Occupational h(air)zard

#MIL power

Yes it's been a long time since we started interacting on opos theme. Long long ago very long ago RK was thrown out of a group for using too much of PC and his attitude. But we were staunch followers, not knowing the next step, just kept mum. I thought fb was all about these small talks and then vanish off kind of stuff.  Then out of no where, a small group with just  the few us + RK was formed. Those days I would wait to wake up in the morning to try cooking an opos dish, take pictures, write a recipe, post from my pc, take a quick bath, check for CV's and RK's comments. And then my day would start at school. Afternoon, back from school, I would switch on the computer first and then eat a snack. I started using a spoon to eat so that I can use my hands on the mouse to scroll up and down to check posts. It was a craze, once I pmed RK to ask which mobile phone will be good for checking fb posts. As per his suggestion bought a  samsung, dropped it broke it while experimenting in the kitchen, then a micromax which tasted my sambar because I dropped it into the pc. Then a moto g and now the latest moto G+.... So many phones exchanged with Vatsan shouting at me and at times RK and other opos  members too would get a chiding. 😊😊. Pazham nazhuvi paal la vizhundha maari cell nazhuvi cooker la vizhundadu......And then the group expanded, it's now such a lovely huge family.😊😊People in the group would have asked many a number of questions on my post and Jayashree Aravind would have said teacher will be back after 3 pm. SS and teacher were my pet names in the group. Those were such fun times. I was enjoying a lot of warmth from people whom I had never met.  Then the opos meet in a wedding hall happened, I met RK for the first time. He is not what he sounds here in the group, rough and tough.  He is a very warm person, a bit shy too, however very assertive.  I had taken my mixie for the event. Here I was introduced to many opos stars and specially to millets. RK gave us a few  packets as take home gifts, while on our way back, cv gave us interesting  millet recipes. I still remember how he argued with cv for the opos sambar. CV was very sure.... She did have a point when she said the dhal was not cooked, then came the dhal grits. What a wonderful thing to add grits instead of whole dhal. In the same wedding hall I met my lady love.😊😊  Opos not only formulated easy cooking with short templates with no elaborate methodology, it also got me a precious friend.
Poduvaga MN s thangam....Oru potinu vandu vitta singam.
Manjula natarajan....A treasure house of knowledge, sharing everything that she knows with everyone with a happy heart ,....and with no airs. Never hurting others, liking all posts taking ideas and giving them their dues. She is still the darling of the group.
GT and jaya gopal were also very active members. GT 's comments would always bring  a smile on my face. He is a very down to earth jolly good person with such a  good command over the  language. Good and off colour... at the same time....but never would he pm like a stilthy mouse. He would  always  attack on the post, straight. His write-ups on health issues were well appreciated. He also wrote reviews on all our posts which had to be taken with a lot of salt....not a pinch of it. Jaya gopal tried to create a website, give prizes for the best recipe. Saraswathi's rasam sadam was a great hit. She is from my home town Trichy and a good friend. How can I forget Varloo!!! Oh my god!! the fun we had when we met for temple festivals at  Mylapore. We all bonded so well as our common topic was opos.
But after all these and many more opos ing years, recently I had to do what you see in this picture. During my recent visit to my periya amma's house at Pune, while she was making a garland for Sharadhambal of Sharadha peetam I was asked to check the rice. I saw the rice boiling or should I say cooking. It was a funny sight, I have never seen such a thing, and with opos running in my blood,  was unable to even comprehend what I saw.  I reluctantly asked her how will one know if it's cooked and why not in the  cooker. She is a very strong and smart palakkattu lady with a bit of sarcasm oozing out in each and every sentence that she utters. She said poo thodukka theriyala, sadam vadikka theriyala....Oooo eyyyy!!!
I slowly tried to talk -cooker cooker to her, she said we never use cooker, it takes a long time. I said I make my tea in cooker, its so easy.  She gave me a dirty look, then left it at that. Its not easy to convince your mother inlaw or your periyamma or for that matter your own amma or  husband. We are not here to do that. I am convinced,  I am happy, I get a lot of time to do many things that I like, like I do theatre, spend  more time with children watch a lot of  movies and  go out with friends. And that's it. Period!!!
Thank you RK for mentioning me in the list and making me feel on top of the cooker.... like a whistle!!! So here I go venting out like the cooker whistle.