I trust, value and consider this as the most natural and sincere relationship

One of the most natural, sincere and 100% valued relationship is that of grandparent and grandchild. As a child of the 70’s and 80’s ;  I have soaked, bonded and enjoyed this relationship with both my set of grandparents – maternal and paternal. Summer holidays meant rejoicing with a gang of maternal and paternal cousins at my grandparents home at Nanganallur and Mylapore – the two suburbs of Madras.

Today with many things that have changed, this relationship too has changed. Many children unfortunately miss and don’t know the value of such relationships. Summer holidays for them mean hopping from one summer camp to another, occupied with electronic gadgets or visiting malls or exotic destinations on vacation.

Fortunately there are many children like mine,  who get an opportunity to bond with their grand parents. Both of them bask in the love of their maternal and paternal grandparents and even their grand uncles and grand aunts to learn rich values from them which acts as a 100% natural summer camp. Their rich native wisdom and values are taught to them at no extra cost but with dollops of unconditional and sincere love. Their love and pampering many times make me feel jealous of this beautiful relationship and makes me yearn for my own.

My children bond with them by playing native games, board games, solving Sudoku, learning to read and write my mothertongue, to cook, to sew, listening to their personal stories of yore, mythological stories, helping them and by simply observing their natural qualities that displays enormous willpower, determination, concentration, sincerity, devotion , culture and other values which are things of the past. They also inturn teach their grandparents to handle complex electronic gadgets and their applications.

Whenever they lose a game of chess with their grandmom(maternal), they have learnt to accept it gracefully when their grandmom a good chess player consoles them by telling that ‘Tholviye vettriyin mudhal padi’( failure is the stepping stone to success) and ‘Muyirchi thiruvinayakkum’( try until you succeed) and today when they lose over some game or competition they take it under their stride, put extra efforts again to win over.
Many a times my children come across a difficult task, they give up citing ‘Impossible’( Mudiyalai/mudiyadhu), it is the other grandmom(paternal) who takes over to encourage and tells them ‘Mudiyadhdu edhuvumay kidayadu’ ( there is nothing that is impossible),  'mudiyadhunu sollavay kodadu' ( Don’t ever tell impossible). These motivating words help them to finish even the most difficult task conveniently and easily. The satisfying smile and the heave of relief they give after the task is done is  a moment worth capturing. 


Witnessing their retired grandfather(maternal) help their grandmom with household chores like washing vessels, cleaning and cooking have made my children realize that there is no work that is defined by gender and they infact love and relish the potato curry and other culinary creations their grandfather makes for them with love. This infact has earned their grandfather's creation the title ‘Thatha’s alu curry is the best in the world’.

From their other late grandfather(paternal) they recollect through their photos  the qualities of humility, patience and simplicity.
Though my children have born and live outside their native state, it has not deterred them from speaking our mother tongue fluently. Infact they are learning to read and write every summer. All thanks to the bonding with their grandparents.


Many more instances and values helping them to become good humans are taught at this natural summer camp, their only grouse is that they don’t have many cousins like I do. (they have just 3 cousins, one who is 12 years older to them stays in the US and the other stays in China during summers, while they just have the company of their 8 year old cousin whom they treat like a Barbie doll)

This post is exclusively written for the Kissan 100% real blogger contest promoted by Indiblogger.

I have to think before I speak

It is his final assessment time.  After coming back from school at 2 in the noon, he  said he was going down to join his friends who were playing football. I refused to send him since it was too hot to play. He immediately turned on the TV, I told him to switch off and do something else. He then went to play games on my mobile. I wanted to discourage him from this too and wanted him to study now so that he could play in the evening, but decided not to tell him directly.


I challenged him telling that “You should’nt touch any of the electronic gadgets, so no mobiles, no comp, no tv,no ipods , no wii” and also added “ no playing football or cricket( his friends were playing downstairs) , no sleeping. Other than these, do whatever you want”.


I was smartly thinking I have closed his access to all the gadgets he had no choice but to study his school books or even the library book was fine for me. But he started bullying his sister, telling that it was not in the list I told him. I Immediately added that to the list and challenged him again and went to do my work.


