decided to pay them a visit the next time I went to my home town, Dehra Dun.

This summer the day finally arrived. I spent the first two weeks of April at my Grandparent’s home in Dehra Dun. After recovering from the hectic journey I took an appointment with the Naadi Shastra astrolgers.

The centre was having an intense spiritual look. Astrologers there were in shirts and lungis (white, cotton cloth wrapped around the waist). They had the 3 line naama on their foreheads. One of them took 4 impressions of my left thumb and got busy searching ‘my leaf’. After a few minutes the pandit said that there were a few bundles matching my thumb impression. I was taken to a room filled with huge pictures of Gods and Goddesses generously decorated with flowers. I felt a bit intimidated by the set-up.

The session began. He picked the first leaf, sang a verse in tamil and asked me a question. Questions typically were like “Your father’s name is after a God?” or “You have a twin sister?” He would look at me for a yes or no answer. As soon as he got a negative response he would drop the current leaf and move to the next.

One bundle of leaves through and we had no luck. I was beginning to imagine that my leaf did not survive the test of time. It probably got buried, burnt or lost in some calamity. As these thoughts were lingering through my head the pandit was back with another bundle and more hope. We resumed our Q&A session. Some leaves came really close to being mine but finally got dropped due to some negative answer somewhere. Now, this made me feel that many people with a thumb impression similar to mine have very similar lives.

Finally that moment came that I had been waiting for all along. They found my leaf! Ohh! What a moment it was. His series of questions were like this (all of them true to the last detail):

Your name is Roma. You are a Hindu, Brahmin. Your father’s name means “The Sun”. Your mother’s name means “The lotus”. You were born on 3^rd January, 1978. You have one older sister, no brothers. You were born on a Tuesday. You are Chaitra nakshatra, Tula Raashi. Your father’s name is Arun Prakash. Your mother’s name is Pankaja. Your father had knowledge in astrology, you dont. Your father is not there anymore. You are married to Mayank. He is a Hindu but not from your community. You have two daughters. One is running 7 and the other is running 3. You are technically qualified. You are a graduate. You used to work earlier but currently are at home. While in service you went on a work-related trip abroad, once.

By this point I was paralysed with fear. I at once stopped him and said “Please do not reveal anything about the future. Thanks so much.”

A person who has got every tiny detail right this far could possibly tell me something about the future that could leave me stressed. For moments after that I was speechless and continued to look at the pandit in disbelief. How could he tell me so much just from my thumb impression? He said that he had told me everything about my life he knew till date. For future, I would need to take another appointment.

I went home completely confused. Questions started erupting in my mind that I simply couldn’t answer :

He stopped accurately and said he will give me future details later. How did he know exactly upto what point in the story is my past and where my current life situation begins?

How could he read out of the leaf, the exact age of my children? What if I had come five years earlier or five years later? What would be written on the leaf then?

Is there no influence of Karma on what is happening with me? Am I here in this world just to execute what is written on that leaf?

Here is what my friends have to say on this subject :

“In olden days Rishi Munis would time travel. They saw through your life and wrote about it.”

“The Rishis knew when you would come to read the leaf. So they knew the age of your kids.”

“Karma does have an influence on what is happening with you. Whatever is written on the leaf will happen but the intensity will be reduced based on your Karma.”

“There are many leaves written for you. Based on the decisions you take today a different leaf will be fished out for you later.”

I now know that there are some things that even science can’t explain. I left Dehra Dun completely in awe of these pandits and their age-old palm leaves.

Ok, ok my sweet tooth is getting the better of me. I’ve started baking yummy things to  flatter my taste buds all the time. I can skillfully find an excuse to whisk up something sinful. I should try to keep my hands tied when I’m ‘free’ (when is that, anyway?). Guess how long it took me to mix the batter for this cake?

The security guard called saying I had a visitor – the aqua guard servicing guy. I didnt want to idle around near the door for 5 minutes waiting for the person to show up. So I whisked this cake instead!! By the time the servicing guy left the cake was ready. I wasnt paying attention to what he was saying. My mind was in the oven, completely! Somewhere towards the end I heard these words – cash or cheque ? I was taken aback. He actually wanted 7.5k for servicing periodically over two years. I asked him what my options were. Could I check out other options and revert? He said that they would penalize me about 500 rupees for a delay in response. Now I really needed some cake. I asked him to come back before the current contract expired. This was the scene around the baking of this cake. Guess the heat was not just from the oven

Ingredients :

• 1.5 cups flour (maida)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence (or coffee essence)
• 1/2 cup oil
• Pinch of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder (I use Bru)

Procedure :

1. Sieve the flour along with the baking powder, baking soda and coffee powder.
2. Mix the light brown sugar into this.
3. Now stir in the oil, milk and vanilla essence. Mix the batter to get an even consistency.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at about 180 Deg C for 30-35 minutes.

