Acquiantance with the yamaraj

I have heard about it,studied it and even seen it but never experienced the feel of death.It seems ironical having to say this as I am a doctor and the expectation is that death is commonplace.Truly,I have felt sad when I see disease or death in hospitals but the perspective is quite different when it happens to your loved one as realised in the last couple of months.Death has made me cry before people and equally,in the dark corners of my house.
In September 2016, my mother in law passed away.She was a victim of a road traffic accident in the busy,reckless,potholed and unforgiving roads of Cochin.She was the pillon passenger of a scooter driven by her daughter and as she turned left on a junction,a speeding bus trying to overtake a signal couple of yards away,knocked the scooter down.My sister in law fell on the pedestrian side and since she had a helmet,managed to escape with a minor injury.My mother in law was thrown on to the road and very bus that hit them ,then ran over her head.Everything ended.A couple of seconds, that's all it took.She was gone.No human,science or technology could help.The grief and loss cannot be put in words as it is immeasurable and would do it only injustice.
In the following days,week and months,I saw love,support and human kindness in measures I have never witnessed before.Every day we had lots of people coming in ,the same tragic incident would be relayed over and over again,their were silent sobs and loud wailings.There were prayers and meditations everyday.Slowly and painfully,life goes on .She was a wonderful person and she still is,where ever she is.
I have been meaning to write this piece of my heart for some time.This is no invitation for sympathy or tears but to provoke some thoughts.
Our roads are bad and so are the people who drive on it.I know as a nation we have come a long way but that's no excuse.Why is everyone on the road in such a hurry,why not wait for a few seconds behind another vehicle  instead of overtaking.For me and my family , a few seconds took everything!! During these difficult times,I realised how powerful crying loud is.Although time alone after bereavement is needed,the talks and loud cries takes the burden of the heart at least for a while.Our community and family systems have this coping mechanism embedded into it unlike may other societies where people find it difficult to express at all.A shoulder to cry on without being judged or rebuked is all that is needed most times.

At the end of the day,it is about moving on.She will not be forgotten and continues to live among us by what she taught us or how she lived her life.Life,it runs,walks,slows down but never stops.

I know there will be a day when I will see the Yamaraj face to face but hopefully by then i would done my little bit here.

hiii dear blog


  Yes i know the question? I guess i am the little maveli (not literally ) who comes once a year to write on this blog.Life's busy and it seems my writing is suffering.Still, i guess it is the love of the letters that keeps bringing me back to this blog.

I watched a movie today "Iyobinte Pusthakham".What a brilliant movie! The characters are artistically presented on a picturesque background.
There is love,revenge,lust,conspiracy and history blend into a perfect tale.The movie unfolds as if turning the pages of a book and actors play their roles to a unique perfection.
You dont fall in love with this movie nor do does it touch your heart yet at the end it is worth the experience of watching a real cinema.Good story,excellent acting and absolutely fantastic screenplay makes it a  a really good film.

Recently, i watched a number of good malayalam movies and the variety of stories that are being told only suggests there is a lot of untapped potential out there.

Literature adventure....

Hiiii  dearest blog...its been 2 years .My goodness such a long time.I feel quite happy to come back.

Apart this great reunion,i have in the recent few read 2 books of unsurpassed ingenuity.The first one i read was the Good Earth and other one,The White Tiger.Believe me if say they are 2 novels each at either end of the spectrum.

The Good Earth by Pearl s buck is a heart warming,beautiful story of a Chinese family, their triumphs and tribulations.It is deep rooted in the chinese culture and you are in awe with the level of suffering,patience,courage and determination that people can posses.
My sympathies and adoration are divided though.To the main character,Wang lung,i feel a deep loathing for he is self centred and weak.on other hand,the woman is a strong character and she is the epitome of endurance.Yet,i feel that has been her weakness as well.All through the story,one feels sorry for this lady who gives it everything but gets no love or respect.But the question is did she ever expect it?
The book leaves a imprint on your mind and imagination .It tugs at you heart and is not surprising because it speaks the tale of human emotions.


The second book "The white tiger" by Aravind Adiga is savage ,satirical and keeps you guessing.The story is simple but the presentation is awesome. The whole book is a first person narrative written as a letter .....sorry an email to the prime minister of china.On the background,there is a real India.A brilliant portrayal of the realities of Indian lives.The main character a driver, commits  murder to steal money ,sets a business and becomes a wealthy entrpreneur.You  hate his morals buts somehow you smile.He has pulled it through.He is real and thats why the story is a hit.

Hats off to both the authors.
I begin yet another literature adventure with Tagore!Will write again soon!!!

I have decided to start a new section to my blog.....well I call it" hear my friends say" One of my friends malini recently posted on FB.. Sleep must come To the sinners eye Oh they need their rest too For sins are,after all,pretty hard to do.. I liked it..

