Monday, July 3, 2023

The Joy of storytelling...

Kahni has been attending this marvelous school in the CUSD called Christa McAuliffe Elementary school. I have to say that I just love the school to pieces.. I had my reservations in the beginning to be honest but it nothing short of miraculous now. Kahini has adjusted well and cannot wait to go to school every day.

The school has a vaunted learning program and it teaches the kids to think and do things by themselves and look to adults only for assistance and not for guidance.. It works for some kids and it certainly works for mine.. The one thing that absolutely stands out for me is story telling. Each kid gets a chance almost every day in fact, to draw a picture and tell a story about the picture. An adult takes dictation and writes the story for the kid. At the end of the hour, the teacher reads out the story of each child and the child gets to read a few words of her own (if she or he had written any words specifically). The benefits of this is just multi fold.

A few benefits just stand out:
  • The imagination of a child is vast. Story telling taps their creative talents and nurtures it..
  • The ability to correlate between a picture and words..
  • Mind hand coordination.
  • Self gratification.
  • And lastly, feeling important.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Why am I brown?

Kahini's latest question to me threw me off kilter. Not the first time she has asked me this but this time it was in earnest. I took a few seconds to think about it and answered nonchalantly that it was because we were from the subcontinent of India and most Indians were brown or "mocha" as I like to call my flavouring..

She stayed mum for a minute and asked me again if we were sweet inside. "Are Indians yummy inside, Mummy?" was the actual phrase. I did not understand and so I said "Why?". My innocent 5 year old replied that Indians were like chocolate. Brown on the outside but yummy and creamy on the inside.

I was so touched that I gave her a big squeeze. My 5 year just put my personal insecureness of racism to peace. I do not have to explain why she is brown and Becca is pink. She understands it quite well and will make her peace one day..

Thanks Kahini for growing up Indian in America..

Friday, July 10, 2009

Long time not to blog..

Just been caught up in the myriad responsibilites that life has thrown my way and in the ensuing melee just did not find time to blog. No excuses. I should have blogged atleast a few lines a day just to keep me in writing skills....

A few movies that I watched recently:

Maayandi kudumbathaar...
Manjal veyyil.

The former was good - very good ! A flavor of Madurai for me.

The latter was mediocre. Reminded me of the 80's. Mohan should have played the lead and it would have been perfect..

My job hunt is going on. Has been going on for eons now. No bites. Not have worked for the last 2 years does not help. People who get laid off now are not getting jobs so I really should not complain but I could really use the money.. Life is complex but in the long run if it works out I should not borrow trouble... easier said than done.. The grass is always greener on the other side. Today is a down day for me. Dont' know why. Just is. Hope tomorrow is better...

Kay

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Quantum of Solace!!



After a long wait the much anticipated sequel to Casino Royale is here - the Quantum of Solace..



Good movie! At the offset, that is my comment. One does not go see Bond movies expecting a plausible story line or believable stunts. We go just to see "Da Bond" , his amazing body, his unbelievable stunts, and if you are a guy you go for the babes and the gadgets!



Daniel Craig is a good Bond. I never did like blonde Bonds. My all time favourite is Sean Connery who personified Bond and then Pierce Brosnan. Timothy Dalton was an aberration in my humble opinion and Sir Roger Moore was okay but again I don't do blondes :-) Daniel Craig is blonde all right but is just goregous as Bond. He has this craggy face with angles and planes and the camera loves him. His hips are so lean and tapered and I am a sucker for lean hips so I just love this new Bond. Hope he acts in a few more before he retires. Seeing that he is 40, I hope he does another 3 atleast before he quits..



Coming to the movie, QoS takes off from where Casino Royale left where James is searching for the killer of his lover Vesper. The movie has exotic locales in Haiti, Bolivia and Austria to name a few. Bond kills quite a few baddies in this one and M (Judi Dench reprising her role once again) is against Bond taking out all these human offal and tries to reel him in. His credit cards, identities are all obliterated and 007 is forced to use his enterprising skills in taking the bad ones out. The whole movie is based on revenge by Bond for Vesper's (Bond's lover) murder but he being the stoic , stiff upper lip British macho man that he is refuses to acknowledge it and to the end maintains to M and the others that he is not out for revenge for Vesper's murder but trying to oust the baddies.. At the very end he does concede that he is avenging a friend's murder but not a lovers'.



Non stop action, exotic locales, grandiose sets, diction (my favorite personality of a film or person) all characterize this latest Bond. Not one of the greats but definitely a must see. You could probably watch it on DVD on a plasma TV and be satisfied. I give it 2.5 out of 5.



Kay

Monday, November 24, 2008

A thousand elephants! - Vaaranam Aayiram





Saw Vaaranam Aayiram on Friday night at the AMC here in San Jose. Wonder of wonders, Surya the dynamic young hero of the movie graced the theatre with his presence. He held a Q and A session for about 45 mts and answered various questions about the movie, the 6 pack that he sported and his personal life as well. He said that revenues were poor at B and C centers due to poor understanding of the movie and that it was a decent hit at A centers. He said that he worked for 6 months to get his 6 pack and he was on a high protien and low carb diet. He did not recommend it. He siad that it was unnatural to sport a six pack. It was great seeing him. He had fabulous diction and was very personable. Quite short though.. 5'.6" tops. The theatre distributed mysore pak for all the patrons after he left...


On to the review...

A beautiful theme but from Gautam's mind to the silver screen, something gave in. The movie was quite impressionable but it did leave a void. Wasn't like Kaaka Kaaka which was so fulfilling in what it wanted to portray.