Please Note :

1. You can add a tablespoon of chocolate chips to the batter.
2. Instead of vanilla essence you can use Irish coffee essence or any other coffee-flavored essence you like.
3. I added a tablespoon (!) of coffee powder because I like it really bitter. Go with your taste. That way you wont have to share it with anyone

Here is a dish that my family absolutely loves. It’s made in different ways actually. Some people stuff the tomatoes with a paneer filling and some with mashed potatoes. I chose  a spicy mashed potato filling. I think this dish is actually quiet elaborate but eventually it’s worth the effort. I have had stuffed tomatoes a couple of times earlier but I have never really used naati or junglee tomatoes. The only reason why I used them here was their size – perfectly small and round. Usually when I buy these little junglee tomatoes I use them to make rasam (which needs no other souring agent after that). Stuffed tomatoes is another such recipe as the pulp of the tomato goes back into the filling thus making the over all dish tangy and yummy.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups boiled and mashed potatoes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of fresh, green peas
• 10 small baby tomatoes
• a small piece of ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera) powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed (dhania) powder
• Pinch of garam masala
• 1 Finely chopped green chilly
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves
• 2 teaspoons of oil
• Salt (to taste)

Procedure :

1. Slit the head of the tomatoes. Use a scooper to scoop out the pulp of the tomatoes.
2. Rub salt inside these tomatoes and allow them to rest.
3. Separately, heat a kadai. Add oil in it and allow cumin seeds to crackle.
4. Now add the chopped onions, green chilly, grated ginger, green peas and saute.
5. Add the pulp of tomatoes that was extracted earlier. Cook till mixture comes together.
6. Now add the dry masalas – jeera powder, dhania powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well. Add finely chopped coriander leaves.
7. Take out about 2 tablespoons of this prepared masala and mix it with the mashed potato, in a separate bowl. Leave some gravy in the pan. Add 1/2 a cup of water to the gravy and let it simmer.
8. Mix the mashed potatoes well and stuff them into the tomato shells prepared earlier.
9. Now let the tomatoes simmer in the gravy for 5-10 minutes till they turn tender.
10. Serve hot with rotis or naan.

Here is a healthy cake that you can give your kids in their snack box or in the evening with their glass of milk. The best part about this cake is that it uses ingredients like whole wheat flour (atta) and jaggery that are more nutritious that refined products that are usually used. Another thing I liked about this cake is that it was really easy to whisk. I used just about one mixing bowl and a spoon. Utensils required were minimum and my kitchen was left absolutely clean. The last time I felt that way was long ago, when I baked an eggless vanilla cake.

I learnt this wholesome cake recipe from Cecilia, my friend and neighbor. She usually tries her hand at a variety of treats for her two kids. Being a nutritionist she also ensures a balanced diet for them. When I found out that this recipe was doing the rounds of the neighborhood I decided to try it out for myself. One thing is for sure, this is a guilt-free cake. When you know its healthy you don’t end up counting how many pieces each kid ate.

My poor babies are so accustomed to my photo shoot that now they get me my camera as soon as the cake is out of the oven. My older one asks me where I would like to shoot. My two year old baby gives me a look before eating which says “Is it ok to eat now, mom?” I make them hold my butter paper scrimps, reflector boards and even backdrops at times. I give them cake alright but I make them work for it

For now, here is the recipe of a healthy wheat cake – bake, share and enjoy. I am sending this cake to the Bake Fest #15 hosted by Sumee’s Culinary Bites. Do check out the entire schedule for the Bake Fest events at Vardhini’s blog.

Ingredients :

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup powdered jaggery
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Procedure :

1. Sift flour with baking soda and baking powder.
2. Add oil, essence and milk. Stir well.
3. Add jaggery and mix well so that no lumps remain.
4. Grease and dust a cake pan. Pour in the batter.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 Deg C for about 25-30 mins.

Please Note :

1. I added about 1 tablespoon of heavy milk cream or malai to the batter. That helps in making the cake softer.
2. Add more milk, if required. Basically the batter should reach dropping consistency.
3. Use organic jaggery powder for best results.

