IF NOT FOR YOU

THERE IS NO ME

There is no me
 If not for you, mother

All I knew was you, caring  
The most beautiful, God fearing

Playful, childish joy apparent
Yet, the most strict parent

And the smartest ever
To my questions your answers 

Guide me to this day
As candle you lit my way



LOVE YOU MUMMY & MISS YOU!

I am my mothers' daughter,
Copyright©VeerajaR 2015

Ureka! Uduvil Style -Hoppers!

Hoppers (Appam) have been and are the favorite breakfast/dinner of children growing up in Ceylon. It's healthy and easily digestible. It is also popular, tourists' pick as well.

Making hoppers is kind of like bread making... and involves fermentation, but  a much more intricate process with tropical ingredients such as coconut milk & coconut water. Requires lots of attention and patience. I consider it one of my greatest achievements to have mastered this process. Thanks to my mum-in-law for teaching the standard method and giving me my first Appam pan, a crucial and essential part of the equation for success, nearly eighteen years ago.

Thanks to my own mummy for choosing to live and be a teacher in the town which was famous for Hoppers. There were lanes/roadside boutiques side by side, making and selling the best hoppers ever... every evening!

Hoppers are so unique and unlike bread, pancakes or rotti, hoppers (Appam) have a thinner crusty winged edge and a soft center. It is best eating them fresh off the pan as they come out, made with eggs or coconut milk or plain centered with the crunchy winged outer edge.

Each child's choice and hopper pick often differ. As a child you get such a satisfaction when a hopper is made, even if at a boutique---specially for you, at your request perfectly as your requested; with an egg center (pepper/salted if you wanted) or coconut centered and jaggery or brown sugar added as you wish! The plain centered aren't lacking choices either... as they can be eaten dipped in the custard soft yolk of egg hoppers or with maldive fish vs coconut sambol for side. As a mother I felt such pride in making them to each of my kid's preference.  It's such a blissful family bonding nostalgic moment... every single time.

For the past fifteen years or so I had been improvising and my kitchen had become my experimental lab to making every food I loved, a little more healthier each time as it can be... The Red rice Hoppers had been a "Healthier Hopper" project I had been working on remembering my grandmother's Uduvil-style red-rice hoppers which were pinkish in color. As you can see in these pictures I have finally mastered the red-rice hoppers which are actually darker red because of higher bran content, but, yet... came out fermented just right with soft center and perfectly crunch winged outer edge! I do wish mummy is here to taste it and give her approval of excellence!!!

Ureka moment, indeed!

I am my Mother's proud daughter...!

Copyright©2013VeerajaR






 









Copyright©2013VeerajaR

All Is Well!

All is well with the world

When the sky is clear blue

Wearing only the whitest clouds- and

Air is laden with rainbows of scents

Mapped for bees and butterflies

Dancing under the hot sun!

All will be well with the world

When I lie in my little grave…

Just as I am now,

Lying in my hammock – amidst

A busy world breathing, and

Breeding, happiness all around!

Poetry: Copyright ©2010 by Veera Rajaratnam (VeerajaR). All Rights Reserved.

Blog Dedication to My Mummy

Have you ever questioned the existance of GOD? I'm sure at one point or another you question that if not out loud! For me-my Mother-was the proof of the existance of GOD.

I first believed in GOD because my mother told me GOD is everything and he is the one who made everything. My mummy's words were all that was needed for me as a child. But, as I grew older and realized how great and dedicated she was to us-her kids,me and my brother- she became the proof of GOD's existance.

I am still trying to figure out how I come to deserve such a beautiful and dedicated mother, who gave us more than life. She lived, toiled and died with only one thought-her children's well being.

She is in a better place, I am sure-showered in GODs Grace, Mercy and immersed in eternal... Peace.

How could I not think of my mother today-on Easter Sunday? How could I not, but only Praise GOD for his Mercy on me and my brother, for lending his angel to be our mother? I am sure she is in heaven and blissfully glowing in God's Grace, Mercy and eternal Peace.

"Eternal rest grant unto her, Oh, Lord; Let the perpetual light shine upon her; May she rest in PEACE, Amen!"

I am My Mother's Daughter! -VeerajaR

Copy Right © 2008 VeerajaR.

All Rights Reserved.