Mexican Sambar

Each year, on or about Super Mar10 (Skanda's birthday), I write (on Facebook ) a yearly update to Stork about Skanda's progress through his age. I will be blogging as well, from now on. You'll be able to read the previous issues  here .  Dear Stork -  I am sorry that I couldn’t mail you on the 10th. We are visiting (Praneetha's mom's sister - Anu Aunty and Sreedhar Uncle) and vacationing in New Zealand for Skanda’s annual retreat and it is night-day difference. The entire NZ vacation requires its own "book" to write about.  Last birthday, you heard us taking him to Disney. He had a blast there - different rides and water sports! We also booked a rocket launch watch in Kennedy Space - unfortunately they abandoned the laucnh at the very last minute - "green money govinda govinda". While that was a disappointment, our trip to the Keys made it up. In all we walked up to 20+ kms. 1 and 1 makes not 2 but 11. Skanda is “this close” to being an adult in ...

Dear Yama/Chitragupta - How are you all doing? How is the temperature and weather patterns there? It has been a wild swing here so far. No one is sure how this is going to go. All we know is that it is not in the correct direction. Ennamo! Two years ago, I wrote to you about how countries are turning into regimes. Well, guess what happened south of the border - they elected Trump again! He has literally taken things into his own hands. You know how Chuchu would have reacted to this, right? Probably, would have agreed that it's all for good. Nesamani Ponnaiah! How is Chuchu mama doing? How is he shaping up? Is he eating well? Has he put on weight? What is he eating nowadays? I hope he is consuming more than a handful. Speaking of food, we've been cooking up a storm in his remembrance. Today, Praneetha made his beloved Kollu rasam - you know, the way he liked it, that perfect balance of turmeric and pepper that he would always critique until we got it just right. The potato fry w...

Each year, on or about Super Mar10 (Skanda's birthday), I write (on Facebook ) a yearly update to Stork about Skanda's progress through his age. I will be blogging as well, from now on. You'll be able to read the previous issues here . Dear Stork — A decade! Our "sapiens" (one of his favourite book - outside many others) has reached double digits. The warranty paperwork is still missing, but I'm hoping this is one of those lifetime guarantees rather than the planned obsolescence we see everywhere these days. Remember when you first delivered him with that coned head and no instruction manual? Now he's hitting milestones I can barely keep up with. The world has transformed since I last wrote. Trump has returned to the White House with policies (and reversals) even more bewildering than before. His trade wars with various countries, including Canada, have everyone on edge. I wonder if we all will make it to the end of his term! But enough about politics—thi...

Dear Yama/Chitragupta - Another year and another letter to you. I hope your business doing well. Another year of bumper harvest, I suppose? Projections for 2024 states that you will go past 2023's total (source: https://ourworldindata.org/births-and-deaths). High-fives around? What is the party looking like? Who is your best sales agent so far and how are you rewarding them? So many questions but no answers. Just like the Indian government! Alright, heading to the main topic: How is Chuchu mama? How is he treating you call? Does he talk about us often? Well, tell him I miss him a lot. I am here in India with the family on vacation, and I was looking for him everywhere. It is hard to not to miss him and I do. Please convey that message to him. How are the mama and his anna's interactions going? I mean Sarathy mama whom you recruited recently. They must be having a jolly good time, especially with Gopu mama thatha with whom you must have already been having an enjoyable time! The...

  Ever since we missed our chance to view the Totality back in 2017, albeit being so close (Cary, NC) to Eclipse path across the US, we made sure that the one in 2024 is viewed and ends up being spectacular. And what a show it ended up: 3 minutes and 48 seconds of awesomeness! It needed a lot of forethought and preparations - six months of planning. While 2024 eclipse was supposed to pass through places near to us, we still needed to ensure we are at the right place at the right time. Eclipse path NASA has an interactive Eclipse explorer site . We made extensive use of it in our planning. A super helpful site that showed a specific location's duration of eclipse and totality. There were enthusiasts who charted the path with their inputs. This was super helpful because of the Google Maps overlay . PlanIt This app was immensely useful for photography or even imagining from where we could watch the eclipse in the sky. Places considered Niagara, ON Who wouldn...