Here is an absolutely refreshing drink that I submitted to the Mother’s World magazine for their November ’12 Edition. I remember while shooting this drink, the day was rather hot. After a few shots I got thirsty. It was not only the heat but also the chilled out maroon beauty that was tempting me through the tall glass. I decided to take a sip and I didn’t realize that it was a rather long one. When I got back behind the lens my jaw dropped. The glass was half empty! So I stopped shooting and sat down to finish the rest of the drink because in this case I couldn’t optimistically look at the part that was half full

Here is my excerpt from the magazine article :

On a hot day, there are few things as refreshing as a Mint Melon cooler. Its healthier to opt for fruit juices to quench your thirst rather than drinking sugary/ aereated drinks.  You can twist the taste of fruit juice by adding a couple of green herbs to it.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups of water melon pieces (de-seeded)
• 4 sprigs of lemon basil leaves
• 4 sprigs of mint leaves
• 2 teaspoons roohafza (rose syrup)
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Procedure :

1. Blend all the ingredients in a mixer jar.
2. Strain into glasses partly filled with ice-cubes and enjoy this refreshing drink.
3. Based on your taste and sweetness of the water melon used, you may or may not need to add sugar. Please taste the drink and add sugar only if required.

Please Note :

1. Remove any tough stems from mint leaves or lemon basil before blending the ingredients.
2. If you can’t find lemon basil you can use regular basil and add a few drops of fresh lime to the cooler.
3. For an exotic garnish, you can freeze mint leaves into ice cubes before serving.
4. Do not preserve this drink as the pureed mint leaves darken with time and spoil the taste.

This winter break we made a trip to Bananki, a place close to Shimoga.  We spent about 3 days at a home stay in the wild woods. The entire family made the trip with us. My mom, Mayank’s brother’s family, my sister’s family was there in full attendance. I think a home stay experience is best enjoyed in a big group. Luckily for the kids, Santa Claus had no trouble getting there. Wonder how he manages to find us , every year, no matter where we are.

There was one central cottage in which the landlord stayed. Along with that there were small cottages in the estate, making a total of 7 rooms available to host people coming over. The place reminded me of the government accommodations which used to be provided to the officer class, ages ago.  The campus is green, beautiful and well maintained. The peak season here is October and December. That’s when the place runs house full. It’s advisable to book your rooms about 2 weeks in advance during that time.

Dining Hall

One small problem we faced was the spicy food. They had about 2 items from the Malnad cuisine at every meal. The food was delicious but way too spicy. They were unable to change anything despite our repeated requests. As a result, kids had to manage with curd rice and desserts. One plus point however was that they packed lunch with us when we went on a day-long sight seeing trip.

Srimane water falls

On day 1, we visited the srimane water falls. It was a usual water fall with one advantage, the climb down was short. The water was clean and almost fridge cold. The kids ran into the water at the first given opportunity. There was a room for changing clothes. That I think was a great idea given that otherwise people just have to hide behind nature. After that, we went to the Sringeri temple. The temple closes at 2 pm. Thats why we missed going inside. However, I remember doing darshan at the temple about 10 years ago. One thing that hasnt changed since then is the size of fishes present in the temple ghats. They are huge, I think we cant call them fishes. We should come up with a different name for them.

Scary fishes at Chibbalagudde temple

On day 2, we went to Chibbalagudde temple. Once again I was stunned at looking at the fishes. There was a lady at the temple who would sell a plate of raw rice to visitors. This rice was later fed to the hungry fishes present in the rivers behind the temple. As we threw a handful of rice into the water, suddenly there was a huge commotion. Fishes which looked like mini-sharks started fluttering all over to grab the rice grains. They were huge, black and ugly. If they all got together they could easily over power us. They were like the underworld dons of the fish world. Since, fishermen are not supposed to catch the temple fish the fishes have nothing to worry about. Moreover, plates and plates of rice are fed to them at their doorstep. Now, who wouldnt like a life like that?

After that we went to a place close by to take a dip in the river. The people back at the home stay had given us a location that was filled with solitude. I must say that a bath in that river was the best part of the trip. All the kids just freaked out in the clean water. We could actually see the bed of the river which was shining with pure mica pieces in it. We collected huge, round pebbles and tiny mica pieces. We then headed back to the home stay for lunch and a quick nap.

Sunset point near Kuvempu’s house

The sun set in Bananki

In the evening we went to sunset point which is very close to where the renowned poet Kuvempu used to stay. We saw the sun set against the backdrop of hills. We also saw the house in which the poet used to stay. This place was just a 10 minute drive from our home stay.

