Kakamachi - Manathakkali Galore

Typically, Saturday is the day to eat all green leafy vegetables and sunday to eat spicy paneer pulavs. But it so happened that Mom and I went visiting, ate at our cousin's place and we forgot the keep the curd inside the fridge and the manathakkali meant for saturday got carried over to sunday and curd became mor kolumbu.

After reading autobiography of a yogi, i was curious to see how a poori fried in ghee tasted like and it became an instant hit. So we bought 1 kg ghee and 1 kg gingely oil, in spite of it being summer season and made ghee pooris. A very rare occasion when i make ghee pooris in summer. Actually it was because, mom had not prepared idly batter. Otherwise, it would be idlies with ridge gourd chutney and one ghee dosa.

So decided to make manathakkali pooris with carrot moong dal. It was sheer ambrosia that i over ate. It was so hard to keep awake after gorging in.

Saturday 4:30 am, the moment, i reached market, the hawker saw my searching eyes and asked, if i wanted manathakkali and he sold it for 12 a bunch.  This time, i was lost in my thoughts, when i went to market. I didn't think about God perhaps. I wore loose unisex t-shirt and not the fitting ladies tshirt and still two vegetable hawkers cried out idli vadai poori pongal as i passed by. Guess, the sun should not be bother about barking dogs.

Manathakkali Carrot

Manathakkali Keerai Pooris with Carrot Dalma

 Mom read out Ponnammal's thiruvilayadal and chopped vegetables, while i pressed all her cotton saris in order to keep sleep at bay.

Nei parruppu, Kothavaranga paruppu usili, Manathakkali kolambu, Mor Kolambu, Mambazham and dates

Manthakkali kolambu

 

 

 

Mor Kolambu

Sindhooram Mangoes Dates

Basics - blender maintenance

It is the time of the life, when when 7.5 years lead one to revisit areas of ignorance, to relive, experience the world mirroring thoughts, words and deeds of ignorance.

So discovered prolonged sleep deprivation, am revisiting the fundamentals of life - roti, kapda, makan. So talking about food, am wondering, how to sustain conscious eating. If food is not tasty, i can't eat and so mind is not satisfied. If the food is tasty, i can't eat some more, since stomach can only hold so much and again mind is not satisfied. So being satiated is more in the mind, than in the food. Am not able to sustain, conscious mindful eating, something like they tell in these meditation classes, or a ratatouille.

One's natural tendencies always take over. 21 days of practice is what i need now. Periyamma used to be amazing, she would eat just the right amount, no matter, how delicious the food was. Mom was ulta, she would over stuff, so that food does not get wasted. Chithi was another extreme, who would skip eating to spare her waist line.

If my stomach were a blender, i should ensure, that i should not run it to brim for long hours without rest.

Mindful eating!!!!

From The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad commentary by Swami Krishnananda:

Bhrigu in Taittriya Upanishad says mind passes through stages of Anna, Prāṇa, Manas, Vijñāna, Ānanda. 

9th Brahmana. The great Vaisvanara present in our own selves performs a unique function in our own bodies as the fire that digests food. It produces a beautiful, mellow, rumbling sound like that of an ocean wave inside us (heard through practicing Shambavi mudra)

Sāmana, seated in the navel is the subtlest form of vital force. It digests food, and it is the cause of the heat that you feel inside the body.

Our life is sustained by the food that we consume, and food in turn is maintained in its original freshness by the energy that pervades it.

Vi, iti; annaṁ vai vi; anne hīmāni sarvāṇi bhῡtāni viṣṭānī: ‘Everything is rooted in the material form and the food that is consumed, because of the fact that they are rooted in the material form.’

When the mind withdraws itself into the heart, it does not require any other external food to
maintain itself

Naadi in the heart, through which the mind moves in dream, are called Hitās. In this condition of the location of the mind in the nerves of the Hitās inside the heart in the dreaming state, there is no need for any physical food. You enjoy ethereal food in the state of dream, and you are as happy in dream as you are in waking, though you have nothing physical to contact.

