Clicks and writes
My Letters – GULF NEWS – Make dreams come true
My Letters – GULF NEWS – Make dreams come true
To read my letters to the news, please bookmark and visit Letters to the Editor
മാപ്രാണം പള്ളിയില് തിരുനാളിന് കൊടിയേറി
മാപ്രാണം പള്ളിയില് തിരുനാളിന് കൊടിയേറി
http://www.irinjalakuda.com
മാപ്രാണം ഹോളിക്രോസ് തീര്ത്ഥകേന്ദ്രത്തില് കുരിശുമുത്തപ്പന്റെ തിരുനാളിന് കൊടിയേറി. മാര്.ജോസഫ് പാസ്റ്റര് നീലങ്കാവില് പതാക ഉയര്ത്തി. സെപ്തംബര് 12 വരെ കുരിശിന്റെ കപ്പേളയില് വൈകീട്ട് 5.30ന് നൊവേന, വചനസന്ദേശം ,13ന് വൈകീട്ട് 5ന് വഴിപാട് തിരിതെളിയിക്കല് എന്നിവ നടക്കും. 14ന് രാവിലെ 6.30,7.30, ഉച്ചതിരിഞ്ഞ് 3നും ദിവ്യബലി. പള്ളിയുടെ പേരും ചിത്രവും മുദ്രണം ചെയ്ത തപാല്സ്റ്റാമ്പ് 14ന് പുറത്തിറക്കും. കേന്ദ്രസഹമന്ത്രി പ്രൊഫ.കെ.വി.തോമസ്, പി.സി.ചാക്കോ എം.പി. തുടങ്ങിയവര് പങ്കെടുക്കും, രാവിലെ 10ന് ആഘോഷമായ തിരുനാള് പാട്ടുകുര്ബ്ബാനക്ക് ഫാ.ആന്റോ പാണാടന് മുഖ്യകാര്മ്മികനാകും. വൈകീട്ട് 3.30ന് തിരുനാള് പ്രദക്ഷിണം 7ന് വിശുദ്ധ കുരിശിന്റെ തിരുശേഷിപ്പ് ചുംബിക്കല് എന്നിവ നടക്കും.
Ramadan lightings – Abu Dhabi Corniche Street
Ramadan Lightings at Abu Dhabi Corniche Street. In order to welcome the holy month of Ramadan, Corniche Street, one of Abu Dhabi’s major drive way, is decorated with beautiful lightings. Traffic is light during the post Iftar time and here is a video taken by my wife Rajashree during a pleasant evening drive, with our favorite music on.
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Anxious wait for taxis and buses
Anxious wait for taxis and buses
With schools starting and most expatriates back from holidays, we are facing the same old problem: no taxi or bus available in the morning. During post-iftar time, the scene is no different. Everywhere, huge crowds wait anxiously for a taxi or bus to come. I request the authorities consider more transport services during peak hours.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
Anxious wait for taxis and buses
To read my letters to the news, please bookmark and visit Letters to the Editor
Taste It – Sweet and soft Coconut Vada
Taste It – Sweet and soft Coconut Vada
I believe cooking as an art. I enjoy doing it as I do passionately several other hobbies. Starting on this auspicious day of Onam, a new series for my blog. Taste It. A delicacy each time, tested and tasted. Hope to recieve your comments.
Sweet and soft Coconut Vada
Ingredients:
– Fresh Coconut grated – 4 nos
– Jaggery – 500gms
– Ghee – 25gms
– Roasted cashew nut
– cardamom powder add to taste
Take jaggery in pan, add water and boil it to melt it uniformly so that it forms a smooth syrup. Sieve it well so that any unwanted particles of stone etc are removed from it.
Now add this jaggery syrup to a heavy bottomed pan and keep it on medium heat.
Once it starts boiling, add the freshly grated coconut to this syrup solution.
Stir continuously and let the coconut cook well in the jaggery syrup.
Add the ghee and cardamom powder to this syrup.
You may add little water if the mixture is looking too dry.
Keep stirring until the mixture comes close to a thick form.
Turn off the heat and keep it aside for few minutes.
When the mixture is still warm grease your palm with ghee and start making small oval or round shaped vadas with the mixture.
Display it nicely on a plate and then garnish each one of them by placing a roasted cashew nut on top.
Enjoy your Onam or Iftar evening with a Taste It recipe and let me have your comments. I dedicate the first of the series to the Sharadechi, wife of late M N Vijayan. This was one of the delicacies she served to us when we visited her during our recent holidays.
My Daily Ramdan Thoughts – 10/2009
My Daily Ramdan Thoughts – 10/2009
May god bless each one of us to develop good thoughts and deeds to the benefit of the society around us.