Elephant camp near Shimoga

On day 3, we headed back to Bangalore. We stopped at an elephant safari camp on our way back. The kids enjoyed the elephant ride (I am not sure about the elephant!). Soon after that we went to see the Bhadravati dam. It was like a huge lake with a few islands scattered around. Definitely a scenic place.

Bhadravati reservoir

If you are travelling from Bangalore you need to drive down 300 kms to Shimoga and then about 60 kms of hilly terrain to Bananki. That way you end up spending around 8 hours on the road. So you need to consider the odds of a long journey before heading out.

Our 5-seater Italian Sofa Set needed help. The springs were broken and it was not possible for a person to sit on a seat without getting sunk in. So we decided to change its upholstery. After a week long research I thought of putting my notes down for those of you might be considering the same.

Choosing the Fabric :

You have a choice of making your sofa look plain or printed. If you choose a printed fabric for the entire sofa it’s safer to select one from the designer catalogues. Otherwise, finally it could look like something totally different from what you had imagined. In line with the recent trend, there is also a mid-way approach of making your sofa partly printed. 

Prints and colors is a personal choice. However, its always advisable to choose dark colors if you have little children at home. Kids tend to drop food or wipe hands on the sofa leading to stains. Even dense patterns can help reduce the visiblity of a stain. In our case, we chose a dense pattern for the back rest and seating area and a light color to contrast the rest of the sofa. Such an arrangement also helps highlight the pattern used. Its like framing a painting.

Also, its best to choose fabrics that are thick. They make the sofa last longer. Thinner fabrics yield easily to pressure over a period of time. Velvet fabrics attract more dust.

Jute fabric has a great look and feel but is eventually very risky to use. If one fiber comes out from one side all other threads could yield.

Buying Raw Material :

One thing is for sure, all materials present in hardware shops have great margins within mrp. It’s possible to get a good discount by picking it up yourself. I bought the foam sheets as well as the fabric from a Haryana Handloom shop. Good options in brands for foam sheets is Kurl On and Rest well. 

Foam sheets, each of different thickness

Raw material needed :

(foam sheets are all Rest well, 40 density ones)

• 5 foam sheets 4 inches thick, Rs 334 per pc
• 3 foam sheets 1 inch thick, Rs 554 per pc
• 4 foam sheets 15 mm thick, Rs 150 per pc
• 1 roll of elastic tape,  Rs 480
• 1 ½ kgs of nails, Rs 180
• 1 litre of fevicol, Rs 105 per lt
• 2 litres of special adhesive solution, Rs 120 per lt
• 9 meters of jute fabric (looks like a gunny sack), Rs 30 per mt
• 6 meters of marking material (thin, white cloth), Rs 30 per mt
• 12 wooden legs, Rs 60 per pc
• 12 meters plain sofa fabric, Rs 120 per mt
• 9 meters printed sofa fabric, Rs 480 per mt

Cost of Labour was Rs 750/- per seat.

The toughest part was deciding how many meters of cloth we would actually need. I had to make 3 trips to the fabric shop due to the extreme amount of confusion. I guess its always better to buy the cloth and fix a carpenter from the same shop so there is no conflict in opinion.

Changing the upholstery

Removing old fabric

Good carpenters will manage to rip open the sofa in no time. You will soon be flooded with a 6-feet tall stack of dry waste. Save the big covers in which the foam sheets were bought. They will be helpful in managing the dry waste stacks.

Springs secured with elastic mesh work

Once the sofa is opened completely, the springs are held in place by a mesh of elastic tape that the workman knits skillfully through the sofa springs. Measurements are taken of the sofa and the cloth will be taken away for stitching, only to be brought back the next day. Paranoid or suspicious people can number the cloth pieces before sending. The next day he will have to show the stitched pieces with the numbering in place (else he has asked for more cloth than he needed).

Nailing of marking cloth

The next day, after fixing the foam sheet the cloth will be nailed to the sides of the sofa structure. Ensure that the nails are not spaced too far apart as the cloth could then come out easily between the gaps. Once the cloth is nailed you can sit on the sofa and check its comfort.

It’s also a good idea to use up left over cloth to dress the rest of the room. I have managed to make a runner on my TV table and a center piece on my coffee table. You can use your imagination to make table mats, table/music system covers, backdrops in photo frames, small tea coasters, etc. or like my husband you can suggest making a shirt out of the fabric and sitting on the same sofa.

