Recycling of a banana

My husband bought a few extra bananas this week. The skin of the  bananas started changing color. My kids and me are so finicky about the colour of the banana. Even if it is one shade less from the accepted color of the skin we don't eat it. Leave alone the colour, if it is little extra ripe than what we consume , then that qualification of the banana also makes it unedible. If my husband was here he  would have eaten it without any fuss. Since yesterday the bananas are  just hanging in the stand. The humidity of this place makes it even worse. Today they have become too soft. I felt guilty to throw them into the trash. Usually I don't waste food. So this quality of mine made me think about recycling the banana. 

Usually the ripe bananas become banana milk shake or banana pan cakes. Today I thought I will make banana walnut bread. After scrutinizing various recipes on the internet finally I got hold of one that was very easy plus it demanded very few ingredients. I checked my pantry and fridge for the ingredients. Hurray!! I had all the stuff needed to bake a banana walnut bread. I followed the instructions in the recipe word by word . Mashed the bananas, mixed the butter, sugar,flour, salt, baking soda in the right proportion as mentioned. Poured into a greased pan.Then I shoved  the mixture  into the so called oven which I had. Licked the remaining part from the bowl to check for the sweetness. It was perfect. When the timer went off I took the bread out. It looked fantastic on the outside. I poked a toothpick and it came out clean. 

I was very happy that it had turned out as expected. I let it cool down on the rack for some time. After my kids came back from school I wanted to give them as the snack. Both of them came back . With all excitement I slid the knife through the bread. :((((( What a flop !!! It was neither like a bread nor like a cake. It had the consistency of some Indian sweet. Little guey, little solid,,, don't ask me I can't explain more than this....How can I go on explaining my failure in baking....?? 

I decided to the gunea pig. First I wanted to taste it. I tasted it . Thank God the taste was kind of OK. Why wouldn't  it be ok if a whole lot of butter, egg, walnuts, banana and sugar went into it. I put the slices on the plate and gave my children. At the outlook my son asked, "Mama what is this?" I had no words to say. I kept quite knowing the fact silence is the best answer at times. Then my daughter , who is the quality checker of my house put a piece into her mouth and then said "Oh it is supposed to be a banana bread." "Not bad!" I was happy that she could figure out the taste of it. After getting the approval from his sister my son bit into a piece of the bread. Till then he was reluctant to taste. Usually I can dodge him by giving anything when he is watching TV. Today the show was coming to an end when I handed over the snack to him hence he became quite watchful about what went into his mouth. After tasting a piece he said, " Mama I like it . It is nice and guey." so finally I have passed the test.

Now coming to the point where my calculations went wrong!! If my husband had seen the over  ripe bananas either he would have eaten it or thrown it in the trash. There ends the story of the over ripe bananas. Unlike him I wanted to recycle the bananas into some edible product. I convince myself that my thought and effort were to be appreciated. . On the flip side if I think about it I feel what a waste of time and things. Instead of having the heart to throw just two bananas I used butter, egg, walnuts, sugar which are all much more expensive than the bananas. Plus the electricity used for baking. Plus the time I spent on making it , cleaning the place followed by the cribbing about cooking all the time. When put together, I could have very well gotten a nice banana walnut cake from a bakery for my children. 

I too fall into the general category of women not wanting to waste anything. Compared to men we claim ourselves to be very intelligent. There is a proverb in Tamil which goes like ”மிளகு போவது தெரியாது, கடுகு போவது தான் பெரிதாய் தெரியும்.” The literal translation means, we ignore things which are in the size of pepper being wasted but make a big issue when a mustard size thing is wasted." Meaning we ignore the big problems in life but worry about the smaller issues in life.  Women usually consider themselves to be economical in spending. But we can spend thousands of rupees on one single silk saree which we will wear once in a life time. We will buy jewellery but will feel bored to wear it after few times. At the end we justify our stand saying it is all investment. 

  Anyways I turned the bananas into a bread somehow. Luckily it turned out to be edible . For the mistake in the consistency I would very well blame it on the oven. Final decision is next time I see an over ripe banana it just goes into the blender with milk to be made into a banana milk shake. Saves my time and energy. Anyhow tomorrow breakfast is going to be the banana bread...Anybody willing to drop by???

Baked a Cake

Baked a cake.....

March 3, 2014 at 9:49am

PublicFriendsOnly MeCustomClose FriendsST.JOSEPH'S HSCHOOL,THANJAVURSee all lists...FamilySingapore, Singapore AreaGo Back

The all important day arrived yesterday... Yes it was my loving son's birthday.... This year we decided to celebrate his birthday later, the reason being his final exams were starting today.... To celebrate  it in a lighter tone we took him to the temple in the morning and then we decided to go out for lunch .... Assuming he can study from the afternoon we decided to do so.....Later in the day I found out anyways it would not have made any difference even if we had gone out in the evening because his preparation time for the exam takes just one hour with four breaks in between..... I wanted to be extra nice to him ... anyways once we sit to start studying we will have a world war 3...

