Mundane Musings

This book came recommended on Senior Reading Raccoons, a group I follow on FB. I finished it yesterday and I am still wrapped in the warmth of the book, pretty much like how the main character, Rinko had felt by the aromas of her cooking. From the moment I had come across a mention of Rinko giving madeleines to her landlord to reduce the rent of her love nest, I was sold. When have I last read a book which wasn't a cookbook that featured a madeleine? Never.   And then on the 17th page I came across this passage - At first, the words my grandmother used to describe differing amounts of seasoning such as tekitou and anbai were like another language to me. But I gradually came to understand what they meant. They were soft terms with rounded edges that painted a vague picture of the appropriate amount of flavour, and only those words could describe the resultant state of perfection .  I have often felt this way too when I have wanted to express flavours in our...

After two weeks of melting our hearts with their sweet mannerisms and angrezi accent, my niece and nephew have left for Dubai to stay with their mother's set of parents. The two weeks they had stayed here have flown by like a breath of fresh air and the saying that time flies when you are happy could never have been truer. This visit of the brother and his family was more special as this had been their first that Anakutti would remember. She interacted actively with her cousins from London instead of watching them with curious eyes and garbled words as she had done two years ago. I was excited by their visit for the sake of the kids...my kid specifically, who craves company of people her age. So these two weeks have gone in managing pick ups and drops between mum's place and ours and organizing lunches and dinners for the family as a whole. I don't think I have eaten out as much as this in a long while. I wanted to expose the children to a bit of Indian food during th...

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner My rating: 3 of 5 stars I finished The Queen's Thief series with this final book which traces Sophos' story. Like the previous book The King of Attolia where the story is said from the general Costis' point of view, this book too hardly has Eugenides as the principal character. I had liked the first two books purely because it was written with Eugenides as the focal point. This fourth book was not my favourite among the four. Still it made for a breezy read with the usual political intrigue and suspense and innuendos which fall in place as the plot moves on. This last book is about Eugenides' friend Sophos' rise to the throne of Sounis. There is not much action or adventure in this book, but there is a lot of good dialogues and suspense. I have been reading a lot of YA books even though I am so much older, and not the intended reader anyway. However, I think N.K.Jeminsin's books were much better than this serie...

I recently had a chance to visit Sowcarpet....that mythical, elusive center of trade where a simple understanding of streets and lanes can separate the newbies from the veterans. Since I have never once proclaimed my understanding of anything the opposite of lateral like navigating tiny lanes and crammed shops selling any which thing under the sun and you would know which category I fall into. So it was with delicious glee that I agreed to go along with a neighbour whose children and Ana kutti are of the same age, are friends and go to the same school. One Wednesday afternoon she proposed that we go to Sowcarpet to help choose a pair of good bicycles for her twins whose birthday was coming up at the end of last month. I jumped up to the suggestion and on a dusty, hot afternoon, we left our kids sleeping in their respective homes and took an auto (because a taxi is way impractical) to Sowcarpet. It was just as I remembered from one earlier visit - un-navigable by a four wheeler or ev...