Photo: Uma, Anandhi and I

Photo: Akshaya with Obama

Photo: Kumar and Shree

Photo: Kumar and Silky

Photo: In USA

Photo: Sowmya and Ram

Photo: Shatabhishekam

Photo: Adi's Poonal

Photo: Kumar with Sowmya and Sandhya

Photo: Pink Hibiscus from Garden

Photo: Mama Mani (Ram's Parents)

Photo: Sandhya & Ravi

Photo: Mala & Narayanaswamy

Photo - Kumar & I

Photo: Adhvik with Saroja and Ravi

Photos from Raksha's wedding

on 2012 August 26th  

Music Season 2

The second  and third days were  very hectic

It happened to be the weekend

I had given for a vadamalai at the anjaneyar temple
and asked shree and kumar to collect the prasadam
sand decided to go to nitya sreescutcheri at b v b

First cutcheri at 5 o clock was gayathri
and the second one at 6 30 p m was nithyasree 

Both were good

Gayathri took mohanam as main ragam
and the kaartanai was ra ra raajeeva lochana
and it was well rendered 

All the songs were good

nitya took keeravani for the main raga aalapanai
and the keertanam was Innamum. . Sandeha padalaamo 

A tamil one composed by gopalakrishna bharati

Returned home after that 

Today was amavasya and
we had palaharam only  for  the night 

suresh came home after the cutcheri and
gave him some vadais and upma kozhakkattai also 

He was here for some time and left  only at ten thirty

The next day was satya saibaba's birth day 

And there were some programmes in bhavan in the morning also 

First there was bhajan from nine to ten
and a cutcheri from ten to 11am 

And after that charulatas ysai payanam was there 

She took gowlai and after that the ranjani mala
consisting ranjani sree ranjani janaranjani  and mega ranjani 

After that she took sankaraabharanam for aalaapanai
and the keertanam was. mahaalakshmi  jaganmaatha of papanasam sivan

Today being baba's birthday
they distributed prasadams to all
first they gave one laddu and a photo of satyasai and vibhuti packet
and after charulatas cutcheri
bhavan had arranged for food for all the rasikas 

There was chalkkarai pongal  puliyodarai and thyir sadam also

So had the prasadam and came home in an auto 

Morning also went in an auto only 

Kumar had a doctor's appointment

And in the evening
it was b kannans veena at four p m
and after that sudha raghunathan 

So left home at four and reached in time and got good seats 

Kannan took kanakangi for an r t p
and he took all the time and left no time for the tani 

He had so many accompanists
including j vaidyanathan for mridangam
and a tabla and kanjira and
they never got a chance to play

the next one was Sudha and
even though she had some problem initially
she gave a good cutcheri
She never disappoints
the main ragam was Karaharapriya and
 she took Chakkani raja of thyagaraja for the keertanai
it was very good
and came home with kumar and shree
at 8 30 p m  in time for dinner

I am getting a big cold
I think the AC in the hall is very cold and
it is good when we come out
and they have provided a TV

And doing live telecast

The naxt day was radha bhasker and unnikrishnan
 but didn't go just watched t v 

Today it is s sowmya
may be i will go and sit outside and listen to sowmya
let us see 

Taking action 500 and crocin also 

But the cold and cough is still there 

And tomorrow is nishant's wedding 

Venku and jyoti are coming from bangalore
and we were supposed to attend 

And the muhurtam for nichayatartam is very early
so will have to get ready by seven in the morning
and Adi has college 

Let us wait and see 

Gayathri nithyasree charulatha and sudha raghubathan

From the garden

Kapali Temple Gopuram

May 1952

Festivals - Vishu

Vishu will be celebrated on april 14th every year.

We will clean the altar first and put a makkolam
Then we will put a big mirror in front of the altar
and nice jasmine malai to decorate it
kani konnai is a bunch of flowers yellow in colour
and it is supposed to be auspicious to see it
first thing in the morning
we will collect and keep that the previous day itself
and keep it safely for the next morning

Then we will put jack fruit first
We will cut it into half
and place it on both sides of the mirror
after that all the three important fruits
like mango ripe ones and bananas also
After that you can put
apples oranges and pomgranates
Lemon is an important thing
and so is malabar vellarikkai

We will keep coins in gold silver and copper
 plus some currency notes also
and a small guruvayoorappan picture
and break a coconut
and keep that also for the kani

Bananas and betal leaves are a must
a lotus flower will be kept

And all these things will be arranged
by the elders of the house
after making the children sleep for the night

early next morning
first thing we will light the lamp and agarbathis
and after washing face
bring the children to see the vishukkani one by one
Water will be there in a panchapatram
and they will see the kani after wiping the eyes first

And every one will get some cash
after doing the namaskaram to swami
and all the elders of the family
this will be called the vishu kani nrttam
and the new clothes are the vishu kodi

We will be playing some nice music
like nadaswaram devotional songs in the early morning

Every one will get up at five a m in the morning
And the children will enjoy firing some crackers etc

It will be a holyday and
we will try to use all the veges for lunch
and fruits for desert
Payasam will be with jackfruit some times
or coconut and rice

Lunch will be a full meal
and every one will wear new clothes also

This is a festival and
it will be celebrated in kerala
and this will be the harvest time there
It is like welcoming
the good times and godess lakshmi
to the house

In tamil nadu also
we will celebrate the festival
and it is called varsha ppirappu
A new year will start
and the month will be chithirai
April 14th will be chithirai 1st

We will make sure
all the tastes will be there on that day
like sweet karam salt puli ppu thuvarpu and kasappu
Veppampoo or neem flowers will be collected
and made into a pachadi
We can use bitter gourd or parikkai also for pachadi