The Prāṇas are not only inside our bodies. They are powers which operate throughout the universe. And so, the vital Prāṇa that is sustaining the whole world, all creation, becomes part and parcel of one’s being, and sustenance comes from all sides when the ego subsides temporarily. This is what happens when we enter into sleep. It is because of the fact that we dissolve our personality, practically, in sleep and stand open to the reception of energies and powers from outside, that we get up refreshed from sleep, even without dinner, without lunch, without breakfast.Without any kind of
nourishing element in sleep, we get up as if we have eaten well. Tired people wake up with a freshness of personality. From where has this freshness come? You have not taken any tonic, any medicine or any foodstuff during sleep. You have only closed your eyes and forgotten yourself. The mere fact of the forgetfulness of yourself has become the source of sustenance and energy to your being.

The forgetfulness of personality is the secret of success.

The body, for instance, which is constituted of the essence of food, is resolvable into the earth element because the substance of food is the substance of the earth.

The Creator fixed for himself the three kinds of food, namely, the mind, the speech and the vital force.

The food that we eat is not necessarily the physical food that is consumed through the mouth, but any kind of intake of the personality through any of the sense-organs by which one is maintained.

There are seven kinds of food which God has created for the satisfaction of the individuals. The ordinary food that we eat every day is one kind of food. The milk that comes out from the breast of the mother is another kind of food, natural to children, whether they are human or otherwise. The
sacrifices offered to the gods or the divinities called Darsha and Purnamasa, the offerings that we make to gods, especially during the new moon and the full moon occasions, are two other kinds of food that sustains the gods. threefold food which is psychological in nature, called in the Upaniṣhadic language as speech, mind and Prāṇa.

Aham annam annam adantam admi, says the Taittirīya Upaniṣhad: ‘I am the food, and I am the eater of food. I, who am food, eat the eater of food.’

From Taittriya Upanishad
Chap II The Pranamaya kosha
From food all creatures are born: by food, when born, they grow. Because it is eaten by beings and because it eats beings, therefore it is called food.”

Chapter VII—The Importance of Food (I)
Let him (the knower of Brahman) never condemn food; that is the vow. (It was my professor who first introduced me to annam na nindyath. It is kind of difficult to digest that one wrong word, can cause a permanent parting with the professor)

To guests, he should say: "The food has been prepared for you." If this food is given first, food comes to the giver first. If this food is given in the middle, food comes to the giver in the middle. If this food is given last, food comes to the giver last.

"I am the first—born of the true, prior to the gods and the navel of Immortality. He who gives me away, he alone preserves me. He who eats food—I, as food, eat him.

Stolen and Returned

Laptop Bag Contents


Things that got stolen: I had made this list to give to the police station.

1. Laptop bag and inside it was:
2. Pocket Bhagawad Gita (had spent years translating each word in many shlokas/ had done sandhi viched, made notes topic wise) – can’t stay without BG in the mornings
3. Tata docomo data card
4. Office id and access card (replacement would cost 500)
5. Purse with 340+ rupees in cash
    a. ICICI debit card – balance Rs.1513.55
    b. PAN card
    c. B school alumni card
    d. B school student ID
    e. Lifestyle Inner circle card
    f. MORE card
    g. Auchan card
    h. Star Bazaar card
6. Makeup pouch
    a. Raaga bracelet like watch – 3750 Rs
    b. Hyderabadi pearl earrings – Rs. 650
    c. 4 one gram gold bangles – Rs. 1000+ (in 2004)
    d. Fa deodorant
    e. Bindi, Hairpins, Safety pins, Hairbands, ponds powder dabba
    f. Lakme Eyeliner, Mascara, Eyebrow pencil, eyetex, kumkum
7. Things that I forgot in my bag/purse (next day morning when I found it outside the door)
    a. Mouse
    b. Headset
    c. Yoga track pants
    d. Aqua blue earrings
    e. Visiting cards of young at heart friends, Id card of Anna Institute, Ramana maharishi photo, BMTC monthly pass, JustBooks Membership card