Use of spare cloth in accessories

A 5-seater sofa set will mostly take 3 days to complete. It’s always better to buy the raw material yourself and monitor the work while its getting done. That way you will not only get rid of unnecessary middle-men margins but will also be sure of the quality you will get eventually. Ready-made sofa sets look brilliant but often don’t stand the test of time. Behind the lustrous fabric some of them hide poor quality material and craftsmanship. However, a 3 day effort can create a sturdy sofa that is reasonable as well. Only drawback here is that you can not change the design of your original sofa. Suppose you want removable back cushions or seats it’s not possible to do that. You can only change the fabric and the inner material used to give your sofa new life. It’s like new wine in a newly painted bottle, but the bottle is still the same. 

Ganeshji in mantap

On Sunday, Ganeshji left our home for this year. It was special this time as I made the Ganesh idol myself. The Think Green team in our apartment organized a 2-day workshop on idol making. They invited a person who is a graduate from a Japanese school in ceramic arts & pottery. I found the instructor very knowledgable and am glad I got to learn a few interesting techniques in clay modeling from him.

Homemade idol

How to make an idol :

1. Select a mold based on the size of idol you want. We used a 12-inch ‘plaster of paris’ mold which is actually in two parts – one for the front structure of the idol and the other for the back.
2. Dust both the molds using any talcum powder (it was cinthol in our case).
3. Massage thick, elongated chunks of clay. Press firmly over the mold. Ensure you do this quickly before the clay dries up. Remove any excess clay from the sides of the mold.
4. Press the two molds together and shake the complete mold gently to loosen the idol. De-mold the idol carefully.
5. Trim any excess clay using a fine pottery knife. Gently massage the clay with your fingers to remove any fine cracks. (it was an awkward moment for me, trimming Ganeshji’s ears with a  knife )
6. Wipe the idol with a wet sponge to get an even texture.
7. Now add the other features that were absent in the mold. For instance, we hand-molded the trunk, laddus and mouse.
8. Use toothpicks, pen caps and other fine instruments to mark features on the face and create patterns on the idol.
9. Pick the idol up by holding it on both sides (left and right) and place it on a tray or any other place where it can rest for 24 hours. (lifting it by holding front and back can cause the idol to break)
10. Allow it to dry, preferably not directly under hot sun.

I was very happy with the way the idol turned out. I remember my friends making fun of my mouse. To be precise someone said it looked like a cross between a frog and a lizard Thanks to our instructor for skillfully correcting it.

No-cook laddus

On Ganesh Chaturthi I made puliyogre, steamed modaks and laddus. Puliyogre is one dish I always make on this festival. Although I regularly make it at least once a week all year long, it tastes best on Ganesh Chaturthi. I think the vibration of cooking for God has something to do with it. The laddus I made were the no-cook ones. I ground fried gram dal with dry fruits such as almonds, cashew nuts and cardamom seeds. I then added raisins (fried in ghee) and powdered sugar. Finally I bound them with some hot milk. These laddus are easy to make and my kids love them too. Just call them “Chota Bheem laddus” and they will disappear.

Our temple Ganeshji

After the pooja in the morning we had a few rounds of visits to the neighbors. This went on till evening. Finally, we caught the late night show of the movie ‘Barfi!’ . I think this movie is one of its kind (in Bollywood at least). Very impressive to see how much they’ve managed to communicate with the lead actors having no dialogs at all. The person who has invested in this movie really believed in it. The movie is a runaway hit which goes on to prove that Indians still enjoy meaningful cinema. We don’t need skimpy skirts and weird thrusts for box-office hits. This movie will now open doors to other movies of the same genre. I’m glad it’s India’s official entry to the Oscars.

The ‘What to expect’ series shipped from New York

Coming to a couple of other interesting things I received this week via mail. On Tuesday I got this courier sent to me my Dan Weissbrot, the relationship Director of What To Expect. The package contained their recent books they have launched as a part of the ‘What to expect’ series. The famous book that every pregnant woman has used. I remember my dad buying this for my sister more than a decade ago when she was expecting her first child. The title of the book was “What to expect when you are expecting”. A wonderful week-by-week guide on what a pregnant lady can expect. Now there are books available for the first few years of development as well. I remember the courier lady’s expression when she handed over the parcel to me. She was draped in a saree sporting a cap, looking really tired. She said “Madam, what is in this package? I have been carrying it all morning and its quiet heavy”. I told her that the package contained books, shipped all the way from New York. She smiled as she shared my joy for a moment. Thanks to the What to Expect team for sending these books to me. I found the books on the first two years of a child’s development as informative as the one on pregnancy.