I over heard my son telling My MIL what I told him and he also told her “ Yosichindriken, enna panradhu theriyalai” ( I am thinking what to do now). I thought he had no choice but pick up his book now and read.


He has a knack with assembling or solving any complex puzzle like sudoku, electronic gadget, complex lego toy or any DIY kit. He is on a high ground when it comes to technical, analytical, logical skills and its application. His weakness is his concentration especially when it comes to school curriculum and that too Hindi writing.


I soon lost track of him and was immersed in my work. There was total silence for more than 2 hours from his side, meant he had gone to sleep. At around 5 in the evening, before moving up from my chair, I called out his name which alerted him from his sleep. I went to his room and told him “ So you lost the challenge, You slept all this while ”. He said “ No ma, I was is in deep meditation”.


Another day, another instance


My son had returned back from his play time and was relating an incident to me. He was relating in too many words and I told him in my language “ Sutthi valaichi solladey” ( equivalent of Don’t beat around the bush) and I told him to be precise and concise while he relates an incident.


I also demonstrated with an example that one should touch one’s nose directly and not go around and touch the nose. He said ‘ sari, ma’( ok, ma) and went about his work.


A few days later, I was asking him about ‘Solenoid’ from his science text. He gave the answer very crisply in a few lines. I told him “You should’nt be so brief, elaborate it more”.


His answer made me drop my jaws.


He said “Amma, you keep changing your words often, anniki, sutti valaichi solladeynnu sonna, inniku you want me to tell elaborately. Not fair ma, Don’t change your words that often. It confuses me”.

I realized, I have to be specific and think before I speak especially to my son.

'Maid'en woes

One of the major woes,  most of us in cities face is that of maid attrition.  Most of us live in nuclear families where we  juggle many tasks.  Some of  us rely on supporting service providers like maids, dhobis, car cleaners, drivers, child caretakers etc.

Healthy or unhealthy practice, I don’t know, but many of us are so dependent on  them thinking that these people make our lives less stressful, but they at times turn us into nervous wrecks.

First and foremost problem,  it is hard to find   a maid, when the demand  for them is plenty like in an multistoreyed apartment.  Then screening their antecedents for cheating, stealing etc., After all these , they have to  look decent and  clean , work without throwing any fuss or taking leave often.

 Thankfully, I’ve a servant who is clean, reliable, punctual and works  with me for the past 3 years(touché wood). My only problem is when she goes to her native place. Finding a substitute for me is a big ordeal. Actually I’m dependent on her only for sweeping, mopping, cleaning wash rooms and school uniforms  ( my son goes to play football in white dress and comes back in brown dress). She does’nt complain or sulk when she washes his shoes or clothes.

Unfortunately not many of them are fortunate, especially many of my full time working friends have a tough time. They have hired the maids from agencies.  There was this instance with my friend who was a Punjabi and who hired a maid/baby sitter  from an agency. The maid was Bengali and she could not eat the rotis  made by my Punjabi friend, so before leaving to work she  specially cooked rice for her maid. When she had no time to cook rice, she gave rotis for her. She sulked and complained to the agency that she would’nt work in a house which served rotis for her. All these when she was’nt even sure at work that the baby sitter was taking proper care of her 2 year old, because her baby  once broke his nose when he fell from the cot while his baby sitter was on a phone call and she had to rush home from work.

Another friend who had brought a cook and a maid from a destitute home from her home town Cuttack was slapped by her cook with whom she already had a cold war. YES, YES, you read it right. the cook slapped her employer.

 The reason for the slap - My friend had asked her cook why she had’nt made the regular mashed potatoes for her 3 year old. The cook replied ‘No stock’.   My angry friend retorted back telling she should have atleast informed her and in return she got slapped and told her it is not her duty to keep stock of the pantry. My friend did  the next best thing. Put her on a flight back home. When I asked her why she wasted  money on flight, she said the trains were booked and  she wanted the cook to leave as early as possible, as seeing her face would only escalate her BP.  She  had employed her since she was a divorced woman and had been recommended by her parents. In return she was slapped.


Well if these are some special case with full time maids, part time are no different. Many of my friends who depend on them for most chores like chopping vegetables, dusting, atta kneading ,folding clothes etc., their life comes to a standstill when the maids go on unannounced holiday to watch chiranjeevi’s first day first show movie or for chit parties( like kitty parties).

