Earthquake in the NE United States..
I was sitting comfortably on my couch reading up something when I felt everything move and rattle around me. My first thought was that my head was spinning until I heard the china clatter and the chimes ringing rather loudly.. It felt like someone was moving my house with a bulldozer . And yes it was moving!! And the mover was none other than Mother earth .!. At 5.9 on the Richter scale, NE United States experienced an earthquake for the first time in a long long time.. !!
I stepped out and my neighbors who have been here for almost half a century were talking about how this was the first ever time they had experienced an earthquake in their entire life.. My aunt at 79yrs doesn't remember experiencing an earthquake her entire life in the NE.
Different people have different reactions given a situation.. and this was a perfect example of that theory . There were those that were frantically calling 911 and yet others that were calling their loved ones to find out that they were ok.. while some were huddled in their homes in front of their TV's trying to make sense of the whole thing and wondering whether they should go and hide in their basements.. And there were also those that were panicking and crying thinking about what could have happened had their roof collapsed on them !! Amidst all this there I was standing and chatting with my neighbors. It turned out , I was the only "previous-earthquake-experienced" individual in that crowd. This got me thinking ..unless we are hit by a situation most people don't take the pains to get the know-how about things and thats especially true for calamities..
Simple things like when..
1. theres an earthquake go out and stand clear of anything that might fall or if you are in a building get under a table or other heavy furniture
2. theres a tornado go into a windowless room or get down to the basement or any concrete structure closer to the ground or underground
3. theres a hurricane stay indoors away from doors and windows
4. theres a thunderstorm don't take shower or be in the water even indoors
5. theres lightening stay indoors or inside a car (if you are out and about )
6. theres a fire cut all sources of fresh air/ oxygen
7. theres an oil fire or for that matter and over heated pot don't pour water
8. you are chased by an elephant run zigzag and when its a bear assume fetal position
These are some of the common things that most people don't know and don't believe in knowing either until they are in the thick of the rut..
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
I hope
with love thats innocent as a child's smile
with the blessing of every soul that touches your life
I hope you have the courage to stand up for what you believe
and the wisdom of a lifetime
You cherish the moments with every soul that touches your life
I pray you smile
I hope music runs in your veins & colors fill your life
I pray the life you choose gives you everything you hoped for
I wish the hunger to be a starry eyed child once again never dies
I pray the breeze tickles your funny bone
& the birds make your spirits sore
the flowers fill your dreams with fragrance.
Copyright: Vidhya Sandilya
Fear
We live in a society where fear is fed to the masses in every which way conceivable. No form of communication is spared. I was just browsing through the news when I came upon pages and pages of how the economy is really down trodden, infants sleeping with the parents in the bed being in harms way.., global warming, animals going haywire and attacking.. and the list goes on & on…
As a specie we've been "wary and afraid" of everything .It is ingrained into our DNA so it doesn't look like its gonna change anytime soon. When our tree dwelling ancestors set foot on the ground they learnt about the perils of living on the ground. The big brain they were blessed with, helped them devise strategies and methods to be safe (besides harboring feelings such as fear). The optimum use of the brain got us to where we are today- at the top of the food chain. Being on top of the food chain just dint do it for us.. we are still "afraid".
Industrialization just added to our woes. Besides the fear of the natural phenomenon, we started fearing Pseudo phenomenon (also called situation created by man) . Growing up in a developing country I learnt that , not everybody is born with good fortune. To keep that good fortune one has to work their entire lives, so the fear of loosing is instilled even as a child.
Im am still trying to figure out how for generations we have been safe as kids sleeping with our parents, and then some scientists and analysts come along and all on a sudden Its simply not safe for babies to cosy up with their parents as they might inadvertently squish / suffocate their babies in their sleep.
People claim that animals are dangerous but in their zest, fail to acknowledge that Animals are Animals. They are not in your path you are in theirs. They attack when provoked, all in self defense or in the quest to survive. We should know better being the brainier ones in the lot..!!
Fear is a little devil that robs you of everything because we evaluate any situation with respect to our own self. Alas, if we looked beyond our little world to greater heights where "WE" are insignificant, then perhaps some good can be achieved and fear eliminated. As a rational person I know that is unlikely to happen so for now we live , soaking ourselves in the very fabric of life that is dripping with fear in all forms.
As a specie we've been "wary and afraid" of everything .It is ingrained into our DNA so it doesn't look like its gonna change anytime soon. When our tree dwelling ancestors set foot on the ground they learnt about the perils of living on the ground. The big brain they were blessed with, helped them devise strategies and methods to be safe (besides harboring feelings such as fear). The optimum use of the brain got us to where we are today- at the top of the food chain. Being on top of the food chain just dint do it for us.. we are still "afraid".