Well..I have recently developed a new taste......the art of cooking.Being a wife and a mum,I do cook routinely.eventhough I have been cooking for almost 2 years now,the joy of it all have been sweeping through only for a short while....and then I thought where to share my interests other than with my dearest blog...

I recently learnt a recipe from one of the cookery show I had watched...here goes..



Srilankan chicken masala

Ingredients

Chicken leg- 4 pieces
Onion-2
Tomatoes -2
Capsicum -2
Ginger -1 1/2 teaspoon
Garlic. -1 1/2 teaspoon
red chillies -5 or more as you wish
Tomato sauce- 1 table spoon
Soya sauce - 1 table spoon
Salt



Preparation

1.heat 2 table spoon oil in a cooking vessel in medium heat

2. Add ginger and garlic

3. Add the red chillies and sauté for less than a min.

4. Then add the onions and fry for a min

5. Add the tomatoes and capsicum to the onions.

6. Sauté it for 5 min or until it becomes cooked.

7. Add both the sauces and stir well

8. Add the chicken,thoroughly stir

9. Close the vessel and cook .

10. Once done,serve with chappatis or rice.




Thats it!please bear with me if there are any mistakes or even blunders!!till next time,adios....

Agatha Christie

Phew....its been a long time!! Life has been so hectic that I just realised the last time I wrote on the blog was an year ago.Well, the reason i am back is because I finished reading "the endless night" by agatha christie.The book was good but definitely not her best.I decided to pen down my thoughts and feelings as I felt a desire to bring to letter about a writer whom I have cradled within since my teens.I should say ,I grew up admiring her.This writeup in not to compare,criticise or even flatter.Its a humble tribute to an author who build plots around me that still continues to fascinate.


Agatha Christie,an english author known as the "queen of crime" has written 80 crime novels and short story collections,20 plays and 6 other novels which have sold over a billion copies and have been translated into many foreign languages.Her play,mousetrap is the longest running play till )date in history.

I have often wondered why her books are so addictive.In her novels there are no fast cars,no clever gadgets or any dramatic sequences.Crimes are not solved by muscle but rather by the trickiness of mind.Characters have identities of their own and her descriptions are so impeccable that I cannot but believe.Most of her stories are set in the early 20s and hence,there is a difference in the way the people talk ,behave and interact.It takes me to another era which is as realistic as ours .however,alive the characters and backgrounds may be,the stories are written with a flavour of fantasy and that makes it predictable.The simplicity and subtle ness in her writing is what attracts me most.She makes me read till the last page without much fuss and frenzy.

The one downside in her stories is the repetitiveness of her plots .Yet i feelthat is perfectly normal as crimes happen mostly for the same reasons as in real life too.I have heard few of my friends say that Agatha is meant for teens and not for adults. I believe that is quite false.It is true that many of us still like to hum nursery rhymes,watch Tom and jerry cartoons..and I bet there are people who reads Archie's and boban&molly.Well,take our dear Harry potter.He is liked by children,middled aged and the elderly with the same passion.A story does not exit only in the pages of a book or in the mind of the author but also in the imagination of the reader.So,I am of the opinion that agatha goes beyond intangible boundaries of age.

But I have to confess that the love and adoration for this queen is not due to literary accolades.She was there in my childhood and teens telling me stories,intriguing me and colouring my world with twists ,turns and ends.She made my heart anticipate,mind wonder and body still as I turned the leaves of her thoughts.

She is a wonderful author with amazing skills.Even today she is a part of my life doing the little bit she can to awe and surprise me the next corner.Someday i would have read all her books and that day seems not so far.When I do reach end,I will have a few more thoughts to share.So for now,cheers.

The last king of scotland...A movie review

Last couple of days for me has been simply movies...i watched action ,drama,horror  and animation....but nothing tugged at the strings like "The last king of Scotland".The movie chains you to your seat,the reason not being action ,glamour or style but for a story  it tells, that is shockingly so real.Dr.Nicholas Garrigan (James Macvoy),a young physician from Scotland decides to put his earned skills to better use and thus makes his way to Uganda,Africa.At this time,Uganda were cheering in Idi Ameen(Forest Whittaker),their new leader,a military general who had overthrown the govt.Uganda was hopeful of a better future.In a turn of events,Nicholas comes in acquaintance with Idi Ameen and he becomes the leaders personal physician.There was the calm before the storm.Nicholas finds himself in depth of violence,hatred,bloodshed with no escape.As the movie dawns to a close one keeps hoping that he escapes and lives to tell a tale of how destructive it can become if power is entrusted to wrong hands.The best part of the movie is the depiction of Idi Ameen's character and the helpless situation that Nicholas finds himself in.All through the movie,you come face to face with a nation that is forever in search for salvation.Kudos to the movie for such in depth  and sensitive portrayl of  a saga that left the world speechless.