Retrospection

I was searching for theft in astrology, I was expecting 6th house, while 8th house came up. And I got mired by dwadamsha details. My mind went back to thiruvannamalai girivalam Dec 1-2, 2009, when a thief had stolen my purse with all id proofs, mobile and I had to borrow 500 from a Swiss law student. In my first thiruvannamalai full moon trip, I had kept my purse on kitchen stove and only when I had to buy bus tickets, I remembered, alighted somewhere, took an auto back home and went to cmbt after a long round trip. In one of the trips, when mom still didn’t know how to operate mobile, I was separated from mom in the crowd and I roamed all night, going between police station and temples without even a single paise in my hands. One constable lent me 100 rs that full moon day, one flower seller lent me 1Rs, so I could call my mom. Since phone was in silent mode, mom didn’t even answer the phone. We finally met only the next day morning. An autodriver in lungi stole my digital camera during inner path girivalam in 2011. And even now I feel nauseated seeing guys in lungis. Somehow am always penniless during thiruvannamalai full moon trips.

I was analyzing the chara dasa (maha, antar, pratyantar, shuksma) dasha of Dec 2, 2009 night and yesterday early morning and found commonalities.

Since I need the laptop for listening to my yoga teacher’s mp3 instructions and mobile for keeping timer for kapalabati, only my laptop bag and its contents were stolen and not the actual laptop and mobile which were supposed to be inside it. I get up at 5:30 am in the morning and watching the rising sun is something that really energizes me and makes me feel like a child again. I need lots of open space, with abundant ventilation, natural light. I brush my teeth outside on the terrace, facing north east, since my teacher wrote so. 5:40 am was when I opened the main door and went to terrace to brush my teeth and do my asans, keeping all doors open with lights on, in the pre- dawn darkness.

Discovery of Theft

Around 10:30 am when I wanted to recharge my mobile, I realized that laptop bag with my purse was missing. I searched all over, went 5 floors down, told the warden, they came up, searched all over, I got hysterical with the pg caretaker for not giving us keys (even if he had given keys, I would not have locked early morning, while doing surya namaskars), I shed tears, sat staring at the jyoti in front of god (Krishna, Raghavendra Swami, Rama) for 1 hr. I was angry that I could not stop my tears, I was wondering, if I lost my temper and cool for my laptop bag contents, did I possess them or those things possessed me? I was glad I had transferred all money to mom on Friday, except what I needed for this month’s expenses. My point to agni bhagawan in jyoti was, if it was mine, let it come back. I called up my brother to get my account number and called up icicibank and blocked the debit card.

Primarily since, my room is in 5th floor terrace with no lift, I sat staring at jyoti till lunch came at 12:45pm. One pg mate Anbu Lakshmi, held my hands and asked me not to cry or get angry and I felt so ashamed that someone had to tell me this. I kept telling others during lunch and dinner that that I must have stolen something in my previous life. My moochies purse had a marked price of Rs 450, but i felt a dead skin didn't deserve anything more than Rs. 200 and i had replaced the Rs 450 sticker with a Rs 200 sticker in a supermarket and bought it. It was too large to enter my jeans pocket and i was angry with that as well, in addition to overpricing. To compensate,  i spent the exact balance amount on 2 school boys on road. I frankly don't understand, looking back now.

Lost and Found

I had a disturbed sleep. I woke up around midnight and again at 2 am to put the quilt on the bare cot. It is cold only post 3 am in the night. I don’t like mattresses that others have slept on (also due to bed bugs) and prefer bare cot with a bare thin mattress that I can easily wash and dry for my back. I listen to BG explanation all night on laptop, when I sleep alone, so that I don’t think about unwanted things when am awake alone at night. Swami Sarveshananda was talking about desire clutching knowledge and how brilliance destroys a person who wants to be recognized for his knowledge, for being there, doing that and how a fall due to buddhi nasham was the worst fall.