Today , It is easy to attend an interview and get placed in a company, but their queries have to be answered  politely, patiently and with a permanent smile plastered on your face.

The questions they ask us before being placed is:

Why did the old 'bhai' leave?

Ghar me kitney log hain?( How many members in the family) How is this relevant to sweeping and mopping, I still don’t know, but my friend answered one and half, meaning she and her 12 year old daughter , while her husband is mostly on tour)

Bartan kitney girenge?( fair enough, more vessels means more work)

Kapdey sukhana ke liye washing machine or hum ko hi karna padega?
( meaning should we wring the clothes for drying or will you put in spinner)

Nalgaru unnara? ledu amma, naku  iddaru  vunda illu kavala( 4 Persons? No madam, I work only in houses where there are couples. There will be less work in retired couple’s house or newly married  couple’s  or working couples house.  Their validation for this, bacchon ki ghar mein bahut kaam hota hain.  ( what do we parents with children do? of course, shell out extra money)

After  passing the interview, when they are hired and  start working, comes the attrition problem, where the maids turn their priorities towards some new families which have shifted  into the complex and offer more to work and give in kind, free ride in cars to markets, outings, advance etc.,

It takes lot of tact to retain a maid.

All these reminds me of my Grandparents maid Amirtham  in Mylapore, Chennai. She worked for nearly 45 years. Due to old age, when she could’nt work any more she was given monthly pension by my grandparents. There is not a person in our extended family who does not know Amirtham and they enquire about her to this day even after 5 years of her passing over.

They don’t come like her any more/ they are very rare.

Ofcourse,  it is also important to treat them well.  Take my maid for instance, she was offered more money to work in  a house. She worked for just a week there and refused to work there any more.  When the lady questioned , why she was'nt reporting, the answer she got  was a simple  ‘Naccha ledu’( did’nt like). They can choose, not us.

Earning wise, I would’nt be surprised If one day they become tax payers, especially in my complex , my dhobi walla comes with ipods plugged in his ears and a trendier mobile phone. When questioned why he does’nt come and pick clothes regularly. “Bahut kaam hai, madam. Timeich nahin hain”.
They even advise us to wear synthetic clothes , since cotton clothes requires to be pressed.

My maid took two months leave because she was constructing a house in her native.

I can keep on adding to this list about the car driver who sends SMS at the last minute,stating he would’nt report to work that day or about the car cleaner who absents for 4 days and talks about labour laws or about the child’s caretaker who keeps talking to other maids in the park while the child she is supposed to take care of is rolling the feeding bottle in the sand pit and then popping it into his mouth and the list will go on. 
  
All the above woes are the reason why I stopped delegating work( except cleaning because of my spondylitis) , I would rather do my own work  and depend less on these people. Now I have to juggle between  house hold chores, cooking, shopping, parenting, freelancing,  fitness routine etc.,

No leisure. I've bargained it for some mental peace.

Scotland in our backyard - Coorg

I like travelling. Many of my travels are  unplanned trips. Of those, one was to Coorg in Karnataka.  I’ve visited this place many times and each time I’ve made beautiful lifetime memories and when Bhargavi blogged about Coorg's magic, the memories came cascading.

 One such visit and memory was during the winter of 97. It was the dussehra break of 3 days and we made a sudden trip to coorg. We decided to travel  only  to Mysore to visit my husband’s cousin sis and her family. After reaching Mysore, our other  cousins who had joined from Chennai and Trichy  decided, we  make a trip to Coorg(Kodagu in Kannada) in a hired car.

Yet another unplanned trip and so off we went to Coorg, six adults in all.  All through the journey we were charmed by the scenic locales of western ghats, enjoyed the drizzle of water streams on us and deep deep valley on the other, sometimes beautifully terraced coffee plantations and at times lovely rivulets with the twitter  of the unknown fauna.

 We also took breaks  to unpack our breakfast basket on a tree top house at Cauvery Nisargadhama, having (by two) tea at many places enroute to  Madikeri. (headquarters of Coorg district). Our car was negotiating the hairpin bends  in a mediocre pace and was travelling uphill to Bhagamandala (origin of River Cauvery)  and with another 18kms  to our destination, the car’s axle broke down.