I thought I will bake a cake for him to make him happy and feel special.... The first thing I did in the morning was to bake a cake. After baking it I left it to cool and went to the temple. After coming back from the temple I tilted the cake upside down on a plate and got a full cake without breaking it .... I was happy that it had come out in good shape .... I brought the cake to the table ... made it sit on a tray, got a candle and a knife ...To make it look more presentable I put a few M&Ms on the cake... To me it looked nice and I was praying that it should taste good too .Clicked  a few usual  pictures of the cake before it was dissected , then took a picture of him blowing the candle....Sang the birthday song with our hoarse voices ... then he cut the cake ... when he was cutting the cake I felt he was not able to slide  the knife through it but was trying to cut it through like he was cutting through a piece of meat.... My heart was going dhak dhak thinking how the cake was going to taste... more than the taste what all comments I am going to hear from my dear children.... Again we took a few pictures of feeding him with the cake...His mouth was stuffed with the cake ...Looked like he was finding a little difficult in chewing the cake...I thought I had stuffed a big piece into his mouth... After he tasted the cake I asked him how did the cake taste... His answer was the usual, "It's OK mama"... What do I understand from this??

Then my daughter tasted the cake .... The immediate reaction that came from her was ,"Mama If you had given it to me I would have baked a good cake, it tastes so bad." So according to her scale of measurment the cake got a zero.... There came my son to my rescue... He said, "Sruthi , how many recipe's have you tried making and tasting before you puked on your own creations?"  She gave him a  tigress look and said "That was one time Rishi that I felt like puking after I tried making that pudding". Somewhere down I felt that my son was by my side.... The dad said it tasted good.. I tasted it .. It was not so bad as Sruthi projected it to be... It tasted inbetween a bread and a cake.... Anyways I thought to make myself happy I would ask Rishi one more time... I didn't realize then that I was digging my own grave.... I asked him again "Rishi how did the cake taste?" I could have very well stopped with his double sided answer of "ITs ok Mama". But my over anxiety made me repeat the question ...... Rishi was too sweet a boy that he tried avoiding answering the question again but do you think I would leave ... No  , the mom instinct in me wanted to hear the right answer.... He said very quietly ,"Mama it is not that bad as Sruthi says, It just tastes kind of a little plasticky  and it is tasteless... thats all but I can eat it"... A tight slap on my cheeks right??? This was enough for me to come to a conclusion that I should always get Betty Crocker's readymade mix ,,, bake it and serve it and get the name "mama it was awesome"... Why did I take so much effort to try out new things on his birthday????

As an icing to the cake , when we went out for lunch my daughter asked,"Mama do you think we should get him a nice cake and make him cut it in the evening?" It was my turn to turn into a tigress.......grhhhhh..... then again Rishi came up with "It's ok Sruthi I dont want to do it again... anyways I will have a nice cake when I call my friends to celebrate my birthday party after my exam...right mom??"" By then I had decided that silence is the best answer at times.......

LIKE POLES REPEL

These days when I hear about the mushrooming of divorce cases I feel disturbed  to think about the change in our society. Is this a trend or a fashion or a culture to be followed? Most of the divorces happen within the first few years of marriage. What can we understand about each other in just a few years of marriage? Marriage is a mystery. It is like fishing in the ocean. Sometimes you get a good catch as expected, but some times not as expected. .All you need is an open heart and a good expertise  to make the best out of it.

I came to know that one of my friends's niece had applied for a divorce after three years of marriage. The reason behind it being --"he is not as I expected him to be". She added that she had given three years for him to change but he hadn't changed a bit. How can a person who has lived twenty seven years of his life believing in his own character change all of a sudden in just three years?  Don't you think this is not a valid reason for a divorce, to break up a relationship which is meant to be life long? How easy  could it be if you can change your character instead of insisting your partner to change his or her character as you expect it to be.

These days character analysis is done superficially.One cannot understand the true inner self of another soul totally. You can know about a person only to a certain extent . The true inner self of a person , be it your dad, mom, brother, sister, your own children, husband , friend, anyone for that matter, cannot be fathomed fully. Only the individual will know about his or her's inner self . This being the case how can we judge a person within a few years of marriage? Even after 17 years of married life my husband still does not know what I like and what I don't like, in spite of the fact me listing out my likes and dislikes periodically.  It all turns into a deaf ear. This does not mean that he does not love me.It is just the difference in his  preferences in life. If I also ignore his likes and dislikes then our life would go for a toss.  Giving importance to his wants is my way of showing that I care for him. Yes men are from Mars and women are from Venus!! This doesn't mean that I don't make a big issue of it . Haven't gotten into that stage of maturity yet though!!. I do throw my own style of tantrums .