Andhra and karnataka also
celebrate this festival in a grand manner
a little earlier than tamil nadu

For every one this festival is
the starting of the new year
And new things will be bought for the house
and every one will be very happy


Sent from my iPad

Neela, Jyothi and Radha Mami

Shatabhishekam 2004 - with Sowmya, Ram, Sandhya, Ravi

Madras music season

The season started with a bang on 2 of november  at b v b

The main concert was bombay jayashree

But before that there was an inaugural ceremony with chief justice of high court as the chief guest and c v k and some more dignitaries were present

Before that there was mangala isai for one hour 

And it was very nice nadaswaram 

Friday and month of karthigai and evening five to six  it was divine to listen

I reached the sabha at five and was able to get good seat
and the main thing was honouring the artists with life time achievement award 

Veena e gayathri and jayashree were the chosen artistes
and they were presented with the award by the chief justice

The award was a citation and ponnadai plus rs one lakh each
and a nice memento
all the vip people were also given ponnadais and momentoes
and the main concert started a little late at 7 30 p m

She started the cutcheri with a varnam in nalinakanti  a lalgudi composition 

Lalgudi jayaraman was her guru
and the next was anandamruta in amrutha varshini ragam
a dikshitar kriti

Naxt one was a raga alapanai in kalyana vasantam and nadaloludai of thyagaraja 

After that sakalagriha inatana a purandaradasar kriti 

And after that the main ragam was mohanam and it was very nice

The song was nannupaalimpa another thyagaraja gem of a song

By that time it was 8 30 pm and came home 

Shree and kumar were waiting for me and reached home at 8 45 p m

It was very crowded and many people were standing
and they had provided a t v out side the hall
and a few chairs for the rasikas who were left out 

And when i came out saw lot of people listening

All in all it was a very good beginning of the season 

Shatabhishekam - Sandhya & Adi

Shatabhishekam 2004 - Raksha, Sowmya and Ram

Kalan

This is also a kerala dish
Main ingrediant is thayir or curd
Vegetable can be yam cut in cube size
flavouring agents are menthiam and pepper
And you will need 1 coconut and
six to eight green chillies

The curd should be thick and sour
Cook the yam with
a little turmeric and pepper
and add salt later after the yam is cooked well
Grind the coconut with green chillies
in a mixie smoothly
and add it to the curd
and after mixing well
add the cooked yam pieced
and karugappilai

Dry fry the menthiam
and powder it coarsely
and add it to the kalan

This will be good for a few days
even without refrigirator
and if you keep it in the fridge
it will be okay even for a month

There is a second methord
which will be more authentic
and time consuming

This is prepared with butter milk
and you will have to cook it for a long time
till it becomes thick
and then add all the other ingrediants to it

The buttermilk should be sour
then only you will get
the full taste of the kalan

This will be v good with rice and pappadam

This is also a b day speciality
in the old namboothiri illams
And they will prepare it in huge quantities
 and you will need only one spoon
for a big plate of rice
with two big pappadams as side dish

This needs seasoning with
mustard and red chillies fried in coconut oil
and karugappilai should be added
along with the seasoning

VSV Jayanthi Concert - Suresh

Krishna and Silky

With Meena in TVM

Mor koottan

Ingredients

Butter milk one cup
coconut two table spoon
four green chillies
any one of these veggies
either vendakkai
or white pumpkin - elavan
or cheppan kizhangu
1 tea spoon turmeric powder
1 tea spoon pepper powder

for seasoning

mustard and
menthiam
in a teaspoon oil
Plus karugappilai

Method

First cut the veggies and
put a kadai and
after doing the seasoning
add the butter milk
and ground coconut
Add karugappilai

Cook the veggies separately
and add to the koottan

If you are making with vendakkai
fry the cut vendakkai in oil and
add it to the koottan

It should not be boiled
You should take it from the stove before that

Variations

There is another kind also
you can use a table spoon gram flour
instead of coconut
Add the pepper and jeera powder for flavouring

There is a third method also
for that you can fry
some gram dhall and dania
with two red chillies
and two green chillies
and one spoon coconut
and mix it with butter milk
and after adding the cooked veggies
and karugappilai
this will be ready to serve

This is the recipe of my mother
and she used to make
lots and lots of good food
and side dishes
when we were children
and living in palakkad

Olan (Sweet)

Ingredients

Pumpkin red 200 grams mathan
Pumpkin white 200 grams Elavan
Karamani white 200 grams payarusundal type
Coconut oil 1table spoon
Jaggery 1small lemon size

Method

First cook the karamani
in a pressure cooker and keep it
Next you can cook
both the pumpkins together with salt
after that add the cooked karamani with that
and mix it well
add the jagery and coconut oil
and serve it piping hot

This is a speciality dish and
will be cooked for birthdays and
some special occations in kerala
No manjal podi for this
And no seasoning

Olan

Ingrediants

Pumpkin white 250 grams
Pumpkin yellow but not ripe 250 grams
green chillies two
Green karamani or payattangai 100 grams
Coconut oil 20 grams or one table spoon

Method for cooking

Cut both the pumpkins in 1 inch square
Karamani 1 inch in lenghth and
the chillies also should be cut in to two

Put all of them together with salt and
cook for ten to fifteen mts in slow flame
Let it simmer for ten more mts and
after checking if it is cooked nicely
add the coconut oil and
serve it hot

You can add coconut milk also and
then only a little coconut oil
just before serving

This is a traditional dish of kerala

No turmeric powder for this
And no seasoning is needed

Adhvik