General bazaar for just about everything

 

Atri and me visited this famous lane near MG Road which sells just about everything, in old fashioned shops. After some heavy duty exposure to mall culture, this felt so refreshing. Except that it was after noon and the sun was on our heads - I came here accompanying my aunt who wanted to get some shopping done here. I bought a box of the ready frankincense burning blocks, which luckily was in a shop right at the entrance of the lane, so I didn't have to walk much lugging Atri along. I intend to come here for some leisurely exploring and more colourful photos when my little one stays home with the hubby.

It's a pretty crowded narrow lane, so this picture was all I could manage as my son would keep trying to pull the camera while I tried hard to focus ;)

Edited to add another pic - showing some of the shops mentioned in the comments

6 AM coffee

Saturday morning
Woke up around 6 AM
Waited for milkman to bring in the milk
Had kept decoction ready last night
Fresh milk, fresh decoction, 1 spoon sugar - lots of 'norai' (froth)
Served in steel tumbler
My favourite way to drink coffee

 

Taken in natural light from the kitchen window

Kurta macro

Was experimenting with digital macro - when we were driving to some place. With Atri in the car seat, this is the time I get to make calls to family and do some experimentation with the camera.
Quite liked the result of this digital macro shot on my cotton kurta :)

Happy...

 ...that I'm catching up with my aunt and uncle today over simple food and elaborate conversations. The latter more with my aunt :)

Loved these candy coloured lantanas that grow wild in my compound, put a couple of stalks in a jam jar to cheer up the table (thanks for the name A - it just slipped off my mind)

Sea of tomatoes

Rythu bazaar - farmers' market
Mehdipattnam - Hyderabad
11 AM
Sun on our heads
Tomatoes, tomatoes everywhere
3 kilos for Rs.10

More pics from the market here

Flower seller ...

...inside the temple we visited today

Brightening up our mornings

We are both morning people
Waking up early, shower and ready to take on the day...
Whoever is first to shower, lights the lamp and some incense sticks on the altar

I wonder if we feel so good about it as we've always seen our grandparents / parents do it as we were kids, and following the family traditions makes us feel good in some way

One last stick remaining from this fabulous fragrance we bought at Auroshikha, Besant Nagar, Chennai. This has been brightening our mornings, filling it with positive vibrations and making us look forward to a great day ahead. These sticks have natural resins from Tulsi (Holy Basil), Tangerine and Orange, and I loved the packaging too!

Sunday morning coffee

In absence of decoction, Bru instant comes closest to the taste of filter kaapi

This is how I make my coffee
~Keep fresh milk to boil
~In a cup take 1 tsp Bru instant coffee powder
~Add 1 tsp sugar / 1 table of Sugarfree Natura to the cup
~Once milk boils, pour into the cup over coffee and sugar in a thin stream
~Stir lightly to mix and drink while it's hot

Chinese takeaway

Vegetables in hot garlic sauce
Vegetable soft noodles
Fried rice

From Pride Inn hotel's restaurant in the neighbourhood
Consistently good stuff
Huge portions
Serves for dinner as well as next day's lunch :)

A current favourite

Pure and Simple by Vidhu Mittal, a must buy cookbook for vegetarians
Borrowed it from a friend and already tried some five recipes
Each one very simple and turns out perfect tasting
Pure peppermint tea for a mid-morning chai boost

Valentine leftovers

Roses rescued from the valentine bouquet

Bougainvillea

I never fail to notice this building on one of the roads near my place where lovely white bougainvillea force their branches out from the apertures of a building.
This time I managed to keep the camera ready when we were passing by this road, this pic is taken from the car - so people don't suspect me zooming into random houses ;)
The overhead wires are spoiling the photo for me - but it was impossible to capture the former without the latter.
I also love the pots on the sill of the balcony with the blue roof and the overall red tiled roof.