The driver, my husband, his B-i-l and another cousin desperately searched for a mechanic shop nearby.  As the search party was on its work, I, our cousin sis and another cousin bro decided to follow the muddy track which went off the uphill to explore the coffee and orange plantations. After some 500 metres on the track, we found an iron gate whose pathway on either sides had pepper vines, coffee shrubs, orchards of guava, chikoo and oranges.  At the end of the path was a double storeyed cottage. We decided to quench our thirst  and  called out to the owner wondering if he/she would entertain 3 strangers. But we were in for a surprise, when the coorgi middle aged lady invited us inside her house.  Once inside we comfortably took the liberty of looking around the cottage. Our roaming eyes stopped at a timber stair leading upto a timber landing.  Seeing the direction and wonder in our eyes, she took us up the timber floor on her house and  told us the timber storey is built to insulate warmth and is cosy during misty winters. She also answered all the questions we posed about her culture, land and cuisine.  Her two sons were with the Indian army. The elder one was a Major serving at Kashmir, while the younger was at Wellington.  She too was an Army widow. She  stayed with a maid and was all alone in this house.

Coorgis , she said were traditionally planters( coffee)  or with the Army. They are known for their valour, rough sport, good hunt and fierce fight.This is one community which has the right to acquire guns without licence.  Amongst many Coorgi men who are Majors, Colonels, Lieutenants and subedars who serve us, the most prominent have been Our first field marshal  Gen.K.M Cariappa and  Gen.Thimmaiah.

You will find some British or rather Scottish influence here, because during colonial rule most planters were Scots. Infact, it was the homesick Brits who gave the sobriquet ‘The Scotland of India’ to Coorg because of its similarities.

Both Scotland and Coorg are cold, misty, hilly regions which have their local brews. In Coorg, it is coffee.

Coorgis like Scots were supposed to be divided into clans and the clans warred over lands in the early days.(now at peace)

The Coorgis have a distinctive  style of dressing which is similar to the Scots. The men wear a black knee length over coat called Kupya that reaches to elbow with a red sash and carry silver dagger. The scots also wear a similar dress and carry short daggers and the Coorgi ladies drape sarees differently.

Both of them love rough highland games and perhaps Coorg is one region in India  I can think of,  which despite its size and terrain has produced some of the best athletes and sporting person. It is called the cradle of Indian hockey and has gifted  many hockey players. This place hosts the largest hockey tournament in the world where many clans compete to claim the coorg family cup.  This tiny district has thrown some well known athletes and sportsperson like the Deviah sisters( Neeth, Reeth(Abraham), Preeth), Nachappa sisters(Pushpa, Ashwini), Rallyist couple Anita and Jagat Nanjappa, current stars  like badminton champion Ashwini Ponappa, squash champion Joshna chinnappa , Tennis champion Rohan Bopanna and more recently Cricketer Robin Uthappa. 

Even today many estates here have Scottish names and this estate was also one such. While we were going around the house, the maid servant gave us a refreshing lemonade to quench our thirst. We 3 strangers asked for only water and in return we got not just  Coorgi history but also lemonade.

We thanked the aunty who asked us to have lunch. On our way out, we hoarded lot of green peppers, chikoos and guavas, (coorg is also famous for Kodagina kittale, a tangerine orange but the trees were bare). Walking back we were also talking amongst ourselves how we city people would’nt  have entertained 3 strangers.
 
We reached the car only to find the search party had still not returned. Some minutes later we found they were searching  for the 3 of us.

They could’nt find any mechanics or garage since they were not working on Ayudha pooja day. So we had no choice  but take a bus from there to Bhagamandala.

Thanks to the break down, we were now richer with an experience and town hospitality.

More than the destination, it is the journey that I enjoy. Exploring new sights, meeting people, knowing the culture, the history, cuisine etc and sometimes it is also about discovering our self-worth.

Bhagamandala –  A beautiful and  an holy place, where River Kaveri originates.
This will be my next post.

                                   The terraced coffee plantations of Kodagu

                                the traditional attire of kodavas(coorgis)

Apart from being the largest coffee producer it is also the largest producer of honey in South Asia.

