Moving Story

National Public Radio (NPR) has become such an integral part of my life, not a day goes by without me and Amrapali discussing about something that either of us have heard on NPR. Many times I just stay in the parking lot for the story to finish before I can get to home or office.

NPR brings to my attention stories that I would never find anywhere.

Try to listen to this moving story A year to life, a year to die and it is overwhelming to say the least. Grief is something that is very difficult to share. Grief stays forever no matter how old we get or how far away we are from the time of grief.

There is one line in this story that is really very touching

Eleven years and two children later, their life was all she had imagined. But it all changed in that last year. Stewart made this entry in his audio diary in February, 2003, shortly after receiving the diagnosis: "I don't feel any bitterness about why me getting a tumor," he said. "As I've gotten older you know and more people that bad things happen to. Gosh, it can't always be the other guy."

Thank you Rebecca and Stewart.

Andha Kaala Tiffin

I really love thattai, a savoury that also goes by the name 'Elladai". I in general love all these varieties that my paati used to call 'andha kaala tiffin'. For her 'idli' and 'dosai' didn't belong to that category. The ones that made to that list were among others, 'thavalai' dosai, 'thavalai' adai, 'kaara' adai, sevai. Since I left home for higher studies, i have been yearning for all these 'andha kaala tiffin'.

I am a reasonably good cook and I enjoy cooking, but I never had the motivation to learn it and make them.

When my wife Amrapali went to India last time, she learnt all these from my mother and now she makes all of them much to my delight and I can't have enough of them. In fact she learnt only those items that I like. A typical conversation between her and my mother would go like this.

Amma: Let us learn x today

Amrapali: Does Narasimhan like this?

Amma: Not much

Amrapali: Let us move on to the next one.

After six years in Pune and Kanpur and two more years in Stony Brook, finally I am having my thattais, adais etc..

Bumper Sticker

Saw a bumper sticker on a car that read

Politicians and Diapers have to be changed regularly for the same reason