Idlis.

If you would have told me, a few months back, that soon I will be making it to the US, I would have simply laughed, treating it as a joke because I was too lazy to travel 1/2 the world across. Anyway, it is God's will that I am now in the US of A!!!.

My daughter's parents in law who have come a few months ago, were about to leave in a few week's time.

The first few days I was not allowed inside the kitchen & given concessions for 'jet lag', the cold weather, etc. After the initial pampering got over, my daughter asked me to start with some dish of my choice.

I have heard my daughter boasting her 'ma in law' to be a great cook. Here, I have to confide that I am neither a good cook nor have the enthusiasm to learn the art; so suddenly when I was exposed, I was a little tensed since this has become a "prestige" issue :)

The counselling started between myself & my daughter as to what should I make. I told her that I am good at making 'idlis' with 'sambar'.

"Oh! thats cool!. You can make them for tomorrow night dinner", told my daughter greatly relieved since she has to prove my worth to her in laws.

I asked for the ingredients like bengal gram dhal & boiled rice to make idlis. My daughter gave me bengal gram dhal which was broken.

I want full bengal gram dhal" (muzu uluttham paruppu) I told my daughter.
"I have only this ma!" was her reply. Half heartedly I agreed & asked for boiled rice. Again I was given some 'rava' like thing & when asked, my daughter replied that they use only 'idli rava' & not any rice :(.

Now the confusion has started for me for the ratio of rice to bengal gram dhal. See, the basic ingredients are different & still I have to proceed & that too when my daughter's 'parents in law' are here.

Can I change the menu to some 'more kozhambu' & beans paruppu usili? I asked my daughter, who didn't seem to change what was already decided for the menu. So, having committed, there is no escape for me now.

Half heartedly I made the 'idli' batter ready & kept it in the 'oven' so that it forms yeast. I opened the 'oven' every few hours to see if 'yeast' has formed in vain.

Came the next day, the same situation continued.

In the evening, my son-in-law went with his parents for shopping, while my daughter stayed at home, to give me some moral courage.

First, I made simla mirchi' (koda milagai) sambar which came decent & that is 50% pass; gaining some confidence, I set the idli batter in the cooker & set the timer.

Heard the whistle from the timer & just touched the idlis with the back of the spoon. To my dismay, it was just something short of round rubber balls:(.

"Ma! the calling bell rang twice & you didn't hear it? I was cleaning the mess in my closet upstairs", saying this, my daughter came down & opened the door.

Entered my 'son in law' with his parents. Some how I could not pose a welcome smile at him, since I was too tensed about the hard idlis:(.

Soon, everybody assembled at the table for dinner.

My daughter set the dinner table with 'idlis' sambar; chutney powder ( milagaai podi), coconut chutney & gingely oil, leave alone ghee & sugar.

I was waiting for the comment, with bated breath.

"The sambar is awesome aunty!" exclaimed my son in law ! (cool! i thought to my self).

'These idlis, they match with most of the thing like sambar, chutney, chutney powder or simply sugar & ghee even", my son in law's dad expressed his views on side dishes for idli.

Soon, the topic changed to a Bengali guy that my son in law's dad met, while going for a walk in the evening & how to pack the things; whether they have to make any last minute purchases etc.
Soon, the idlis vanished from the bowl & my happiness knew no bounds:).

At night, "See, i made such a nice sambar that my idlis went unnoticed" I boasted to my daughter.

"May be true, but you have to give some credit to me also, like, I set all the side dishes for idlis on the table in such a way to cover up the shortcoming"; laughed my daughter teasingly.

Somehow, I could not help bringing back a few comments I have received for making nice idlis.

"Maami, neenga idlis romba softaa pannareenga, enakkum sollikkdudunga maami, I dont know where I am making a mistake", once exclaimed my neighbour.
"Aunty you make such soft idlis & nice coffee that I will really be missing them when I go to US" said my daughter's friend.

All said & done, I never ever imagined that 'making of idlis' is going to prove this much difficult in the US of A.

P.S. Dont venture to join your son in law's mom, in cooking, especially if you know that she is a better cook!!.

Gym

"Ma! Be ready by 6.30p.m. to go to the GYM" told my daughter;
'What for'? I asked;
"You are going to walk on the tread mill today";
"But you know that I don't like walking on a tread mill, since I have motion sickness" I retorted back.
"You will be fine ma; remember I will also be there with you",
"But you are already thin & under weight;",
she interrupted ; "I din't say I am also gonna walk on the tread mill; I'll bring some novel for time pass" saying this, she left for office.

