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My Saregama connection with Shankar Mahadevan!

If there’s one wish and desire that I’ve had since donkey’s years, it is to be able to sing; and not just sing, but sing well.  When I watch the dozen or so music reality shows on TV, where mere babies totter out from their mother’s wombs right on to stage and belt out melodious numbers, I am always deeply impressed, a tad bit envious and all fired up. If they can do it, why can’t I, is the fond…

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MLAs, resorts and our family trip

‘16 MLAs have been shifted from Bihar to the Taj resort in Hyderabad.’  I read in the newspaper. And why this generous holiday in a posh resort for people whose job profile is anyway one long all-paid holiday? To prevent poaching, apparently! A calculated move that happens whenever new alliances are being forged or a government is being formed, or whatever. Ah, well! Be that as it may, when I…

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In fond memory of my doddappa!

We, the Sharmas of Kappettu, have a war veteran in our family – my doddappa, a kind and loving soul and an inspiration to the Sharmas of Kappetu and all who knew him. Late Shri Rajagopala Sharma, my dad’s eldest brother, was born on 4th Dec, 1921. Living in Trivandrum where his parents, (my grandparents) lived at the time, he began contributing to the family’s meagre income right from the tender…

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What jhumka? I said it first, before Alia Bhat.

My jhumka gira re! Yes, it really did. One minute it was dangling merrily from my ear, the next, it wasn’t. Now, if you’ll are dying to know what jhumka, like Alia Bhat wanted to know in that film Rocky aur Rani ki prem kahani, then you jolly well have to humour me and listen to the full story. So, there was a wedding in the extended family some months back, obviously the culmination of a niece…

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Cricket, Rachin, Sachin and more!

So, the cricket world cup has finally wound down. For a month and more, while our men in blue were sweating it out on the field, in our house, we’ve been doing our bit too. The husband and the sofa in front of the TV set have been like Fevicol ka mazboot jodi and nothing, but nothing can make him move from it while a match is in progress. Last week, I remarked that the kitchen was quite bare…

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Big B on my bonnet!

Big B! What makes this man tick? More than five decades in Bollywood and counting! And it’s not as if the man has always been on the top. Let’s face it – some of his films have been flops and how! He’s been through a political debacle. His company was a huge fiasco when it went bankrupt. He’s survived a near-fatal accident. He’s had a high-profile love-affair linked to his name …  yet the man…

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Kamalammma and Trevor Noah in Bengaluru!

Myself Kamalamma from Kunjibettu in Udupi, Karnataka. What to tell you! Few days back I am reading in newspaper about award-winning world-famous stand-up comedian Trevor Noah, who is coming to Namma Bengaluru to give show and people are paying Rs 12,000/- for one ticket and some are telling lies to their Boss that mother-in-law is dying and they are taking half-day leave to travel across…

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30 by 40 in Namma Bengaluru

20 by 30, 30 by 40, 40 by 60 … That’s how land is measured in Namma Bengaluru. They’re the vital stats of a city which was once upon a time, long, long ago known as the Garden City, but is now more of a concrete horror, with buildings of the most absurd shapes, sizes, designs and heights, all over. Yet, the place still has a few pockets of purely residential colonies with independent houses on…

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The woman who sold her Ferrari!

That woman is me and I sold my car. That much is all true. But the car wasn’t a Ferrari. I lied. 😉 It was actually an old model, so old that they’ve stopped manufacturing it these days apparently. And besides, it was, what would euphemistically be termed as a pre-owned car, or second hand in plain English! Continue reading Untitled

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A step-by-step guide on how NOT to write a recipe

Rather belatedly in my writer’s journey, I have realised that posts and videos on food garner the most views. And ergo, I have decided to jump onto the band wagon and try my hand at writing a recipe. Move over Sanjeev Kapoor and Ranveer Brar and the rest of the gang. Here I present the recipe to beat all recipes and for starters we shall make something I tried out quite recently. Having failed…

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Draft to Book - a story in rhyme

On behalf of all the writers out there! 🙂 So, you think in order to write a book,we simply string a few words together,then we can sit back with a glass of wineand call ourselves an author? No Sir, first we need an ideawhich can be faint and fleeting;we need to catch it and give it shapebefore it starts retreating. Whether for me or JK Rowlingan idea can come out of the blue –in bed, in the…

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Jack of all fruits!

So, we’ve retired and relocated from Abu Dhabi back to Udupi, a coastal town in Karnataka. That is a well-known fact, by now, mainly because I’ve been shouting it out from the rooftops for donkey’s months. Pangs of nostalgia for the place we’ve just left behind are but natural and as an antidote I have immersed myself into the life and culture of Udupi – the heat and humidity, the rains, the…

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Yes macha, we are in Bengaluru!

Too lazy to read this post? No worries – you can catch it on my podcast – Radhikas2cents on Spotify Podcasters! Most of my regular readers must be aware by now that, we, that is – my husband and I, are spending our just retired days shuttling between Udupi and Bangalore. Both places have their charms. While Udupi has its hot, hotter, hottest weather 24/7-365 days and its delightful banana-leaf…

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Ee sala cup namde - This time the cup is ours!

Too lazy to read the post? You can listen to it on my podcast Radhikas 2 cents on Anchor/Spotify too, here! 🙂 If you’ve been following this blog regularly, you would probably be aware of my whereabouts now. But for those who came in late, we have relocated back to our motherland and until the cargo arrives, we have comfortably parked ourselves with the two boys in their apartment in Bangalore;…

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Kamalamma and naatu naatu

Myself Kamalamma from Kunjibettu in Udupi. What to tell you! That day, one poor man is coming to me in the street and asking for money and I am giving him some loose change from my purse and what he is doing? Saying thank you? Ambade sunti! He is looking at me and saying no coins akka, I am taking only note-u, note-u note-u note-u note-u note-u! Abbabba! (more…) “”

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Abu Dhabi - our oasis for a quarter of a century

Home is where the heart is, as the old cliché goes and my home was in Abu Dhabi, UAE for a quarter of a century. Yup, you read that right. In the same country, city and apartment for 25 years. Same wife too, the husband is inclined to add in a saintly and martyr-like tone, but that is not the topic under the radar right now! Mild teething problems apart, the place quickly grew on us! Initially,…

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Kamalamma, popcorn and Pathaan

Myself Kamalamma from Kunjibettu, Udupi. What to tell you! Yesterday morning, I am opening our front door to bring newspaper inside and I am seeing our neighbour going somewhere with his full family. I am saying Oi, Rakesh anna where you people are going so early in the morning? Satsang or what? And he is saying Aiyyo Kamalamma, who will wake up so early for Satsang and all, we are going for…