My article in Mother’s world magazine

On Wednesday afternoon I received another courier. This time it was the Mother’s world magazine and I was once again delighted. The September issue carries four of my recipes under a section called small-bites. I had put together recipes and images of Mint Melon cooler, vegetable nutri-pie, chocolate pudding and green moong chaat. These were the evening treats for kids which are nutritious as well as tasty. The article turned out well, designed beautifully with vibrant pictures of ingredients.

There is also a pretty lady with a kid by her side on the title page of the article. If you have never seen me before you might think its me. I pointed at the pretty model and told my husband “I don’t look like this” so my daughter pointed at the kid in the picture and said “…and I dont look like this either”

Well, so much for the week that went by. Ganesh Chathurti is the longest festival of the year for us. We actually worship the idol in our mantap for approx. 10 days. On Sunday, we used a tank provided by our apartment for Visarjan (immersion of idol in water). This time I am a bit more sad as I made the idol myself. We will miss you Ganeshji. We are sending you to water only to return quickly from the clay next year.

Card for Raina’s class teacher

Before I sign off, I just want to share one more picture with you. This is the pop-up card Raina and I made for her school teacher. As the card indicates, its for teacher’s day. I learnt it from a simple video on you tube. You can try your hand at an interesting 3-D pop-up card if you find the time.

We visited Ashtamudi about a week ago. It was the first time I saw the scenic backwaters of Kerala. I now know why it’s called God’s own country. The wide lakes lined with lush green coconut trees,  tiny fishes trying to escape the local fishermen,  birds perched on tree trunks singing the local melodies, all come together to create a memorable portrait of Ashtamudi.

We boarded a train from Bangalore at night 10 pm and reached Kollam station at 4pm the next day. That’s like 18 hours, well otherwise its 16 but our train got delayed. I slept through the journey so I don’t remember much of it. One thing I do remember is that there was no pantry car in Kanyakumari express so we got no tea to drink till we got to the resort. Well, I can’t complain as I was hardly awake.

Boat Houses at Ashtamudi

Our Boat Restaurant

From Kollam station we drove 20 kms by taxi to the club Mahindra resort, Ashtamudi. A place totally worth the travel. We stayed in a boat house surrounded by water on three sides. It was a one-bedroom house, made entirely out of wooden planks. The best part was obviously the view from the balcony. As soon as I entered I was like ‘wooooaaahhh’. I gasped. There I was, in the middle of a huge wide lake! There was only water till where I could see. The silence was really eerie. I think living in big cities, in some way, makes us accustomed to background noises. Without them, the silence is awkward. There were different fishes swimming around in the lake. Some where big and silver, some were tiny with pointed noses. The lake was like a huge aquarium.

Fishermen outside our window

Bright bulbs used to attract fishes into net at night

At night we could see the bright bulbs (at the center of the poles) getting lowered towards the water. As soon as the fishes got attracted towards it the fishermen would pull the net up and trap them. There were about 4-5 such fishing nets installed near our boat house. Early morning we were able to see the net right outside our balcony. Jeez! good I didn’t trip over otherwise they would have finally got their big catch

The rising sun

The next day we went to a village close by. We just walked out of the resort with no where to go. In the forest we saw an auto rickshaw. We asked him if he will take us to the village. He agreed and took us to a hot chips shop for some shopping. The banana chips from Kerala are famous. I picked up packs of banana, tapioca and jackfruit chips. After that, we had our dinner in a hotel. That place is called just hotel as it’s the only one in the village. We returned home having enjoyed our little adventure.

Digging for clay from the lake bed

Day 3 was most exciting. We boarded a cruise boat and sailed away into the backwaters. It was an incredible moment to just speed into the water we had been enjoying from a distance so far. The scenes were breath taking. The greenery of the coconut trees, the local fishermen, the beautiful backwaters together created a painting I would call a masterpiece.

Canoeing through the dense forest of coconut trees

Our motor boat brought us to a village after 30 minutes of sailing. We alighted and got into small canoes that took us to the interiors of Ashtamudi. After rowing for about 2 kms we got off near some small houses. That was the area where they make ropes out of coconut husks. An old lady gave us a demonstration of the same. The rope seemed really coarse and sturdy. I think I could hurt my hand if I tried spinning one, however her experienced hands created it with ease.