Now another cause for worry for me. Some how I have a phobia for these 'escalators; moving-walkways; any unit under motion for that matter; now I have to walk on the tread mill :(.

Evening my daughter came sharp at 6.30p.m. & took me to the GYM. After the initial formalities for registration got over, I was asked to stand on a tread mill. I just looked around & felt very nervous. A girl around 25, running on the tread mill may be at speed 6! Another guy doing the 'pedalling' that was inclined almost vertically! Another doing the cycling at the speed of 100kms per hour!

I pleaded with my daughter that we will come some other day, but, after having paid for the registration, she didn't want to give up & persuaded me to start walking on the tread mill. First I was asked to hold the front handle so that i don't fall. Then she instructed me to walk slowly at 0.5 speed. I started walking & felt it was too slow; then she increased it to speed 1. Then to speed 2, which was little high for me & I asked her to make the speed 1.5.

Soon I started walking smoothly without getting nervous. Still I could not avoid the feeling of embarrassment seeing the 'speed' (& enthusiasm) that people around were having (Suthi ellame pei madiri odindirundudu!).

Now as I was walking, a pleasant thought came to my mind that I not only start walking regularly, but also develop a liking for walking on the treadmill with the net result that I increase the duration every day resulting in losing weight moderately. I fly back to my home town; people start exclaiming "Hey! its you!!! how come you have lost so much of weight? Hiding my feelings ( of course i feel so proud naturally:), I reply back "Oh! everytime I'll make up my mind, but will give up halfway; but this time because of my daughter, I could see some results". Oh! your daughter seems to be really smart; thats double happiness for me!

Didn't watch the time, as to how long I walked on the tread mill. I just checked the unit. It said I have walked for 15 minutes. I just wanted to see the calories I spent. After all, it was to minus that extra calories that I am put to all this ordeal is it not?. It was showing just 23 calories :(.

I became furious & turned to my daughter who was engrossed in the novel. Convincing myself a bit more, I walked for another 10 minutes; now the new reading showed 31 calories. Finally I stopped the unit; got down myself & went to my daughter, my face turning red.

"Hello! I walked for about 25 minutes just to spend 31 calories? This is highly ridiculous", my daughter looked up & was asking in a low tone, "What went wrong with you & why did you stop walking, when the target was at least 3o minutes, today being day one?"

I cooled down myself a bit, viewing the people around & told my daughter about the calories it showed & how much I was disappointed. Realising my cause for anger, my daughter, calmed me a bit & just walked straight to the car.

After reaching home, my daughter prepared hot tea; offered me a glass. 'The cup that cheers; but never inebriates"; I have heard often, my father quoting this & I experienced it:). "You know that I am not comfortable with this tread mill & all", I started speaking to my daughter; "still I cooperated & walked on the treadmill for 25 minutes, but the result is, I have just spent 33 calories?":(, I Waited for my daughter's reaction.

"Ma! before you started on your tread mill, you had a look around; did not you?" "Yeah!, but most of them were walking at a speed of 5 or 6 & some with inclined steps too" I replied. "Exactly; that is what you also have to do slowly. Walking at speed 1 or 1.5 would not help much. If you really want to shed those extra pounds, you have to slowly increase your speed", explained my daughter.

The scene came in to my mind, with the girl running at speed 6; the guy who was pedalling like climbing a mountain. Could not help thinking that Life gets difficult at times.

"Ma! be ready by 7p.m. today to go the GYM, since I have some extra work today". "Yeah! I will" I replied.

Today I am really going to make a try, for speed 2.5 at least :).

Food culture

Oh!Oats again; no way; I was screaming at my daughter. "Ma! u weigh way too high & u never bothered to keep a check; its high time you try to reduce your weight"replied my daughter in a strict voice. The argument continued & finally i have to give in.

It was just a week since I came here to stay with my daughter. The 1st few days i was not facing any problem & was happy preparing uppuma; dosas & idlis for breakfast. Had white rice for lunch, (though not tasty as in Chennai) & dinner. So, today when I was given 'oats', I was totally disappointed.

Convinced my self a little, saying, for lunch, I can make up; but that was not to be. I opened the ceramic bowl & what did i see? Some brown color dish. I looked at my daughter faintly. "Ma! this is brown rice which has less calories really healthy". It may be healthy, but who will take it? i retorted back; but then, I did not have any other choice but to consume it. Sure, it neither tasted good nor had any flavour like white rice.

