Lalita Iyer

 WHO'S ON THE TAKE HERE? By and large I am a soft hearted person and many people will vouch for that. Naive enough to be taken for a ride several times over, thought I have realised that it could also be an easy route for me to be able to concede to any kind of pressure, for that is something I cannot take. Especially the emotional kind. I've been known to buckle and fairly easily. But then, this is not a complaint or a confession. This is me and a few people like me for this. Having said the above, I can be quite the stoic when it comes to beggars who come to the car when you are waiting for the green signal. There was one old lady at the Panjagutta signal and apart from being wrinkled and bent over, she also had her wits and would pass some nasty comments which always got a smile from those who heard her. I would regularly pay her, only to later hear that she had amassed lakhs by way of doing this. There was this other guy who would be on a plank and would roll along to the p...

A GOOD COMFORTABLE DARSHAN AT PALANI Marudamalai is not too high, but there is a certain steepness to the steps and anyway climbing of any sort is painful for me and I do not like it, but with athletic friends like Akhila and Ravi, you kind of trudge along, hanging on to all the help you can get en route. Once you reach the top it always feels nice and of course we got a good darshan. Lord Muruga here was bathed in Vibhuthi or sacred ash.  Luckily for us there was not much of a crowd because everybody was busy with the local body elections. Many got Rs.1000 from the DMK and Rs. 2,000 and a pair of silver anklets nestled in a box from the AIADMK. Mr Kamalahassan came and gave his speech on behalf of his party MNM (Makkal Needi Maiam) and no money exchanged hands.  Walking down was that much easier with the breeze blowing gently. The weather in Coimbatore was very conducive for travels, but the roads and traffic not so much. We came down and there were some carts selling sliced ...

 THE LORD CALLED AND WE WENT I have been waiting for 15 years to go to Palani. My mother was very ill towards the last two years of her short life and she would pray to every single God and Goddess in our huge pantheon. She spent the last one year with Murali and me and in one of our conversations she wanted me to go to Palani and pray for her recovery. But her illness was such that every extra day we got with her was a bonus for us and huge suffering for her. She smiled through it and Appa was always by her side to help her deal with her  painful moods. I had told quite a few of my friends about wanting to visit Palani and then suddenly it all fell into place. Akhila and Ravi were wanting to visit Coimbatore to visit with Ravi's elder brother Shankar and wife Ramani. I also started calling them Anna and Manni. And Palani is just 110 kms from here. And since we were there we also checked into Dhanvantari, Isha and Marudamalai. Yes it was a tad hectic, but I had good company in...

TM INPUTS AND SERVICES PVT LTD IS 31 YEARS OLD Thirty one years and going strong. I think. I am talking about TMI Pvt Ltd. It was started in 1988 and T M Inputs then very simply stood for Turab and Murali. Turab Lakdawala, the founder partner left us to start Tempest and they come out with the most creative ads ever so often. Murali continued on his own till we found partners in his brother T Sreedhar (late) and B R Ramakrishnan, a dear friend who also worked with Murali at Nocil.  About the company, I do not hear too many cha chings, but during board meetings there is a lot of gung-ho talk. One thing, for sure is that the presentations have become more interesting. I am not a frequent visitor and in fact, there have been occasions when the front office person at TMI has asked me who I was, and I have been heard saying "And to you I am Mrs TMI," much to her chagrin, till someone from the office runs up to invite me in. Primarily, because I visit the office rarely, other than ...

OATS ARE HEALTHY AND CAN BE MADE TASTY, BUT...... Wonder if some of you remember the ad by Saffola Oats. This cute woman looks fondly at samosas and chips and nips off the end of a samosa and one piece of a chip. Then there is some sound, a huge smile on her face and she gets a bowl full of steaming masala oats. She takes a spoonful and then relaxes her shoulders and sighs happily. Good for her. To make a routine of eating oats...... My father had been eating oats for several years. He would make his own at exactly 7.30 pm every evening, in one particular steel dish and then carry it to his room. There would be the sound of cutlery at exactly 8 pm, with the sound of news on the TV or a lion roaring in the African forests because he was watching Nat Geo channel. Primarily these were all soothing sounds because this meant that he was ok. He would come to return the used dish to the kitchen, ask if we had dinner and see that we were having a drink, shrug his shoulders and tell us to eat a...

Today for breakfast we had methi-na-muthiya. The name too has an origin. Methi is fenugreek leaves, which are folded into a dough, including wheat, bajra, jowar, besan. Then ground green chillies, ginger, corriander leaves and if needed garlic is ground and added to the dough. A little bit of oil to mix it well. A little bit of curds can be added for it softens the dough and adds a certain flavour. Set it aside for some time and then you pick up little balls in your fist and give them a shape with your folded fingers. `Muthi' is your fist and the resultant outcome is muthiya. But these days we make long tubes out of the dough and steam them for some time and then cut them into pieces. They do look like muthiya, but the original one is shaped in the fist. Muthiyas can be deep fried and eaten as a snack for tea and also added to the heart warming winter dish Undhiyu. It can be made with various vegetables and the outcome is always delicious. After the steaming process, which you can ...

 HOME ALONE IN THE AFTERNOON Murali went to office after a long time. And I did not have any crushing errand to run and so sent Raju with him. Then I told the maid not to come. I had the entire house to myself. 💃💃💃 Of course one is never free of ringing bells, mobile tones and so there was the courier guy, another person who wanted a signature and so on. But I had the house to myself in the daytime. The light flowed in from all the windows, with greenery all around. It is not I do not notice this on other days. I am sane most of the time, thanks to this ambience. But you see, when you are alone, stretched out, with the birds chirping, a steaming cup of your favourite tea at hand and a serial on your favouritest person on TV, then your day is made. I was watching a serial called `Reacher'. based on the character Jack Reacher, the lead hero of Lee Child. Reacher has several charms, including the fact that he only carries a toothbrush with him, walks the distance most of the time, ...