Industrialization just added to our woes. Besides the fear of the natural phenomenon, we started fearing Pseudo phenomenon (also called situation created by man) . Growing up in a developing country I learnt that , not everybody is born with good fortune. To keep that good fortune one has to work their entire lives, so the fear of loosing is instilled even as a child.
Im am still trying to figure out how for generations we have been safe as kids sleeping with our parents, and then some scientists and analysts come along and all on a sudden Its simply not safe for babies to cosy up with their parents as they might inadvertently squish / suffocate their babies in their sleep.
People claim that animals are dangerous but in their zest, fail to acknowledge that Animals are Animals. They are not in your path you are in theirs. They attack when provoked, all in self defense or in the quest to survive. We should know better being the brainier ones in the lot..!!
Fear is a little devil that robs you of everything because we evaluate any situation with respect to our own self. Alas, if we looked beyond our little world to greater heights where "WE" are insignificant, then perhaps some good can be achieved and fear eliminated. As a rational person I know that is unlikely to happen so for now we live , soaking ourselves in the very fabric of life that is dripping with fear in all forms.
A new beginning
It was a lazy day where my mind was busy as ever my soul not at peace, So I figured I'll vegetate I landed up on this movie Eat pray love by Julia Roberts and something in me kept me from flipping from that channel. The story revolves around a divorcee that goes to Rome, India and Bali to find herself.. Both she and her estranged husband still love each other, but its not the same somethings changed between them so they part ways .. In her quest to -heal herself and to find the word to describe what she wants of herself and her world.. she travels.. She meets with new people and has some amazing experiences.. and in the end finds her true love and the word.. "attraversiamo" which basically means " lets cross over" in Italian. It got me thinking how all of us are constantly searching for ourselves .
Our identities are always in relation to another person.. we are a daughter, son, sister, brother, spouse, friend or parents but individually what are we if we are none of those?
I would like to believe I'm an individual in flesh and blood with a heart full of feelings and a mind full of ideas. But Im still lost?
I remember the time when I used to write .I used to sing and dance. A silly joke would send me rolling on the floor laughing and sadness make me choke with tears. All those "emotions" as they are called are lost on me since I loved.. What am I now?
The questions keep haunting me day in and day out.. and today I think I've found my word .. Attaversiamo. As we embark on a newer year I want to cross over to a time where I still believe.. my heart sings and soul dances and I tear up with laughter and the touch of my love feels like a breeze on top of the most amazing mountain ..
Don't know what the future hold's in store, but I sure hope this year brings me the courage to fly to great heights and confront my biggest foe that stays within me..After all this I would love to say Attraversiamo ll mio amore (lets cross over my love) to where theres courage to accept that failures are not permanent and shall pass , there is determination to plow on to reach my goal , compassion to lend a helping hand to the one in need and love thats as vast as the universe itself.
A new beginning thats what it is.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Comfort food
Its fall and along with the leaves, our immune system seems to fall too. This year fall's given way to old man winter rather quickly..no wonder everybody's falling sick. I can almost feel a scratchy throat .. so nothing sounds better than some homemade medicinal preparations that also double as comfort food rendering some spunk & taste to the numb taste buds (which is the first clue that you are coming down with a cold/cough or fever).
Medicinal Rasam
Ingredients :
2 medium-large Tomato's, 1/2 cup Toor Dal( Red gram lentil), 3-4 pieces of Tippali (Piper Longum), 1/2 tsp Black Pepper , 2 tsp Cumin seeds , 2 swigs of Curry Leaves (kadi patta), Asafoetida, 2tsp Coriander seeds , 1tbs Chana Dal(Bengal Gram lentil), 1tbs Toor Dal, lemon size Tamarind (if Tamarind paste / concentrate is used, then 1tsp), 1 Hari Mirch (Green Chili Pepper), 1 Lal Mirch (Dried Red Chili Pepper), Salt to taste, 1tbs Ghee (clarified Butter), Turmeric, 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste , 1 tsp Mustard seeds , Coriander leaves.
Method :
Soak Tamarind in 1 cup luke warm water for 15-20 mins. In a pressure cooker, cook the Toor dal with 1/4 tsp turmeric and keep aside. Squeeze out the Tamarind juice and pour the juice into a vessel. Add some more water to the Tamarind and repeat the process a couple of times until there is no more juice left in the tamarind.
Heat up a pan with 1tsp ghee and saute Toor dal, Chana dal, Coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, black pepper, Lal Mirch & Tippali. Add Hari Mirch and saute some more . Remove from flame and grind it with 1/2 tsp fresh cumin seeds ,a swig of curry leaves, ginger garlic paste and water to a pan cake batter consistency.