This morning, I again woke up at 5:30 am, but instead of opening the door in the darkness, I sat to write down the punishments mentioned in garuda purana for stealing various things in an A4 sheet and translation of 1st verse of Isavasya upanisad and pasted it on the main door. I could remember the punishments only for stealing Au, books, money, food and poison. When I finished pasting 2 sheets on main door and bedroom door, sun was already up in its pinkish orange red glory. I brushed my teeth in full daylight in a hurry and was wondering, from where all blood was coming as I massaged my tongue. I came back to room to get the chair for kriya that I found the laptop bag outside the door. I felt so thankful to sun god, that my eyes moistened. I saw the guy in the adjacent buildinng, who returned my bag in blue lungi from the stairs, i saw only his legs from the top.

The fact that it came back – minus the Rs 340 cash (the thief didn’t even spare the Rs 2 coins inside the purse), rest everything, except my raga watch and one bangle, made me believe in divine force above. I was too excited to do suryanamaskars, I first called up my brother and told him. I called my mom next and sun was already uncomfortably hot at 6:30 am. Still, I did my asanas with heartfelt thanks. After bathing, I offered my head (remembering coconut), all knowledge to God. Everything is god’s gift. Sarvam ShriKrishnarpanmastu.

Vaazh Podalanga and Pavakai Maanga Pitlai

Bittergourd (Momordica charantia/Kareta, Karavella, Kathilla, Sushavi)

Vaazh Podalanga Snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina)
See its interesting white flower at: Chachinda
Ayurvedic health benefits: Patola

Wheat Jaggery Kheer, Pavaka pitlai, Carrot slices, Vaazh Podalanga, Bikaneri Papad

Was wondering, what is different in Vaazh podalanga that commanded a price differential in market, that i decided to make podalanga, even though pitlai with podalangai was something i never tried before.

Mom said, it was different from usual fatter snake gourds, i could not discern anything different. Vaazh podalanga is a longer, sturdy and leaner than its smooth, chubby cousins.

We started with wheat kheer, cloyingly sweet with lots of jaggery and 10+ aromatic cardamoms. Whenever, i cook, i don't use tamarinds. So for pitlai, i used mangoes for tangyness. No konda kadalai, instead i used a mix of split moong and chana dal. Whenever i come home in spring and summer, i have to walk through a maze of drying tamarinds and finely cut baby mangoes, in various stages of being pickled. At times, I have to watch out for drying baby mangoes and tamarinds when i get up from bed or sofa. Mom would not even throw the tamarind seeds. She said, some one in village needed it.

Talking of tamarind reminds of this school song - Ram chale van ko mata, hum bhi chale jayenge. In the song, when mom asks her kids what will they eat as they accompany Sri Ram to jungle, the kids say, they will eat tamarind leaves and pods. We used to rub one side of the tamarind seeds, till they turned white and play dhaayam (dice) with 12 such seeds. One of my favourites is koil puliotharai. But believe, every eatable has a phase in life. So good bye tamarinds, if am at home. If i eat outside, i eat nonchalantly.

Last time, bitter gourd was crunchy, so this time i let bitter gourd cook for some more time for mom, till they were soft. Still mom said, she didn't want to chew the vegetables, she wanted to swallow them without having to chew them. Mom said, cook it for some more time, i will eat them in the evening. I told her i won't reheat anything that has oil in it. So i told her, when she is toothless, i would cook, so that she would not have to chew. God! our body constitutions are poles opposite.

Peerkangai Thugayal

Torai Peerkangai Ridgegourd

Health benefits of Koshataki
spiceflair
logayurveda 

English School Teacher

My 11th and 12th standard english school teacher was LG, an Anglo Indian, a bachelor. One of his favourite movies was Kadhalikka neramillai. I loved his classes. He was the one who taught me how to pronounce V and W properly. I had changed schools after 10th and sir had taught his old students grammar just after 10th standard. However, for just two of us (new joinees) he stayed a bit longer after the classes got over and taught us english grammar. He was full of wise quotes.

One of the things, that i remember, he described, was answering the question - How is life? And different interpretations of the "so-so" response of say a tailor (sew-sew), a farmer (sow-sow) etc.

