Contemplations and Ruminations

So this hand loom exhibition is going on at Valluvar Kottam  and it's pretty interesting... weavers and textile merchants from all over the country gather here to sell their beautiful wares. It can be a bit expensive but the stuff on display is really beautiful and different, you won't feel bad for splurging. Here are a few pictures... This is the Valluvar Kottam monument. It looks pretty impressive..  with its intricate bas relief work depicting the poems of Thiruvallur , a great poet and saint who is believed to have lived before Jesus Christ. The monument to this great poet is built in the form of a chariot, which explains the elephants in front... More intricate work and the stone wheels... At the exhibition... Inside the huge auditorium... A pretty saree... Hand stitched patterns on this saree depicting a deer, the lady and a forest... reminds me of the story of Shakuntala . More sarees... Expensive silk sarees... Jute bags... More colourful jute bags...  ...

So I was on a conference call with my brothers and they started joking bout each other and in a few minutes it turned into an argument (about who should say sorry first and why). These conference calls always crack me up, like big time... I sometimes have tears streaming down my face listening to them talk nonsense. So the argument was going on and I was trying to get a word in when Manoj suddenly stopped speaking, and then Vinod stopped too cause Manoj wasn't replying. I was wondering what happened... when the following conversation played out... Vinod : Manoj, what are you doing? Manoj : Making a sacrifice. That sent me into fits of laughter, he meant that by not arguing with Vinod, he was making a sacrifice. I usually mumble something about 'wise folks know when to keep quiet' when I don't want to prolong an argument, but this sacrificial approach definitely beats that. Another snippet of conversation that cracked me up, Vinod wanted to book tickets for mom, so...

Like any other normal girl (okay woman) I love shopping for footwear... trying on different styles and then picking out the ones you instantly fall in love with, like the ones shown below. Aren't they pretty...  One of the little pleasures of being a girl... P.S: I know there's no point to this post, nobody reads my blog anyway...

So, I love Paneer... I think its way better than meat. I can't emphasize enough on how easy it is to whip up a paneer dish when your stomach is in the throes of insane hunger and you want some awesomely divine food that can send you into a rapture. (Talking bout rapture, here's a really funny article I came across when the whole 'world is going to end' drama was in full swing a few weeks ago.) First, we'll work on the marinade for the paneer. In a bowl, combine thick yogurt with little cumin, coriander and chillie powder. Add salt too and mix this marinade paste well.  Cube the paneer and drop it into the marinade, mix them up well and stick the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes while you get to work on pureeing the tomatoes.  Wash and roughly chop up a few tomatoes, blend them well with a little water and set aside.  Now shallow fry only the paneer pieces in oil, till they get a slightly brown tint at the edges. Save the yogurt masala paste leftove...