Boil the Tamarind water for 3-5 mins . Add Tomato's, Asafoetida and boil until the tomatoes cook add Salt and the ground paste to this water and let it froth for 5 mins. Now whisk the cooked toor dal and add to the boiling tamarind mixture. Let it boil for 5-10 mins. Rasam is ready. Saute Mustard and the remaining 1tsp of cumin seeds in ghee and drop it into the boiling Rasam. Let it simmer for a minute and remove from flame. Garnish with 1 swig of curry leaves and Coriander leaves. Serve Hot.
This Rasam can be had as a soup or alternatively mixed with cooked (preferably white) rice.
Khichdi
Ingredients :
1/4 cup Moong dal (Whole Green & Brown gram Dal), 1 cup Rice , 1 cup mixed vegetables (Cauliflower, Carrots, Green Peas, Bell Pepper, Beans, Corn, spinach), 1 small Red Onion cut to small pieces (optional), 1 tbs Ghee, 1/4 tsp Garam Masala or doda Masala (if available), 1 tsp ground Black Pepper, Salt to taste, 1/4 tsp ground Cumin Powder, 3-3.5 cups Water.
Method :
Rinse Rice and Dal. Add mixed vegetables, Onion, Salt, Ground Cumin Powder, Garam masala/ doda masala, Black Pepper, 1tsp Ghee and water to the rice and dal and pressure cook. When cooked, add the remaining ghee and mix well and serve hot with some Kadi.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Montreal
They say never judge a book by its cover .. and that is what I learnt during a recent trip to Montreal. We had heard some rather fabulous things about Montreal and the first impression we got on landing was nothing close to what we had heard.
Our journey (by VIA rail) from Toronto to Montreal was uneventful. We land in this city unlike any other American city we've been to (and trust me we have travelled the length and breath of the whole United States (although this was our 2nd in Canada). It was like landing in one of the cities in Europe. There are very few places in North America that are not tourist friendly and Montreal ranks no 1 in that list if you ask me. Most signs were in French and god forbid if u dint know French which was the case with us. To add to that I felt there was a snooty air about the whole place. I know many people that we know, would not agree with me on this but they have to experience the city as we did.. wholly by public transport and walking.
Anyways we trekked from the station to our hotel The Omni Mont-Royal -a luxurious hotel about a block from the foot of Mont-Royal. After refreshing we went down to the concierge service to get ideas on "what to do" in two days besides good recommendations on food. We got quite a few tips on the former and almost nothing on the latter. So we set out to explore the city with a plan to walk around the new city and that evening trek up Mont-Royal for a view of the city by night from the mountain. The following day was set aside for Old Montreal including le Notre-Dame an artificial island located in the Saint Lawrence River. It was created for Expo 67 to celebrate Canada's centennial.And then to Stadium olympique before heading back to Old Montreal to kick back for the evening, before heading back to our hotel, in the new part of the town.
Day three was set aside for Biodome, Park Olympique, Insectarium and Montreal Botanical garden. We did not do justice to the botanical garden and hope to return there someday as it requires a decent amount of time to explore the whole place. If you are pressed for time as we were, then I would recommend the Japanese and Chinese garden in the Montreal botanical Garden. The Biodome ,can also be given a pass unless you are an animal lover like me and don't mind spending a few hours seeing very few animals.. I would give insectarium a pass but am sure children would love the place. All in all, I would call Montreal an interesting place .
Anyways we trekked from the station to our hotel The Omni Mont-Royal -a luxurious hotel about a block from the foot of Mont-Royal. After refreshing we went down to the concierge service to get ideas on "what to do" in two days besides good recommendations on food. We got quite a few tips on the former and almost nothing on the latter. So we set out to explore the city with a plan to walk around the new city and that evening trek up Mont-Royal for a view of the city by night from the mountain. The following day was set aside for Old Montreal including le Notre-Dame an artificial island located in the Saint Lawrence River. It was created for Expo 67 to celebrate Canada's centennial.And then to Stadium olympique before heading back to Old Montreal to kick back for the evening, before heading back to our hotel, in the new part of the town.
Day three was set aside for Biodome, Park Olympique, Insectarium and Montreal Botanical garden. We did not do justice to the botanical garden and hope to return there someday as it requires a decent amount of time to explore the whole place. If you are pressed for time as we were, then I would recommend the Japanese and Chinese garden in the Montreal botanical Garden. The Biodome ,can also be given a pass unless you are an animal lover like me and don't mind spending a few hours seeing very few animals.. I would give insectarium a pass but am sure children would love the place. All in all, I would call Montreal an interesting place .
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