Evenings went with few bread slices with some sauce smeared on it. Somehow I am comfortable only with milk bread, but the dictator of the house thinks otherwise, Wheat bread is the most healthy & it is good even for a diabetic is my daughter's version. Now No white bread; nor butter, nor jam since they all add to my calories:(. Some how convinced myself since i was offered 'ginger tea' (my favourite) along with the wheat bread:).

They say 'offence is the best form of defence'. So, I gathered little courage & asked my daughter for night dinner, can I have some chapaathis atleast? With a beamimg smile my darling daughter kept a plate with a steaming dish. I gave a puzzled look at my daughter, since I almost lost confidence that it is going to be tasty. What with the oats; the wheat bread
; the brown rice, the whole lot that never inspired me. Finally, out of curiosity, I asked what the dish was. Oh! this is called lapsi & it is made of cracked wheat. With so much of hesitation i tried to taste it. No need to tell how it tasted.

Sweet memories came in to my mind. In Chennai, I was the queen with regards to cooking & eating. Come morning its hot dosa or fluffy idlis for breakfast. For lunch it is 'small onion' sambar with crispy potato curry; rasam; curd rice with lemon pickles. Evenings, I will prepare some poori potato or maggie noodles with lots of vegetables & masala. Night dinner channa patora or raajma masala with chappathis or pav bhaaji & the like:(.

Coming back to reality, I do miss all that I enjoyed with regard to food; but as my daughter firmly believes 'invest in your health first' any other priorities take a back seat; including the 'urge' to eat whatever I wish :).

Cooking

It was morning 7a.m. I just kept the ceramic mug filled up with tea inside the micro-wave oven. Ma! have you removed the tea spoon from the coffee mug, asked my daughter? My face went pale hearing this. I asked my daughter in return, what worse would happen if i didn't? Oh! you get sparks & finally the spoon w'ld bend:(.

Before the conversation got over, the micro-wave finished its task & whistled. I peeped inside with a worried look; great, had a glimpse of just steaming tea & no spoon inside! A sigh of relief.

In chennai, I am used to only cooking with stainless steel utensils with gas stove. Here, you cook in kadaais in gas stove; insert the ceramic bowls in micro-wave side by side. So, now no ceramic bowls or mugs in the gas, nor stainless steel utensils in micro-wave & no hot vessels in the kitchen dais since the top layer is made of 'sun mica' & there would be bulging if we keep any utensil very hot. Now, added attraction are few more glassware which needs delicate handling.

Next comes the problem of cooking;, there, in India, the pressure cooker whistles after the dish is cooked. Here, you have to set the timer in the gas stove. Once I kept 10 minutes for dhal & went on adding five minutes only to see it half cooked & became impatient that I boiled it separately in a kadaai with boiling water. Another time I kept the potatoes & set the time for 10 minutes, only to see them still uncooked. Kept for another 10 minutes & what did I see? smashed shapeless potatoes which would become a paste if i fry it with oil :(.

A small rewind; I c'ld not help thinking of the steaming coffee in a stainless steel dabara & tumbler. Freedom to use the utensils on the gas. Freedom of keeping hot or cold dishes on the (black granite) 'cudappaah stone' kitchen dais', the lengthy kitchen medais which can accommodate cooked dishes for minimum fifty at a time.

One day my daughter's ma in law forgot that she had kept 'milk' in the gas stove. I heard a 'hiss' sound & went running to switch off the gas since it was over flowing & was searching for the gas knobs in the front, in vain;, here the gas 'knobs' are at the back of the unit :(.

Now I have started learning slowly to adjust myself to the new kitchenware & the setting of 'timer:). Hope soon I become accustomed to this (American!) style of cooking.

The sounds.

Normally i have heard, people, talking about 'jet lag'. I used to wonder what is all the fuss about? After traveling from Chennai to US of A, I am experiencing the above said experience myself. During daytime, I used to fall asleep, at the fall of night, say around 7p.m., I used to get 'fresh' as if the day just dawned for me. Now coming to the subject, already i am having a tough time keeping awake at nights, adding insult to injury is the 'sound' produced by the machines here.

My daughter dumps all the clothes in the 'washing machine' only at night & when it starts functioning it will make such a noise to keep me awake at least for a few hours at night.

