A train of enriching memories - Brindavan Express

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 5/5/2013 9:28:00 AM

'   Long, long ago, i would look  forward for the closure of school for  summer holidays. The holidays would  last for two months starting  March 23- May 23. That  period was supposed to be summer in Bangalore when we never even switched on fans. The  whole city was naturally airconditioned with the various lakes and  trees like  sampige, margosa, gulmohar, laburnums and jacaranda. While many would head towards the garden ci(...)'

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Instilling the emotional cushions @ Parentous

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 5/5/2013 6:31:00 AM

'                                              Instilling the emotional cushions When my children were young, my home was a little store house of party favours like crayons, colorful lunch boxes, board games, paint boxes, tiny toys, sketch pens, pencil pouches and other birthday return gifts.This was despite the fact, that we were regular contributors to the toy ban(...)'

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A brew of aroma, art and cheers - Kumbakonam Degree coffee

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 4/26/2013 9:38:00 AM

'From its legendary discovery by an Ethiopian goatherd, to its standing as the world’s morning beverage of choice, coffee has come a long way. It has gone forth and conquered, marking many trendy  lounges where drinking coffee in a café now is all about meeting friends, a social encounter. Coffee today means a great reason to be with the people you really like.  No longer is it a simple beverage designed to wake up human.               &nb(...)'

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Thirukadaiyur - The journey not the destination - 6

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 4/22/2013 8:53:00 AM

'We had planned to visit Karaikal from Tranquebar,  but it was already past 6 p.m. We would not be left with day time to explore and see Karaikal.  Moreover, With the high beam lights of heavy vehicles  flashing, it  would be difficult and take more time to return home. we had to travel back 100kms to reach  home on kutccha village roads. So, we skipped Karaikal but on our return route we decided to step into  a renowned temple famous for celebratin(...)'

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A very Indian approach to management- Business Sutra by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 4/17/2013 12:01:00 PM

'Book review of                                          Publisher:Aleph Book company                                                        Pages: 437                          &(...)'

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The land of Singing waves - Tharangambadi aka Trankebar/Tranquebar

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 4/12/2013 3:37:00 PM

'We know from history that Europeans had a fascination for  India.  They marked a few ideal places and  have left a stamp of their architectural legacy and cultural influence behind. Some places like Portugal Goa are famous while some like the Dutch Tranquebar is pretty much unknown. It facades itself as a sleepy fishing town tucked some 200kms below Chennai, Sandwiched between an ancient maritime Chola port Poompuhar and another  French port Karaik(...)'

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On World Health day - 108 surya namaskars

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 4/7/2013 9:09:00 AM

' ‘Hey A, you have lost weight’ the statement by my friend  greeted me when I entered yoga class last Friday.  Actually though it is nice to hear such positive statements, I take it light, because I know my body weight is dynamic.  Anyways, I gleefully said “Oh really! Phir toh teri muh mein ghee shakkar” and she shrieked  ‘Naaaaaaaaahi…ghee shakkar nahi, par oat paratha zaroor dalna”.   Oat paratha?!!  Are you surprised why oat paratha?  (...)'

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My Parentous posts ( feb, march and April)

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 4/3/2013 5:58:00 AM

'My latest post  @ parentous  -   "Does time fly as you watch them grow?"Whenever my son or daughter say they are going to organise their wardrobe, my head goes for a 360 degree spin. Every time they clean it they end up with a pile of good clothes that they have outgrown. Some of which are occasionally used and some are brought a few months back.Only these days, my head spins very fast. Any guesses why? Read more here.My March post - The March epidemicCome M(...)'

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An ode to the men architects in my life

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 4/1/2013 10:08:00 AM

'When I receieved a mail from Blogadda asking me to participate in the contest. I did think of writing about the men who have shaped  and honored my life. Then my mind started vacillating should I or should’nt I ?Though I socialize and talk to everybody,   I am a very private person when it comes to sharing my personal thoughts and personal life especially I don’t talk about my loved ones. That is why I never link my blogs to my social network because  I don’(...)'

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Tillai - The journey not the detination -5

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 3/31/2013 8:12:00 AM

'Like i said in my previous post after coming back from the lignite mines, the elders insisted we should give up on Tranquebar. They felt we were tired to take on the journey and as it is we had to drive next day afternoon to Chennai. My husband whose passion other than high way driving is sleeping was only too eager to stall of the journey.But thankfully, i could convince everybody but by then it was 2 in the afternoon. So after  a refreshing mug of coffee /tea we left to Tranq(...)'

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Kumbakonam- The journey not the destination -4

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 3/23/2013 2:14:00 PM

'On our way back home to Neyveli, we drove through Kumbakonam. This town which is around 37 kms from Thanjavur has many famous temples scattered around. All these temples are huge and have ancient written over them in culture and history. It draws atheists from all over the world as each temple has a significance and keeps the faith of its  devotees. This town also hosts the ‘Mahamaham’ a kumbhmela which is held every 12 years once. This agricultural town is famous for brass ves(...)'