Cars, bikes and auto rickshaws being ferried easily

We returned back to the steamer boat and made one last stop to drink some tender coconut water. We then checked out of Ashtamudi and as usual my daughter became depressed at the thought of a holiday coming to an end. We headed off to the station with blissful memories of a beautiful trip.

Janmashtmi celebration at home

The day we reached home it was Janmashtmi. We celebrated with daughters friends. We made a little jhaanki (or set-up) to show the children how lord Shri Krishna was taken from Mathura to Brindavan.

Cake model made out of segregated dry waste

Finally, I would like to share with you the model of a cake I made for the wealth out of waste initiative at our apartment. For Independence day, we had an exhibition were we had to prepare a craft item out of waste materials. My blog finally has a picture of a cake that’s ineligible. Its made out of foam vegetable baskets, sketch pen caps, tea leaves foil and chocolate wrappers.

I first thought of buying a dishwasher nearly a year ago. I was inspired when I saw my friend who stays in my building, using one. I remember the day, last year, when I went to her place to understand the value it could bring to life. I was confused about what I wanted. For those of you who might not know this, in India, it’s still very common to have a lady who comes in to wash the dishes. Dishwashers are not usually used. However, the culture is slowly shifting as maids are becoming hard to find.

I have been using my Siemens dishwasher for a few weeks now and I feel that whatever I heard from my friends before purchasing it, is all correct. A big thanks to Venkatraj and Rajani, my neighbors who have patiently answered all my queries. They have been using a dishwasher for nearly 4 years now. This post includes information on usage of detergents, which I gained mostly from them. To make the decision a bit easier for those who might be considering buying a dishwasher, I have elaborated on the pros and cons of using one.

Loading / Unloading a Dishwasher :

You need to get the guy in your house who perfectly packs your suitcase when you take a vacation. He will be the best person to load your dishwasher. Aligning vessels could initially pose a challenge. However, with practice you will start using those vessels which fit well in your machine and will slowly avoid using those which don’t. You will need about 10 minutes to load the dishwasher. This, initially could leave you tired if you were accustomed to piling dishes for the maid to sort out.

Unloading a dishwasher will leave you pleased. Simply because when your maid cleans vessels she probably leaves them hap hazard. There are cups over plates, over that big milk vessels and sometimes even spoons. That way when you need something you need to dig into a pile of vessels, clang them around and come out frustrated if you cant locate a small object like a fruit fork or a cooker whistle. However when you unload vessels from a dishwasher you will find them in order. They get washed in the same place where you kept them so you dont need to hunt for anything. Its the same difference as placing clothes in a cupboard or in a pile on the laundry table. One place its organized and the other place it isn’t. So although you had to spend that extra 10 minutes while loading you save that same time while unloading.

What you need to install a dishwasher :

1. A 15 Amp plug point (or different based on your machine)
2. Water inlet valve
3. A sink hole for the water outlet pipe (same as your washing machine)

You will need to first check if an area in your kitchen meets the plumbing requirements. The electrical point should most probably not be a problem as you can always use an extension box. As for the water outlet pipe, you can use the same outlet currently being  used for your wash basin pipe or your washing machine. Yeah, you might need to check if you have the space in your kitchen to fit a dishwasher and if there is a water inlet valve that you can use.

Detergents and Usage :

If you are using a detergent like finish powder or some other local brand, you will need to rinse all vessels before loading. This is an activity that could possibly burden you. However, if you start using the finish power ball detergent you wont need to rinse anything. You will just need to take the one-time effort of indenting it and then on for the entire year you can load your dishwasher with perfectly dirty vessels. That includes milk vessels, greasy kadais, idli stands, etc. No rinsing, no pre-cleaning required. In fact, the manual that comes with finish powerball says in its instruction set that you dont need to rinse dishes before loading.

If you are not happy with finish powerball then try the quantum power ball which is expensive but more effective as well. If that also doesnt work, dude! What are you cooking, anyway?

 Fill it, Shut it, Forget it :

You will have 3 units to load before running the dishwasher (besides the dishes, of course):

1. Detergent box : Here you put the detergent powder / tablet. In case you are running just half a load, approx 15 gms of detergent will be enough. For a full load you will need about 25 gms. The measurement marks will be present inside the detergent box so you know how many gms you have filled in. If you are using the quantum powerball tablet you just need to place it in the detergent box. The outer fine plastic cover of the tablet gets dissolved in hot water. The remains can be found in the garbage sieve. The regular powerball tablet has no such outer cover. The shiny foil in which it comes needs to be discarded before use.