Next comes the noise from the 'dish washer'. I still don't give up & try to compose myself & try to make another attempt to sleep. The struggle goes on & finally I am asleep by early morning.

So another day dawns & i hafta brush my teeth, open the tap & you get a noise till I finish brushing my teeth, washing my face & close the tap.

I enter the kitchen to heat my 'tea', that was already prepared by daughter's ma in law. I hafta micro -wave it, open the micro wave; keep the mug inside; switch on; u get a loud noise until the setting time gets over & I take the mug away.

Its time for me to take a shower, so I take my daughter along with me so that I don't do things wrong & gain confidence. My daughter made a 'demonstration' for the whole process like opening the tap; turning it to the left if I need hot water; pulling the bottom portion of the tap underneath, if i want to have a shower. I listened everything carefully & did exactly what my daughter asked one by one. Satisfied that I learnt things pucca, I closed the tap & heard a bursting sound & held my daughter firmly. My daughter raised her right 'palm' asking me to keep my cool & explained it's the sound arising from the closing of the extension of the tap. No more shower for me nor the loud noise of the tap underneath!

Now its time for my daughter & son in law to go to office, they open the garage with a remote control, again you get the loud sound of the 'garage' opening up & shutting till they take the car out.

Now come evening, my son in law comes with a 'Robot' like vacuum cleaner in his hand only to make more noise :(, I heard it has a purpose of cleaning the carpet also:).

This being the winter season, I want to take hot water, I took a big cup near the fridge to take water, pushed the lever as taught by my daughter & got scared to view some broken 'glass pieces' falling down from the fridge, lucky, Ramya's ma in law was close by, to console me saying, it's just the 'ice cubes' that fell from the other lever since I was pressing both the levers together with the big cup.

Now, after dinner, it's time to load the 'dish washer' again & so the cycle goes on. Normally we Indians keep the kitchen sink clean mostly(habits die hard). For myself, I clean the teamugs; ceramic bowls & glass bowls then & there. I was seriously concentrating in my cleaning process, opening the tap & took my hands out 'involuntarily' when i heard a sound like a 'mixer' running. My daughter has just switched on the 'in built' mixer like unit in the kitchen sink, to crush the skin peels off & other solid wastes that block the way. After seeing her signaling me to keep my cool until the noise gets over, she explained whats the noise about.

Now its 12 at midnight & I'm trying to sleep 'with the noise' around. I didn't know when I fell asleep, when i looked out from my window, it looked as if, its early morning, but was surprised to hear the 'drrooooom' motor like noise still continuing, could not help myself much since everybody in the house were in the 7th heaven, that early in the morning. Waited patiently for another few hours. Came breakfast time, i slowly opened the topic to Kamal's dad about the 'motor' like noise thru out the night; he just laughed & said that its the sound produced by the 'heater' outside, which checks the temperature of the house & other heating process concerned with the water.

All said & done, I only pray The Almighty, that, I get used to all the sounds of the US of A in the course of time.

Diwali In the US of A.

Nov.3rd.2007.
I usually make it a point to go to the temple on Fridays. It was a Thursday evening & my daughter took me to the 'Lexington' temple since she has office on Friday. Heard, that the temple was constructed only a few years ago. Soon after you enter the temple premises, a huge hall welcomes you with people performing 'Yoga' as taught by a 'Yoga' specialist.

The temple is in the 1st floor. There is pin drop silence in the temple with people sitting & meditating before the Deities. The idols were made of white marble. The temple has Goddess Lakshmi; Lord Venkateswara; Lord Shiva; Lord Ganapathy; Goddess Parvathi; Then SriRama with Goddess Seetha; Lakshmana & Shri Hanuman. They have Navagraham also. They also have Jain God Mahaveer. The priest sat down to chant Vishnu sahasranamam. After the chanting got over we were given badam & cashews as prasaadam.

On our retrun from the temple, ramya saw a flier, in the notice board, that announced the 'Diwali' celebrations, that was gonna take place on Saturday. It seems in USA, they celebrate 'Diwali' on a saturday, for convenience's sake. My daughter was thrilled to see the flier.

