Birthday countdown

February 22, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Its 31 days to my birthday. A milestone. A beginning of a new decade and an end to the previous five. Am I keeping track by drawing lines and crossing them out every 7th or 10th day on a wall? No, I’m not. Thanks to my dear husband, I know exactly how many days there […]

Noisy ear

February 15, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I have acquired another annoyance to my ready portfolio of medical ailments and complaints. Tinnitus. A paper crumpling kind of noise inside my right ear. I hear it. Sometimes, it’s loud and frantic. More so at night and for some reason when I’m close to running tap water. Sometimes, it’s quieter. During the day when […]

Induction into induction

February 8, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I finally got myself an induction hob. I have been hob-less since my gas powered stove blew up on me. Even now I shudder at the thought. Expectedly that scary incident has been a little difficult to forget. It was also the reason I took my time to find a replacement. Anything but gas. The […]

My mum’s sous chef

February 1, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I am now my mum’s personal sous chef. Who would have thought? Certainly, not my mum. Not me. Not my husband. He still laughs at my current thrust-upon role. He finds the circumstance-driven transformation rather ironic. I am not at all keen on cooking, especially the savoury stuff. I even have a plaque on my […]

Christmas 2020

December 28, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

The tree went up on the first Saturday of December. Glittering with ornaments, tinsel and fairy lights. Spirits were lifted and brightened a little. What else? Desserts. Always works for me. A sure mood enhancer and belly pleaser. I decided I’d bake some traditional desserts, not attempted before. To surprise my husband. To fondly remember Christmas 2020. To not […]

Pongal rice, Karthigai and festivals

December 7, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I helped my mum make ‘Sakkarai Pongal’ or Pongal rice last Sunday. Obviously not biased but she does make the tastiest Pongal rice I’ve ever had. This time around, she also got the thumbs-up from my husband, who doesn’t normally like the texture or taste of sweet rice. He likened it to a really delicious version […]

Yellow-black banana

November 23, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

Bananas ripen and turn yellow-black before I get home from the supermarket. Mangoes develop unsightly spots as I wash, dry and store them. Tomatoes get mushy and even the hardier carrots look scruffy in a few days. Fresh and inviting in the store. Wilted and sad at home. Fresh produce become un-fresh, and spoil at an […]

Deepavali 2020

November 9, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

My mum’s most anticipated celebration is happening this Saturday, 14 November. Not easily excitable nor normally demonstrative, this is the only time of year that she’s animated with almost childlike enthusiasm. Deepavali – the Festival of Lights – has always given my mum a sense of joy and excitement. As a child, a wife, mother and […]

My mum’s recipe 6: Upma

October 5, 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

I don’t like Upma. I don’t like its taste, texture or look. My mum likes it. So much that she’d probably have it every Friday, her second vegetarian day in the week, if she could. Monday is her first designated non-meat day. My mum’s vegetarian days go up each month correspondingly with the number of […]

Memory lane

September 21, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

I love my mum. Always have. She turns 87 next Sunday. With her birthday around the corner, I was thinking more about her. As she is now. An old girl. Hearing suspect. Memory failing. Sleepy dopey. Heart and head willing, but body lagging behind. With flashes of determination and stubbornness. And, as she was many […]