Siby Kuriakose

So.. decided to start blogging again. What do I start with? Making Pulao!..Siby's coming of age blog post... For many years I have believed that I am a good cook, without ever having cooked anything. Confidence eh? Ok that's not really true..I have keenly observed all the happenings in the kitchen from a very young age. As a kid whenever we visited Kerala during summer vacations , I spent an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen earning me a nickname that I will not publish. Me and sis started making tea and toasting bread at a very young age, fresh breakfast for dad when he took his break from work. So there you go, have keenly watched and actively assisted, but never really really cooked anything complex all by myself And the best part, when you have lived at home all your life you don't have to! So now's the time, to put those imaginary skills to test. MTR and their likes have made it easier for wannabe cooks to take baby steps in their culinary journey. So I

Kalyan Silks Bangalore...crushed in, hard to spot are the first impressions. The lack of space is obvious too, unlike their prolific jewellery store which has an expansive store further down on Dispensary Road, Kalyan Silks is sandwiched between a sports good store and a mall. There are 4 people standing at the door waiting to welcome you? unfortunately neither their demeanour nor actions or lack thereof are inviting. Since we were looking for silk sarees we were shepherded to the first floor. The shop assistants were cheerful and helpful, and the selection of sarees according to the gathered women folk were not too bad either. Did the constant branding on television sway their opinion? or was it genuine appreciation? can't really be sure. So, after hours of  debates and drapings the basket of woven silk headed to the billing counter. From here onwards, the experience spiralled downwards alarmingly. Despite the invoice reaching close to six figures there was never a mention, nah

TL;DR Simple answer to your query is; "Housewarming" would be the most appropriate English translation of Griha Pravesh. You can write it as one word "Housewarming" or hyphenate it to "House-warming" although the former is more popular. Original post below -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We Indians tend to ape the west. "OMG! Seminal thought you were going to say?" Let me give you one more reason why, while you rein in your sarcasm. We have two perfectly fine words to describe a momentous occasion for most middle class Indians, Griha Pravesh or Griha Pravesham, the auspicious day when one enters a newly constructed/renovated dwelling.. The Sanskrit root is quite obvious, with the "am" at the end for all people south of the Vindhyas. No, that wasn't enough for us or we thought the literal translation "Entering House"/"House Entering" was too drab, so

Bringing in 2011 at Misty Palms, Coorg ( located in Terelu Village, South Coorg, at the foot of Brahmagirihills) It wasn't supposed to be this way. We had been promised a home stay within a coffee estate, a fishing trip and most importantly complete seclusion from the banalities of city life. Gypped by Spen who had the nerve to actually offer us ice cubes in a chembu (small pot) for use over the new year celebrations, what we got was a house on the main road between Hunsur and Gonikoppa. We refused! city slickers we maybe, idiots? certainly not! We worked the phones and found a home stay in Virajpet for a day. If it wasn't for the fact the place had already been booked for new year's eve, we would have continued to stay there. Working the phones again we found Misty Palms. Ravi who manages the place initially assured us rooms, but backtracked later and offered one room for the five of us! and the word 'adjustment' kept surfacing through out the conversation. He als