He used to say, how earlier, for a wedding, all that you had was a simple brinjal sambar and how ambrosiac it was, how the sambar's mouth-watering smell, would linger around the whole street. Now we have so many varieties, but gone is the taste, definitely gone is the health with pesticides, gone is the satisfied mind, gone with the wind. Incidentally, whenever, i find myself mentalizing too much, Scarlett O Hara's I will think about it tomorrow is what keeps me going. If not Hara, our 2nd chapter of BG. Thinking about variety, made me recollect the economic times spiritual columnist article on cooking blogs - where the author talks about Japanese tea ceremony - simple ritual which goes on for hours - partaking food as offering to God.

Once after a Kerala school trip, (when i still didn't know to read tamil alphabet written on buses), LG sir, sacrificed his sleep to help me board the bus at market.

Early Morning Gandhi Market

So at market I was, this morning. Anyway, once Mayiladuthurai Express reaches Trichy junction anywhere from 3:30-4:30 am in the morning, i would have to wait for at least 30 minutes for the first bus. So, i decided to go to Gandhi market to buy vegetables for home, along with local vegetable vendors.

Market pricing based on supply and demand is so amazing. Just two weeks before, around 4 am; i could buy a mega bunch of spear mint and corriander for Rs.10 each, this time, a even larger bunch was half the last price, at Rs. 5 each. Two weeks ago, all vegetables cost  Rs.10 each. Only carrot cost me 20 Rs a kg. This week, carrots were priced the same rate, but all other common vegetables - broad country beans (avarakai), ridge gourd, bitter gourd, beet, everything was 15-25. So last time, i had a half of gunny sack of 6 kgs of vegetables + additional 2 green bunches for Rs.90, this time,  it cost around 200, for 9 kg of vegetables + 2 green bunches.

Market Pricing Dynamics

Even funnier is the fact that this simple market pricing, like our 2G notional loss of 1.86 lakh crore, got a black mark on a government servant's ACR. The allegation against him was that, over many years, he pocketed lakhs by inflating vegetable prices meant for the mess, since he accounted for it uniformly, instead of considering daily market rates.

Thinking about allegations, I always used to wonder, mangal shani or rahu-shani combination (rule breaker-rule enforcer) like now in Thula. Christopher Reeves and Judy Garland with Mangal Shani dristi (movement vs. resistance). I asked an April 13, whose second born son had Mangal and Shani in his 12th house of thula, as to what he thought, if a person could make and break rules. The father said, such a person would be god. God or whatever, intriguing combination indeed.

Even more funny is the concept of 12th house. I read that it is likely that a person with venus in the 12th house was a female in the past life. I was thinking about gender, like idea's ad - couple accidentally swapping phone, what if the wife was born as the husband and vice versa. Does it take so much to understand each other? Especially, since in both my case and my sister's case, the 12th from guru (1st husband) is venus. My BIL has 12th venus in cancer, so every time, i would almost call him mother, for he cares for, cooks excellently for the whole joint family and feeds everyone around him effortlessly, that too from his childhood. There is nothing feminine physically about him. So my sis is married to a cancerian lady and i would be marrying a virgo lady who have become guys in this life. In my case, husband's 2nd house is my 12th house. I can't enjoy his wealth or his wealth is hoarded through my losses.

Vegetables and Ex - Neighbours

Back to ridge gourd. One of the harmless vegetables, sources say. Thugayal was too good, crunchy, a tad sweet, simply delicious. I had prepared a banana leaf feast of avarakkai sambar, my favourite kothavaranga paruppu usili, toasted bikaneri papad, fresh carrot juliennes, pudhina chutney, peerkangai thugayal, inji maanga thokku, yellow moong dal kheer laced with ghee with lots of ellaichi cashew and raisins. Since it was saturday, i had originally planned pavakkai pitlai. After my ex-neighbour barged in, i decided to make avarakkai sambar.