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A healthy signature recipe @ home - Hara bhara kabab

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 3/17/2013 12:22:00 PM

'Come summer and my kitchen in Hyderabad is like a pre-heated oven. I do most of my kitchen work before 8.30 in the morning and then only in the late evening. I  light the gas burner only when the sun goes down. So, the tea time snacks are generally from the oven or something which does not require putting things on the stove.One of our favourite signature recipe is Hara Bhara Kabab which is a from a old  Savvy cook book of 96, I treasure. A very healthy and tasty &nbs(...)'

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A peerless green couple who parented 400 children

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 3/13/2013 7:39:00 PM

'To be in a countryside amongst green fields, inhaling unpolluted crisp air, soaking the sight of  birds flight,  the planting of the saplings in a symmetrical and linear fashion by the farmers,  sickling the harvest, the threshing, the tractors on the field or the ploughing cattle, the water pumpsets and the wells – all these and much more are a sight to behold and  theraupetic for souls like me who are born, bred and live in neon drenched cities.  Watching (...)'

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@ Thanjavur - The land of rich culture

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 3/11/2013 2:28:00 PM

'It was 10.a.m when we reached Thanjavur, the head quarters of the Thanjavur district. Before i share my travel experience, a brief history of Thanjavur which i am proud of: Thanjavur which was the domain of the The Great Chola rulers is the cradle of Tamil culture . The successful Chola kings patronized art, craft, cuisine, architecture and literature during their epoch making period marking a cultural renaissance. To name a few are the famous Chola period Bronze sculpture(...)'

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GKC- The journey not the destination - 3

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 3/1/2013 10:45:00 AM

'At 6 in the morning we left Neyveli  township after a days rest on Christmas.  We drove out of the township to enter a village lane leading to Thanjavur which was our destination. Throughout the journey we were blessed with the best driving weather. We had our windows downed and the car was on medium pace so that we could stop at many places and soak the  beauty of the countryside and  breathe in the fresh air.  Either side of the road opened up to scen(...)'

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Chanakya's new Manifesto - to resolve the crisis within India

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 2/22/2013 8:13:00 AM

'A non-fictionbyPavan K. VarmaPublisher : Aleph book companyWe have exercised our franchise, voted them to power but many of us are not happy with the way our country is shaping up. Everyday, we read in newspapers about the ineffective governance in the form of dynastic politics, coalition government, corruption in the implemention of developmental policies, insecurity in the form of cross border terrorism, blasts, human outrage etc. and feel helpless and frustrated.To counter this a(...)'

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Pondicherry - where time stands still

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 2/19/2013 11:45:00 AM

' With another 14kms to Pondicherry, we took a detour towards our right and entered a muddy track to reach the international experimental town called  Auroville. We have visited the matri mandir before but we wanted our children to feel and see the serenity and uniqueness of the place . But unfortunately like the previous times, this time too we reached the gates of the matri mandir at around 4.25. Matri mandir closes at 4.30. The security asked us to try our luck but (...)'

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Kadampadi - The journey not the destination - 2

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 2/8/2013 9:46:00 AM

'After a traditional lunch in a hotel at Mahabs, we left the place to our next destination which was app 160kms again on the Coramandal coast. Just 7 kms  on our route, we overshot a road which had an indicator 'Kadampadi- rural tourism village'.  We suddenly placed this village to the  TTDC Brochure.When i picked the brochure at Mahabalipuram, it listed some of the nearby tourist places. One of them was Kadampadi - The two liner about this place described  it as (...)'

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Mahabalipuram aka Mahabs

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 2/2/2013 10:48:00 AM

'                    Mahabalipuram - where portraits on sand and stone speak about history and mythology.Mahabalipuram, once called Mallai kadal/ Mamallapuram  was a famous maritime port of The Pallava kings who ruled from  Kanchipuram in 600 to 750 A.D.  These kings had a flourishing maritime trade  with distant kingdoms of southeast Asia like Cambodia, Malaysia, Sumatra and java. This place today stands as a test(...)'

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A moment of pride @ the parade grounds on R-day

Author : Asha      Blog : Asha's musings & ramblings      Date : 1/27/2013 10:20:00 AM

'I could'nt rest till i wrote this, that is why despite a busy weekend, i took off time to write this.Yesterday morning, for the first time,  i watched a  live R-day parade at the parade grounds, secunderabad.  Duirng my school days have been part of the school band, never remember participating in college and then later days R-day meant cultural mornings and flag  hoisting at our children's school  or at the celebrations at our building society.  A few (...)'

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