When young or old we tend  to make friendship with people who have similar characters like ours, who have the same wavelength, same frequency, same voltage. same watts  or name it anything you want it to be. Initially in marriage  when we look for our pair we look for similar traits as ours, we look for compatibility. According to the latest trend you look for same Chemistry, Physics , or what ever.....But sometimes, ironically this doesn't work out.

During the "phase of  love" especially the first few months ,during  the honey moon period everything seems to be musical. Marriage life has many phases like the moon-- so waxing and waning i.e ups and downs are to be expected in the relationship as well. But when the second phase-- marriage comes things turn a zigzag turn and starts sounding like a cracked CD (gramophone is outdated) . When two persons of same dominating characters get married there is a clash of  opinions, ego, individuality etc. etc.because both of them tend to think the same way for good or bad. If we ask our elders they come out with a simple  answer for this. They say that this is the reason why they look for horoscope matching. Does this mean that people who are married according to the astrologer's advice don't go for a divorce?


 I don't think that my daughter would ever agree for this kind of a marriage. Like many others, according to her astrologers cannot decide on who is to marry whom.  Already she has told me that she would get married only to a person whom she gets to know before marriage. I ask  her how much she can  know about a person in few months or years. It takes many many years to understand a person's real self that too only to a certain extent. We can know about them 75% rest 25% we assume we know them thoroughly. And to accept a person the way they are needs a lot of maturity . Now her age doesn't let her accept the truth hidden in  my words. As she grows older she will understand  the reality.All daughters become moms one day.  As of now I am happy that I am in the list of people to be invited for her wedding. She has told us that she will only invite the close relatives for her wedding and that me and her papa are in the list. Hope we are in the topmost of the list!!! Though she is too young to discuss about all this still we do it for some time pass---sometimes we are a crackpot family. I use such opportunities of discussions to inject my thoughts into her brain. Hoping that knowingly or unknowingly some of  my thoughts will be registered in her brain.

 Personally I feel  the younger generation is  so independent financially that they feel there is no need for adjustment between them when there is a discrepancy. When they are of same character they want to prove their own individuality. If for instance both are of adjusting characters(which seldom happens in a marriage) then fine, they will be in cloud nine . But if they  both are like two male lions then think about the war zone effect...Two knives cannot fit in a same sheath---literal translation of the Tamil proverb "ஒரு உறையில் இரு கத்தி இருக்க முடியாது”....This holds good only for a couple where both of them are dominating. Here, like poles repel. This is true  even among any relationships--brothers and  sisters, parents and children....But the difference is with parents, brothers , sisters , children or friends you adjust to withhold the relationship. Or may be there is no choice of divorce with these relationships. At the most you refrain from talking to each other but you don't want to break the relationship legally. Marriage is one relationship you have the choice of breaking the relationship legally , letting the whole world to know about it. May be it is a way to let the world know that you are not in a relationship anymore and that you are open for another relationship.


Sometimes my husband and my daughter argue a lot among themselves. Final report is that they both belong to Mars and have similar characters, that is the reason for their  arguments. Me being the mediator will try to pacify both by asking at least one of them to be quiet. Whether they listen to me or not is another topic for discussion. Between a dad and daughter or a dad and a son or a mom and a daughter the role of a mediator helps a lot. But among couples  I feel we should never have mediators. Both the husband and wife should talk to each other about their own problems and seek solutions within themselves. My mom says a tamil proverb, ”குறவன் சேதி குறத்திக்கு தான் தெரியும்”--which literally means only a gypsy wife will know the true colors of her gypsy husband.... It is better they sort out their problems by talking to each other . Letting a third person in marriage is like adding fuel to the fire. Each one has their own way of communicating ideas.

End of the day it is only the word adjustment which works wonders in marriages.It is one safe, fool proof  medication which we can administer to ourselves without any side effects.  Unless one of them is ready to adjust no one can mend the cracked  path of their marriage. One cannot change another's character, only you can adjust to their character. Where there is true love there should be acceptance of shortcomings too. Time and age makes one  a better person. As you grow older you start understanding the true  person inside. One's fixed opinions change with circumstances and experience.  For this you need ample patience like a crane...

When opposite poles attract, opposite genders attract , when every action has an opposite reaction then why not we accept the fact that life will be interesting to live with a person of opposite character??In such circumstances only life becomes interesting, adventurous, and challenging. Otherwise we will be sailing in a boat which sails only in one particular direction... Let the pill of "adjustment" be prescribed to all the ailing relationships and the disease of divorce which is caused due to the "adamant" virus be contained in our society.