When far away from home for long, all alone…

When far away from home,

On official work and all alone,

For very long durations,

Before the advent of Cell phones,

There was constant anxiety,

Of home and family.

Long time-taking,

Air Mail correspondence,

And once in a while,

Rather expensive,

Long-distance phone calls,

Were possible once in a few days.

Working hard to complete the job soon,

And counting days to return home,

Were a daily routine.

The job required concentration,

And undivided attention,

But during after job relaxation,

At my accommodation,

Thoughts of family and home,

Took over,

Causing heartache,

Call it homesickness.

This happened on all long tours,

Which thankfully were not frequent,

And to overcome the loneliness,

And longing for home,

At least by a small extent,

I always carried family photographs,

And placed them by my bedside,

As you can see in the attached photographs!

Shirred eggs with toast!

Lucky are those who can step out of their comfort zone of regular foods and try out and enjoy different cuisines as they travel within our country or abroad or at restaurants in their own town or city, and the best would be to prepare them in the comfort of their houses. This lifestyle would develop their children to enjoy different foods and tastes, and a lifetime of happiness. One such food we prepared at home is Shirred eggs and liked it so much, that we have repeated it a few times. Easy to prepare and so enjoyable!

Shirred eggs or oeufs en cocotte as they are known in France, accompanied by toast is one of the most glamorous, velvety breakfast dishes around. Shirred eggs are essentially baked eggs with the addition of cream, fresh herbs, and a little cheese. There are endless variations on additional ingredients, and you can modify the recipe with what you have on hand or prefer. The dish is simple to make, but will absolutely wow you with flavour, elegance and texture.

It’s such a jolly term for a jolly way to eat toast, perfect for dunking into the egg’s gooey yolk. Toast is recommended with shirred eggs, as they make lovely vehicles for mopping up the creamy eggs as well as making sure you’ve got every last bit of the food baked onto your Ramekin!

The preparation requires a little forethought and very little effort. And the resulting dish is the grand dame of savoury breakfasts. Actually, this perfect meal of a simple egg and toast is great any time of day. Dressed up with a salad, a couple of shirred eggs per person makes a good and wholesome anytime food.

 

 

 

Congratulations! To all the victorious in General Elections-2019.

Congratulations to Sri Narendra Modi, Sri Amit Shah and every member of BJP Party, NDA and the voters of India.

And my deepest condolences to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, grandchildren of Feroze Jehangir Ghandy/Gandhi, the INC party, Chandrababu Naidu, the TDP Party, members of tukde-tukde gang and all the members of the failed Mahagathbandhan of about 22 political parties with different ideologies which embraced one another with the single motive of abusing and dislodging Sri Narendra Modi, Lutyens media, Khan market gang, and all the anti-Modi TV anchors, and the so-called anti-Modi analysts on TV and on the roads of India.

The losers and the supporters of the losers, please do not spread lies and evil against NDA - 24X7, as in the past. Let not your grouse pollute the minds of the people and hamper the good atmosphere in the country, and let the Parliament and the Government function for all-round development, happiness and prosperity of our Country.

Bharat Mata Ki Jai!

Election Results-2019 will be out today!

Good Morning!

As you are all aware the 2019 General Election was held in seven phases from 11th April to 19th May 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha, through 10 lakh (1 million) polling booths! And the counting of votes will commence at 8 am today, 23rd May, and by evening the results will be declared. About 90 crore (900 million) citizens were eligible to vote, of which 67% have voted – the highest ever in the history of Indian General Elections, as well the highest recorded participation in Indian elections by women!

According to most exit polls released on 19th May, the BJP-led alliance and incumbent Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi appeared poised to win re-election.

The counting may run with symphonic precision, but the rest of the proceedings are pure cacophony, with 8,040 candidates from more than 2,000 parties vying for 543 seats in the Lok Sabha.

I wish a stable Government comes to power but not one which is formed by the ugly union of tukde-tukde, greedy and corrupt parties. Indian voters are wise but the lies, allurements and appeasement politics of parties could play mischief in bringing the wrong leaders to power, which should not happen for the good of our Country.

Let us wait and watch, and hope the best would take over and rule our Country efficiently, for all-round development, happiness and prosperity.

You have failed, stop idiotic blaming.

You have failed,

Stop idiotic blaming,

And siting silly excuses,

For your failure and loss.

And please do not commit suicide.

Happy with the Exit Poll Results!

Happy with the Exit Poll Results!

Hope the same with Actual Results!

Thank you, Voters,

For your wisdom!

The bundlebaaz politicians,

And the chamchas,

Of the bundlebaaz are Rejected!

Now may the cacophony,

And non-stop venomous propaganda,

Against the righteous,

By jealous and greedy politicians,

By biased media,

By the roadside political analysts,

And the misinformed public,

Dumb-wits on the roads,

And on social media,

Come to an end once for all.

Let there be peace everywhere,

Let us all strive for,

Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas.

Vande Mataram!

Jai Hind!

Happy Family Day! Today, 15th May is the International Day of Families.