P.S:  Coorg is 260 kms from Bangalore and 180kms from Mysore. Best enjoyed by road.

Courtesy : Google images

Lost something? Pray to her and you will regain

My mom is a voracious reader of magazines and novels especially tamil magazines.  During one of her reading session, she came across an article on Araikasu amman .  'Araikasu' in tamil means 'half coin' and Amman is the female god or Devi. 

The article on the god mentioned that  if you had lost or misplaced something, you would regain it when you seek her help to find your article and once you find your lost article/thing, offer pieces of jaggery to her as thanksgiving .

Eversince then whenever anything is lost or misplaced, we pray to Araikasu amman and  it would be answered.  This way we found many important documents, certificates, jewels, etc., and Trust me,  never once  have we lost  faith in her especially most times it was at the crucial hour.

Both my children too who pray regularly have faith in her,  else how to explain the presence of jaggery in our pooja room almost every now and then. Only this time she  finds text books,  compass,  eraser and gel pen.  Just yesterday, my son misplaced his geography notes and made his dad, me and his sis as google search engine and finally when we thought he had left it at school,  we found his notes in his own almirah. But only after he prayed to this God and today he offered jaggery religiously before going to school.

                                                                        Image of the coin

If you too have faith in god, try this next time you misplace something.

 There is a temple dedicated to her at Pudukottai in Tamilnadu. She was worshipped by the King of Pudukottai and he had inscribed her picture in the 1/2 paise coins issued by him which is why she is called  Arai kaasu Amman. For more details on the temple read here.  She even has a facebook page.    

My celebrations double on 26th January

A sense of pride engulfed  me when I heard and saw the young Indians of my housing complex perform to patriotic songs. By default, on the national festivals we get to hear patriotic songs and dances everywhere and so today was no exception. But  today when an young Indian(13)  sang all the 14(?) verses of 'Jana Gana mana', The Indian in me swelled with pride and most of us got goosebumps.( our constitution has adapted only 4 paras(?))

Any other day, I would'nt perhaps have  given much thought and would have gone around with my routine, but today the songs and its content really reminded me,  What a beautiful country we belong to!


A small change in geographical terrain brings in a change in culture, language(dialect), customs, cuisine and traditions. Starting from Kashmir to Tamilnadu, we are a country blessed with the ability to absorb other influences and yet  hold our own.

In its historical past,  many rulers have invaded,  plundered  and ruled us and yet we have retained our Indianness. Much erosion has happened, but only at the surface. Inspite of so many religions coming from abroad , the culture of our soil has remained deep rooted and our soul untouched. We have made amazing technological and scientific advances without falling in culture. My knowledge of Indian history tells me that neither have we invaded or destroyed  any culture or country. 

With a rich cultural heritage and science based traditions sometimes it is  sad when many of our own country men don't take pride in our culture, values and heritage. Every country has a culture and I respect other cultures too but it hurts when after a few foreign visits or a few years of stay as NRI in some foreign land, our own people degrade their own fellow men by saying 'Indians are like that only'.


Reminds of the pledge we took in our school and our moral responsibility towards it,
                  "I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage
                                      I shall always strive to be worthy of it"

I once read Mark Twain's quote on India in a magazine some years ago and I had written them in my diary. I googled to find that quote and it landed on a page, where many history makers  had beautiful things to say about our country. Here are the quotes,

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
-Albert Einstein



If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.
- Max Mueller (German scholar)



Mark Twain said: India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only. 


French scholar Romain Rolland said: If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India. 




The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.
- Mark Twain



When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.
- Albert Einstein

India - The land of Vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas.
- Wheeler Wilcox (American poet)

We are proud Indians. Aren't we?


BTW, I mentioned double celebrations in my title. Yes, my family celebrates another  occasion today. Today, 13 years ago my son was born  and I had to record this since he is turning into a teen today.


My love for him -   I can't encompass them in words. But his naughtiness, presence and application of mind,  his maturity, his sense of humour and they way he charms me with his intelligence, the way he  irritates me by dodging and finds excuses not to study   can always be put in words and that could make this post a lengthier one and you would'nt have time for that.

A tag and an award from a budding author

 Bhargavi - a fellow blogger, a painter, book reviewer and  now an author  has awarded 'The versatile blogger' award and tagged me to write 7 random things  about me.