Anti-oxidant burst

Mid-morning snack of a few berries and tea
Love this Tick-Tock red bush tea - got inspired to drink this after reading McCall Smith's Ladies' Detective Agency series :) It's got a rich flavour and very high in anti oxidants too!

Valentine day breakfast

There's nothing much actually - some Andhra style thattai and coffee (the coffee is not even filter coffee ) shows how I was just lazing all morning, perfect way to start a special day right?

Hope you spent a lovely day with your loved one/s.

Learning physics in the kitchen

This pic is not to show how old the kitchen cabinets in this house are or how shiny my steel utensils are- but to share how babies don't have to be 'taught' laws of physics.
He was thoroughly enjoying himself by spinning one of the lids like a top while creating all kinds of (disturbing) sounds with the other utensils, as I prepared my morning cuppa tea. As long as he gave me enough time to prepare my tea, I wasn't complaining!

Mahashivaratri & the Saras Exhibition

 

Though we did a couple of other fun things yesterday like visiting a regional products exhibition and eating super-oily take-away food - this seemed to be my favourite picture of the day - the red Geraniums contrasting the beautiful black of the Nataraja.

My favourite stall from the Saras exhibition was one called the Guntur-Coop run by the rural women in Guntur where they prepare Andhra style pickles, snacks and other food products in a very hygienic way and packaged beautifully too. Take a look at their pickles below - the Gongura is for S, while the other two are my favourites.

 

They are doing some great work and I really wanted to showcase their quality products here, hence the second photo of the day :) Will amend their address and details shortly. If you are visiting Guntur, their food products are surely worth picking up!

My shopping bag from the exhibition had stuff from different corners of India and this is what I love about such exhibitions-

Kerala

Plantain chips fried in coconut oil

Jackfruit chips

Mace

Gujarat

Clay tava

Clay pot with lid

Guntur

Three pickles

One bag of Chekkalu

Anantapur

Bedside lamp with hand-painted lampshade

Madhya Pradesh

Lemon drops

Dried mango chooran

Imli chooran

Assam

Handwoven woolen jacket for Atri

Small wonders

Tending to the babies I brought home from the Horticulture Exhibition :)

For stitching

Kalamkari and Mangalgiri fabric
Will match most of my sarees
Vidya Balan inspired blouses

Counting my blessings

 A picture of a picture in the papers made me feel very sad for this mother who had to lug all those wares along with her baby!

At brunch

The brunch was just another buffet spread, the skylight seemed more interesting a capture :)

Sunday bliss

 

Sunday papers spread on the floor

Filter kaapi

Vimala coffee works, Madras

Steel glass

Foamy top

Perfect strength

1 tsp sugar NOT Sugarfree

A perfect start to a lovely Sunday morning :)

Jaipur meets Jodhpur

Ruci & Idoni

Atri and me went to check out this new supermarket in the locality - called Ruci & Idoni (don't ask me what that means or what language it is) - superbly laid out, smartly dressed courteous attendants, parking attendants plus all imported food items along with the regular Indian veggies, groceries and snacks make it a great shopping place for a foodie. It also has a fromagerie, bakery and a cold cuts section. What it didn't have was any interesting stuff in the baking ingredients section, only ready Betty Crocker boxes, not even choco-chips.

After a while Atri was ready to jump out of the trolley - there's only so much shopping a boy can endure :) even if it's with his favourite person!

Hung up

We picked this beautiful mirror from Auroshikha and it was sitting in its four layers of packaging since two months. I've been so wanting to hang it and admire its beauty and its time finally came yesterday :)
Afterthought : Actually two months is not much - some of the stuff has been lying around for years without reaching its final destination, at least this one made it :)

From eBay to our home

 

This Jodhpuri bed and pair of side tables that we ordered from eBay finally fitted with the mattress today! A king-size bed to sleep on - now only if Atri would let me sleep undisturbed all night :)

Block-printed and hand embroidered bedsheet from Gurjari and cusion covers from Fabindia complete the ethnic look.