On Saturday according to Ramya's wish, myself & her ma- in- law wore a silk sari, so also Ramya. Somehow we were delayed & by the time we arrived at the hall, it was overflowing with the crowd. With some difficulty we c'ld get seats, only to see two dance programmes. With a 'Mangalam' song & haarathi, the function came to a close & sweets were distributed to all. Then came the interesting part of satiating our urge to have yummy North Indian as well as South Indian dishes. There were soft, fluffy idlis with chutney & sambar; dosas; vada & sambar; bhel puri; samosas & also coffee; tea or cool drinks. Filled up our stomach with whatever we were able to. The 'items' disappeared fast as the crowd became bigger & bigger. Ramya was chatting with her friends for sometime, when an announcement came that 'the fire works' are gonna take place in the open ground outside.

So, all of us went to the open ground to 'watch' the spectacular fireworks that were taking place. Some people were even 'offered' a few crackers & Kamal was the lucky one to get a few & was sharing them with all of us. After the fireworks got over, we bid bye to Ramya's friends & returned home happily. On the whole, it sure, was a memorable evening since this is the 1st time I'm clebrating 'Diwali in the US of A with my daughter & son in law. Wish you all a happy Diwali.

Mammoth Caves

Nov.2nd,2007.

Finally Kamal insisted that I sh'ld come to Mammoth Caves, no escape for me. Started around 9.30a.m. with Kamal's dad, mom, myself & Kamal, from our house with sandwiches & chutney; masaalaa rice; chips; biscuits for our share. Ramya's friend bharath joined us with his uncle & aunty & a kid & for his share brought idlis with chuntey powder; curd rice & pickle. Kamal was driving the car with so much of ease that made me somewhat comfortable even at a speed of 80 miles per hour:). Bharath's uncle was cracking jokes; narrating some incidents & the kid for her share entertained us with her 'mazhalai':).

Reached the destination, well within the time. The guide was supposed to come only around 1.30p.m. We decided to finish our lunch at that interval. Kamal started spreading the bread on the table making sandwiches for us; the sales was pretty decent & for my share, i took 3 sandwiches with idlis & masaala rice. Soon after we finished lunch, the guide came & explained what all we are gonna see & how the trip inside w'ld be & all. We started following the guide. Myself & kamal's mom hafta really make an effort to keep pace with the rest.

There were limestone deposits; stalactites; stalagmites & columns. Of course the guide explained everything in detail though the crowd was more interested in proceeding further. It seems the deposits were used to make gunpowder & slaves were only doing that work, holding a small lamp in their hand since it was pitch dark inside the cave. Saying this, the guide switched off all the lights, called Kamal (the hero of the day:), to hold the lamp in his hand. When the lights were blown off, it was really scary, with no light, sound or vision. The crowd 'yelled' hoooo & within a few seconds the lights came back & I had a sigh of relief. Like this, the guide stopped us at some important places & finally we finished the 1st trail successfully & came out. Took some fruits to get ready for the 2nd trail.


A small bus ride was there to take us near the entrance for the 2nd trail. The entrance gate itself was soooo small that i hafta squeeze myself in & was wondering how I'm gonna finish the trail. The guide, for his share, was telling the crowd that it's gonna be a more strenuous one :(. Started cheerfully in the beginning, following the guide. There were steep 'metal' steps right from the beginning & with some difficulty, I was climbing up. There were some places where u hafta go in sideways since no space to go straight. There were places where u jus h've 'rails' to hold ur hand, but no steps & simply go like trekking. All was well, until i felt that I'm rolling down the steps that has about forty steps at a stretch. Somehow Kamal stopped me from rolling away further, by blocking me, on the steps, since he was climbing down jus b4 me. Luckily, not much damage done though I had bruises & some muscle tear on my back.

From then onwards I became a VIP since each one was asking, including the guide, whether I'm fine & all. Of course we hafta cover similar dangerous curves & steep climbings & now the added attraction is water underneath. In some places, where it was too steep, without any steps & water underneath, both Kamal & Bharath hafta give me support & somehow I successfully finished the 2nd trail. Went to the restroom to check my bruises as advised by the helper there, but didn't take any help from them. Came home with juntha. Return trip, Bharath drove, with much caution & the travel was cool.

In the house front, Ramya was bc preparing vatthakozhambu, Pradnya came with delicious cooked sprouts. For my share, i made quick coconut chutney & all dishes good or bad (including the curd rice) disappeared in a 'jiffy'. After chatting & viewing the fotos taken on the trip, Bharath's family left & i saw Ramya's dance in the video for sometime & went for sleep. All said & done, both the trip & the fall will stay in my mind for sometime to come.