Her romance novella is releasing this valentine and she has two more books in the pipeline which would be published shortly. Here's wishing this young author many more accolades. . Just like her blogposts and paintings, i hope even her book touches many hearts.

 Congratulations, Bhargavi. Hope to see you win Booker prize:)

The rules of the award are as follows: 
1. Thank the person who nominated you for the award (Thank you Bhargavi)
2. Nominate 15 other bloggers and inform them of the same
3. Share 7 Random facts about yourself
4. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your Blog Post

All bloggers, who pass by my blog are versatile bloggers and they have been awarded umpteen times, not just this award but many more awards,  but keeping up with the rules, I award this to:-( You can take up the tag if  you wish to, else I can understand because I know many of you have already done it many times, but keep the award)


1)SSStoryteller- My first follower and a great storyteller. Her passion for storytellling reflects in her blog.


2) Maiji (Lalitha Ramakrishnan) - the oldest(83) blogger I know in blogsville. Love to hear stories of yore on her blog. I am a regular on her blog, she does'nt know that I exist.


3)Raji muthukrishnan -  her interesting life experiences  translate into beautiful  and warm posts. She is not regular now with blogging and I miss her beautiful comments on my blog.  

4) R. Ramesh(Global Madrasi) - his short, witty posts radiate positivity and are the highlight of his blog. The way he ties short story or joke to mundane incident is remarkable.

5) Bikramjit Mann - now he is one of the most popular blogger in blogsville. Though settled in UK, it is very clear from his posts that he has left his heart in his Pind(Punjab). Right Bikram?


6) Irfanuddin - Another popular and famous Indian blogger who writes socially relevant posts.Receipient of many awards. 


7) Rama - A lovely home maker whose posts take me around the world. I have armchair travelled to many places through her blogposts.


8) Gils -  We will soon see him walk the ramp of fame. An outstanding creative person  whom i hope to see as an young author, director , lyricist etc. He has more than  500 blog post to his credit.


9)Chitra - She maintains 3 blogs one for her creativity ( jewel design)  called 'Chitra's jewel art', the other her memoirs and the last one her visits to temples on 'My Pilgrimage'. Her first blog could soon become a brand to reckon with and hope to see 'My pilgrimage' as a coffee table book.


10) Swapna Raghu Sanand: Her warmposts reveal how much she values culture and values relationships.


11) Shalini Gowrishankar - This young girl needs to be rewarded for crossing 500 posts and her Monday morning inspiration posts could drive away your Monday Morning blues.


12) Aruna's world - She does'nt know my blog exists. I love the way she laces her posts with humour.


13) Ramesh (Business musings)- A star blogger and an ace business analyst who writes news much before the newspapers do. I don't need newspapers now, business musings would suffice.


14)Ms. Chitchat - Love her beautiful cookery posts.

and last but not the least, its Bhargavi

15) Bhargavi- like a boomerang the award goes back to her. Yes, i had to list 15 bloggers and I consider Bhargavi one and why..in a few more days when her book releases on valentine's day , the whole world will consider her as a versatile author.

Now to the 7 random-isms- 

1) I like listening to radio. Not the BIGfm  or radio mirchi kind,  but the pip...pip....pip..This is All India  Radio kind.

2) I believe and follow natural cure or grandma's kitchen remedies.

3 I can pick languages easily  but one language that i find difficult is Konkani.

4) Long, long ago so long ago was a voracious reader of books, now  i don't read books much, but I do  read on a flickering screen.

5) I am not comfortable with any electronic gadget like note book PC, or operating music system, home theatre, mobiles with advanced features etc., ( Ironically,  i am an electronics graduate and was  part of  3 member team which designed a multilayered  PCB (printed circuit board)(CAD) for notebook computer, double layered  PCB's for onboard satellites (ISRO,DRDO,VSSC) etc., some 17 years ago).

6) I get throbbing headache when I watch movies which have special fx and loud sound like matrix, Jurassic park, 2012,JAmes Bond movies, Robot etc... prefer gentle/ soft musical and comical  movies.

7) I care less for punctuation(bad habit) and let my words flow and don't punctuate properly like sometimes I start a sentence or name  in small letter.