Every year 15th of May is celebrated as International Day of Families (IDF). This day highlights the importance of families as a basic unit of society. May 15th was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 to reflect the importance of the international community towards families. International Day of Families provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the issues related to families and increase the knowledge of the "social, economic and demographic processes affecting families." International Day of Families also celebrates the role of families in development.

International Day of Families has been around since 1994, with different family-focused themes every year. The theme for International Day of Families 2019 is “Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG 13.

In 2018, the theme was "Families and inclusive societies", while in 2017 and 2016 the themes were "Families, education and well-being" and "Families, healthy lives and sustainable future".

In short, the United Nations seeks to create “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – embracing not only all people but also Mother Earth.  “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” is a Sanskrit phrase from the Maha Upanishad, which means "The world is one family”.

Some memories last forever!

Some memories last forever,

One such is when you were a teenager,

And on a pleasant early morning,

As we were returning from shopping,

You flourished a spurt of shyness,

With your captivating smiles,

As I held your hand at Monda market,

To help you cross the street,

And we suddenly came across,

Your eldest sister,

And for a moment it appeared,

That you stepped aside,

To hide behind me,

Just like our grandson today!

Similar shyness,

Similar smiles,

And attempts,

To hide!

I shall never forget,

Such lovely memories!

Happy Mother’s Day!

On this happy occasion of Mother’s Day, I wish Lalitha Raghu & all Moms in my Facebook circle and among my blog followers "A Very Happy Mother’s Day" and wish that their families continue to extend abundant love and care to them forever:

Here is an article I wrote eight years ago on Mother’s Day, conveying my greetings to my mother who was 91 years old then:

“Mathru Devo Bhava,

Pithru Devo Bhava”.

This Sanskrit Sloka means:

Revere your mother as GOD,

Revere your father as GOD.

The photographs in my blog post dated 7th May 2011, the link to which is towards the end of this article are of my mother who was 91 years old and the greetings therein are for her on the occasion of Mother’s Day. The concept of celebrating Mother’s Day is new to our country and gradually it is becoming very popular. We have many festivals and celebrations in India but none to thank Mother for all that she does for us. The importance of a mother in anyone’s life is so great that she is equivalent to GOD – “Mathru Devo Bhava”. We naturally love and respect her every day but do not have a specific day to celebrate and honour her; for taking care of us even at the ripe old age of 91, and thank her. Now with this Western culture of celebrating Mother’s Day coming into our lives; it has become a significant day for us too, to express our gratitude to our mother and say a big THANK YOU for all that she does for us and make her as happy as possible.

“Ya Devi Sarva-Bhooteshu Mathru-Roopena SamsthitaNamastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namaha”. This Sanskrit Sloka means “Salutations to the Divine Mother, who art manifest in every being’s existence as MOTHER. I worship thee, over and over and over again”.

Happy Mother’s Day!

You may reach my subject blog post by clicking on the following link:

http://srisrilara.blogspot.in/2011/05/happy-mothers-day_07.html

I miss my mother; she passed away five years ago at the age of 94:

Showers in summer!... Of love and blessings!

Last Thursday that is 9th May we had a family get-together which the entire gathering enjoyed. You can have a glimpse of this Party and the pleasure we had through the attached photographs and video.

For me and my wife, the entire day passed off happily. The day started early for us with the ceremony of  Abhishekam (Saswatha Pooja) to Lord Ganesha at the famous Sri Ganapathi Devalayam (Temple) adjacent to Secunderabad Railway Station. We then had a lavish buffet breakfast followed by lots of relaxation, but for some time taken out in-between for arrangements for the Party at home in the evening. Really not much work at home as the major part of the Party was at a restaurant.

After all the family members assembled at our house in the evening, and after greetings were exchanged we cut the cake and had it with some snacks. We took the blessings of my sister and brother-in-law and blessings and best wishes from all present, with lots of gifting and return-gifting.

We then proceeded for dinner at a restaurant called Vivaha Bhojanambu in Secunderabad. The dinner was in a private dining room of the restaurant. The dinner was a very special, traditional and a sumptuous one, named as Prathyeka Banthi Bhojanam, served on Banana leaves, with a large variety of Veg and Non-Veg. preparations. Everyone enjoyed the dinner and camaraderie.

However, we missed the company of my nephew, my two nieces and their families and my younger son, at this party. They got in touch with us on WhatsApp and phone to convey their best wishes.

It was late night by the time we bid farewell to one another.

The Party was to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary and we are happy that it went off well.

PARTY VIDEO:

In fond remembrance of times from Gramophone days to present times…

In fond remembrance of times,

From Gramophone days to present times,

On this very important day of ours…

Our Wedding Anniversary!

A sweet melody!...

Great memories! From summer vacations, of the good old days!

Great memories!

From summer vacations,

Of the good old days,

When cousins came together,

At grandmothers’ houses,

To play all day long,

And listen to stories,

With little time to eat,

When grandmothers’,

And mothers’,

Happily,

Fed the children,

From time to time,

With all children,

Sitting around them,

Enjoying the food,

In rotation!

And the camaraderie!

Even while eating!

Hope you too have,

Such happy memories!

Of summer vacations.