2. Rinse-aid : You will need to fill in a rinse-aid liquid in the designated container which will be consumed slowly over a month or two.

3. Salt : The dishwasher salt is different from the regular salt we use. You will need to fill about 1 – 1.5 kgs in the salt unit. For the very first run of the dishwasher, you will additionally need to fill the unit with water. From second time onwards, just salt is good. These instructions were provided with the Siemen’s dishwasher. Please check specifics with your dealer, based on your brand.

The rinse-aid liquid and salt can be loaded and used over a period of time. When exhausted, an indicator will glow on the display board. The detergent however, has to be loaded for every run of the dishwasher.

Problems that might crop up on using a dishwasher :

1. One cycle not enough

If you cook yourself or cook only once a day and re-use the food at night then a single run of the dishwasher will suffice. However, if you have a cook who generously uses vessels or yourself cook a variety of food twice a day, you could find the need to run the dishwasher twice. The time spent in washing could bother you.

Workaround : You can wash the greasy utensils like milk vessels, kadais, etc; in the automatic dishwashing mode. On the other hand, wash glasses, teacups, plates, spoons and other non-greasy utensils in the quick wash mode. That way you save on time.

2. Less space for big vessels

Dishwashers are primarily designed for a western lifestyle. Abroad, they don’t use as many pressure cookers as us. They don’t boil milk twice a day either. Hence, big vessels are more in our case and the dishwasher design might not be perfect to fit them all.

Workaround : Select a dishwasher model that has collapsible blades. These blades are the ones that are used to hold plates. When you run short of space you can put the blades down and place big vessels over it (my plate blades are always down). Next, you can place some vessels over the non-collapsible blades as well. As a last resort, you might have to wash one or two big vessels yourself. Choose the ones that are non-greasy and easy to wash.

3. Sensitive skin to caustic soda in soaps

You will find yourself washing a few dishes despite having a dishwasher. If, like me, your hands can’t tolerate caustic soda in soaps you might end up with dry, rough hands.

Workaround : You can try using a mild, homemade soap. Rajani suggests boiling soap nut or reetha in water for about 20 minutes to create a liquid soap solution. This can be stored upto a week and used for dishes that you need to wash on your own. It wont create any unwanted effect on your hands.

Soap dispensing Dish wand

Another way to solve this problem is to use a dish wand. It has a tube-like body which can store liquid soap and a head made of scrub pad. A bubble-like button is also present which you can press in order to dispense the required amount of soap. Using this dishwand can prevent direct skin contact with soap.

4. Certain vessels not permitted 

Certain vessels need to be avoided in a dishwasher. For instance wooden spoons/ rolling pins, low-grade plastic, aluminum cookers/ woks, copper-bottom vessels should be left out.

Workaround : Replace your aluminum pressure cookers with stainless steel ones. Avoid using low-grade plastic boxes (its not good for health anyway). Use tupperware or any other dishwasher-safe plastic boxes instead, so they will not melt when washed with hot water. Copper-bottom vessels tend to lose their copper shine present below. I am ok with it so I continue to wash them as they are. Low-grade aluminum kadais  (woks) and certain other non-stick pans could also lose their shine or get stained. You will need to replace them with quality cookware which says that its dishwasher friendly. Always look for the mark below the dish before buying.

5. Increased electricity expenses

A single run of the automatic mode (meant for greasy dishes washed at around 60 deg C) will take about 2 h 15 m. In this time it uses up 3-4 Kwh of power in the energy-saving models of dishwashers.

Workaround : You have the option of running a quick wash which washes in 1h 15m. Dishes come out fairly clean even in this mode. I was quite satisfied with the result. May be going forward, I will start using the speed wash as a regular wash cycle. This mode will take up as little as 1.5 Kwh of power, so you can even run the machine twice, if you like. Some models have the option of half-load where only one tray of utensils are washed. This option is also great if your second load is less.

In case you face a power cut during the running of the dishwasher, it will resume from where it left off, once power returns.

 What I like most about the dishwasher :

• It doesn’t have emotions. When presented with the challenge of washing a double load, it will not reply impudently or pull a long face.
• When you return from a trip you will find it where you left it. It will not join your neighbor’s house for a few dollars more.
• It will work in the exact same way, whether you monitor it or not. You will not catch it cutting corners.
• It doesn’t negotiate with you from time-to-time. There is no running rate based on which its performance depends.
• You will need to wash dishes yourself when your machine goes for servicing once in a way. You will not face system failure every other day.

 This dishwasher is dedicated to my maids, 

   without whom I could do very well.