Yesterday night, i was watching Special 26. Nothing like having opposite door neighbour for a lover. There was this case of Aslesha girl who married her opposite door neighbour, another bongo mesha girl who married her March 9th neighbour. It was the same with my second cousin as well. In all cases, they were childhood pals, in all cases, first born was a son. In my case, am surrounded with immature kids who brandish their arms with self-inflicted knife scars. Home is a perennial conflict zone, from where i clamor to escape. I can't even open my windows and ask my mom to lock the front door to get some time to study peacefully. I can't even fart peacefully at home, for neither the locks nor the fence is any barrier to prying eyes  of my younger brother's junior set neighbour, (his elder sister is my close friend). He finds no shame in jumping over fences, or entering through back door, taking my snaps in my nighty. Had a mini fight snatching the camera phone. Had prepared extra food for him also, but after mom served payasam, carrot juliennes, kothavaranga paruppu usili on the banana leaf, he refused to eat stating, if mom had prepared food he would have had food, but he would not eat my preparation. Am extremely wary of accepting free gifts or anything for free from guys. So our initial agreement was that, if he ate lunch at home, i would accept his free ride till railway station on sunday evening. I added extra rice, only after he stated, he didn't want to miss my cooking. After mom left for work, he again sneaked in through back door, eating just the kheer stating, now that he had kheer, i should come in his cab to station. Whatever, this once-in-a-blue-moon-weekend-drama too would pass. Need to do a pranic cut-cut to all ties with these juvenile delinquents.

Yellow Pumpkin Mystery

Thinking about ridge gourd - harmless vegetable. I was surprised to learn that that yellow pumpkin ought to be avoided during menstruation. All that i remembered that anything yellow and orange was rich in vitamin A, good for skin, eyes. So i used to gorge in carrots, papayas, mangoes, pumpkins whenever i got a chance. While papapya clearly eases cramps during menstruation, am yet to understand, why yellow pumpkin ought to be avoided those days. 

Chakka Eriserri Maanga Pachadi Baby Corn Golden Roast

For Sunday - Crunchy wheat Jaggery sweet with cashew, raisins and ellaichi

Baby Corn Golden Roast

Maanga Pachadi

Wheat Balls, Sweet Amlas, Carrot, Maanga Pachadi, Chakka Eriserri, Murukku, Murungakka Sambar, Curd

Mom and Periyamma said, they don't want jaggery in maanga pacchadi, so we made two versions, one without jaggery and one with delicious jaggery.

Mom distributed mangoes and our mallu neighbours gave us raw jackfruit, so with google to guide me, we ended up with Chakka eriserri cooked in coconut oil, and avialish coconut paste. What an odd combination i thought, baby corns and jackfruit and mangoes. Any day, my first preference is ripe mangoes, ripe jack fruit part of the fruit triad.

The best part was maanga pachadi with jaggery, and maanga pachadi without jaggery for curd.

Hair Care - Hibiscus and Henna

When i stayed in Vannathurai, my room mate, KS took me to parlour once, where i observed how they did hair massage, and lo my hair massage was an instant hit with chithi, bro, sis and mom. Next need to learn stomach and abdomen massage.

My virgo ex-model apartmentmate runs BodyCare and she keeps on talking about costly imported machines that give figure correction massage. Her clientele includes the actresses and hi-fi folks. But i believe in the long run, it is simple boat asana and self massage that would help. Need to bring this topic up with my physiotherapist SIL. She spent hours massaging my quadriceps and taught me how to as well. Thanks to her, now am able to climb steps with lesser height with my right leg.

Hibiscus Sembaruthi

Maruthaani Henna

Mom plucked the leaves, made a smooth paste, while periyamma sat next to me, to ensure, i covered all my scalp. Was feeling bad that two hibiscus buds were there amongst plucked leaves. But the effect of this combination is simply too good. Only after hours, when my head started hurting, i washed my hair and stood under hot sun to dry my wet scalp. Omavalli leaves were growing wildly with the leaked water tank water. Thanks to mother nature, we are all able to savour these little little things. Thank you! God of small things, rather everything.

Every morning, when i touch the ground, am always amazed at the relative motion effect, where it is so difficult to believe being close to equator, it is always the stability of terra firma I perceive rather than the velocity with which earth is rotating and revolving.