The players:

Surya - As Krishnan and as Surya has excelled. His diction, body language, eye movements and general acting is superb. He is the father Krishnan and has excellently portrayed a middle class South Indian male and as an older man is just perfect. He got the hand gestures to the coughing down pat. The younger Surya is just sensational. From the college student to the Army officer Surya had the acting right on cue. The ramrod straight walk of an army major was on target.

Simran - Malini. Beautiful, elegant and pitch perfect acting. Her stint as the college girl was bad and the director should have chosen a look alike for the character. She's just too old to play a college girl and her hips and hands and legs are all quite thick. Simran's acting was very natural and her gestures and mannerisms were right on target for a middle aged woman. The young Malini was not up to the mark but that is a fault of the director and not Simran herself..
Sameera Reddy - Meghana. Beautiful expressive eyes and good body language. She was a bit too tall for Surya. Sameera excels in her role and she is going to go places. Her train performance and sorority house performance was good. Her dancing needs improvement. I cant help but think that Asin would have been an impressive Meghana and would have foiled the young Surya perfectly. They've always had perfect chemisty.

Divya Spandana - Priya. She was good too. She suits Surya better than Sameera Reddy and her bus stop procalmation of love was quite natural. She looks lovely in her salwars but the saree made her look a little chubby.

Harris Jayaraj - The music director was not at his best but not his worst either. Adiye Kolluthe was a good number.
Gautam Menon - The real star of the movie. An excellent tribute to his dad as he says in his credits. The director had done a good job and chosen an unique theme for his movie and has proven his creativity once again. The dialogues were very good and natural but too much English. Just too much. Where the sister says "He's smiling Ma!" at the dying father Surya is very natural but too trendy for words. Gautam should have gone with an experienced dialog writer who would have conveyed the same sentiments but in a more provincial manner catering to the general public. All the "Daddys" were just a little too much and the older Surya saying to his kids that he took one look at Simran and "Fell in lust" was very adorable but would completely go over people's heads. People won't understand that at all. When the younger Surya calls his dad after Meghna dies in Oklahoma and cries on the phone he says "We made love Daddy"! Very poignant but I doubt if people got the significance of the statement.

The Locale :

The sets for the older Surya and Simran in college looked very contrived and was not natural looking. San Francisco looks mysitic as always and the vista point above the Golden Gate bridge where Sameera professes her love for Surya was well picturised and the bridge itself always spellbounds viewers time after time. The tall ochre towers rising above the clouds is so typically San Franciscan.

The Story :

A tribute to a father by a son. The love between son and father is very well pictured and all the other actors are side dishes to the main course - the love between the generations. The love between Simran and Surya is brought out time and time again. Krishnan calls his wife darling for the entire movie and the scene where he has scotch in one hand and he caresses his wife's foot is just beautiful. Simran's anger when her husband is diagnosed with cancer is also well filmed.


There are a lot of side stories which could have been thwarted but I guess the director needed to show the young Surya coming out of his stupor and he needed a supportive story for that. The sister Shreya's character was left in the lurch and they could have showed her being married or atleast with somebody just for closure.


The IMA shoot at DehraDun was very impressive and it showed the director's enthusiasm for the right touch and originality instead of make doing with sets. It made the film very real.


All in all, I would rate the movie 3 out of 5. So Gautam Sir, very good attempt and a brave attempt I must say knowing the people's penchant for the usual rigamarole of village belles falling in love with zamindar lads or the rich boy poor girl angle..
Kudos....

Kay









Monday, September 8, 2008

New house

Phew!! Finally moved in and settled at 12687 Kinman Ct in Saratoga. Cant believe that I've moved and relocated in less than 2 weeks.

Old Adobe House has been on the market for 10 days now and we now have an official Sale Pending sign hanging outside the house... Amazing. I've got so many memories associated with that house. Getting pregnant with Kahini, bringing her home from Stanford hospital, the boys conception and subsequent birth... Bringing them home and Mummy performing aarthi on all of us. Rohan and Pravan crawling, veera mandi, standing and walking and towards the end running and jumping backwards...

As Barathiar said, " Pazhayana kazhithalum, pudhiyana puhuthalum" - Off with the old and on with the new..

This house will bring us more memories and will probably be the last house that we buy. I hope to raise my kids here and make them confident, bold and smart people..

Thanks Old Adobe for all the great years.. We love ya...

Kay

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Pineapple Upside Down Cake




Mm, This cake is a favourite of mine. Today was Rajesh's 36th birthday celebration and Giri and I decided to host a lunch for him. The menu was:

Couscous Salad with Edamame.
Small Onion Sambar
Tomato Rasam
Potato Curry
Fried Applam
Aamai Vadai
Thayir Sadham

and finish it with my delicious cake.

This is a beautiful cake to make and if it turns out well without breaking is a joy to behold and to eat..

Ingredients that you will need:

1 packet Yellow Cake mix from Pillsbury or Duncan Hines.
1 large can of Dole brand pineapple rings.
6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar.
6 Tablespoons butter.
10 marzipan cherries.

Modus Operandi:

Mix cake as per box instructions and keep aside in mixing bowl.
In a big cast iron saucepan melt the butter on a low flame. Low being the keyword.
Once the butter has melted add the brown sugar and let it melt for about 4 minutes.
Once the sugar has melted, arrange the pineapple rings on the pan along the edge and add one ring in the middle.
Arrange the cherries in the middle of the pineapple rings.
Now add the cake batter slowly into the saucepan.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Once oven has heated, bake the cake in the saucepan for 4o minutes or until
a fork stuck inside comes out clean.
Once the cake is done, slide the pan out and let it cool outside for about 30 minutes.
Then take a big serving platter and place it on top of the saucepan. In one fluid movement, flip the
saucepan over so that the cake comes out upside down with the pineapple rings.

Enjoy...
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