Ramesh Menon
31082009
റമദാന് ചിന്തകള് 10/2009
റമദാന് ചിന്തകള് 10/2009
എന്റെ എല്ലാ പ്രിയ വായനക്കാര്ക്കും പുണ്യ മാസ്സമായ റമദാനിലെ പത്താം നാളിലേക്ക് സ്വാഗതം. രണ്ടു മൂന്ന് ദിവസം എന്റെ ചിന്തകളുമായി നിങ്ങളുടെ അടുത്ത് വരാന് സാധിച്ചില്ല. ഒരു സുഹൃത്തിന്റെ അകാലത്തിലുള്ള വിയോഗവും മറ്റു ചില മാനസ്സിക സംഘര്ഷങ്ങളും കാരണം എഴുത്തില് ശ്രദ്ധ ചെലുത്താന് പറ്റിയില്ല. ചിറയിന്കീഴ് അന്സാര് എന്ന ആ സുഹൃത്തിന്റെ ആത്മാവിന് നിത്യശാന്തി നേര്ന്നു കൊണ്ട് ഇന്നത്തെ ചിന്തകളിലേക്ക് കടക്കട്ടെ. അറിയാത്തവര്ക്ക് പോലും ഉപകാരം ചെയ്യാന് ഒരു മടിയും ഇല്ലാതെ സമയം കണ്ടെത്തിയിരുന്ന ഒരു നല്ല മനുഷ്യന്. അദ്ധേഹത്തിന്റെ മരണ വിവരം അറിഞ്ഞ ഒരു സാധാരണക്കാരനായ സുഹൃത്ത് എന്നോട് പറഞ്ഞത് – ഒരിക്കല് അബു ദാബിയിലെ എംബസ്സിയില് എന്തോ കാര്യത്തിനു പോയ സമയത്ത് ശ്രീ അന്സാര് കാണുകയും സഹായിക്കുകയും ചെയ്ത കഥയാണ്. ഓരോരോ ഉത്തരവാധിത്വങ്ങളില് ഇരിക്കുന്നവര് അവരുടെ മേഘലയിലും അതില് നിന്ന് പുറത്തു തന്നാല് ആവുന്ന മറ്റു മേഘലകളിലും തങ്ങളുടെ കഴിവുകളും സഹായഹസ്തങ്ങളും പരോപകാരപ്രദമായി വിനിയോഗിക്കുന്നതിന്റെ ഉദാത്തമായ ഉദാഹരണം.
ഈശ്വരന് എല്ലാ മനുഷ്യരിലും നല്ല മനസ്സുകളും നല്ല ചിന്തകളും വളര്ത്തുവാന് ഇടവരുത്തട്ടെ എന്ന് പ്രാര്ത്ഥിച്ചു കൊണ്ട് ഇന്നത്തെ ചിന്തകള് ഇവിടെ ചുരുക്കുന്നു.
സസ്നേഹം
രമേശ് മേനോന്
31082009
Kadugodi Kobra Cup – A Cricket tournament to nurture unity and friendship
Kadugodi Kobra Cup – A Cricket tournament to nurture unity and friendship
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
During my recent visit to Bangalore, I was lucky enough to see the finals of a club Cricket tournament. Kadugodi Kobra Cup – named after the small village which occupies Whitefield and surrounding areas of Bangalore. The initial stages of the tournament had matches played between various local teams and on the day I was there, it was the Finals. The composition of the two teams attracted me very much. One team was filled with members of the building community of Golden Blossom who owned properties there and the opposition team formed workers and management staff of Golden Gate Properties. A thrilling final, typical with moments of heated arguments, run chases, run outs and of course the winning moments. To relive the Lagaan experience, the Workers/Management team won the cup. It gave me another opportunity to share the harmony and joy of winning and losing.
Good wishes to all the participants and team members. For individual photos, please email me at team1dubai@gmail.com
Ramesh Menon
Passionate Photography Thoughts by Ramesh Menon – Archiving
A warm welcome to all the new members of Passionate Photographers group on Face Book. As the name denotes, you all have joined this group out of your interest for Photography. For any form of creativity there should be no boundaries or restrictions. Because, what I feel creative may not be the same for someone amongst you. But, it doesn’t mean that what I have done is not creative. So, with the above statement, I relax a mandatory condition kept for photo submission to this group. You can post photographs on any subject you feel interested and comfortable – except children and pornography. This is to keep our forum from any controversies or issues. However, if you are able to find time to post photos pertaining to the selected topics (Best Moments of your Summer holidays, Animals and Birds, Flowers, Smile) provided as Theme for Summer 2009, well and good. The theme is selected keeping in view of a competition planned for children to be conducted by Talent Share blog very soon. Also, please try to post limited numbers of photos each time selecting the best from your collection. This will make reviewing and editing work easy for our expert team.
Please also welcome Mr. J. H. Gaspar and Mr. Sujin Balakumaran to the expert team to guide us through a world of knowledge sharing and team building in the coming days. Mr. Gaspar has immense photography knowledge and a guru who nurtured photography talent to many. Mr. Sujin is a talented photographer, a team person and moreover, a friend for all who love to share knowledge and skills. I am sure we all will gain from both of them and their immense photography experiences.
In my previous communication, I touched the point of Discipline. This time, let me take you to Archiving. As a person who is passionate about photography and who likes to click photos without inhibition, I end up taking many pictures each day. Normally, What I do, is to do a transfer of pictures taken each day at the end of the day to a month-wise folder, systematically designed in my computer. This is done, when I keep my batteries for daily charging, so that main set of batteries and the spare are always fully charged each morning. I always take pictures in high resolution and when the transfer process is done and as I get time, I distribute copies of them to numerous folders, again systematically designed – say birds, animals, city scenes, autos, places, events, faces etc. This makes it easier for me to retrieve photos easily whenever I need a specific photo for a write-up or for presenting to a competition or for press. Normally, before posting on to my blogs or for that matter on any public portal, I resize the picture size to make it convenient for viewers to see them from any type or speed of access point they use, including PDA phones. This way it makes easy for normal readers to view and any time anyone interested in a high resolution of it could revert to me for viewing or any other commercial purpose. In addition, as I keep on clicking, I always keep a stock photo of a particular interesting situation for later use so that it never become a duplicate of what I submitted in the sites. The archiving system I developed is by trial and error and by experience. Currently with the help of bigger storage facilities like 500 GB hard disks and so on, keeping multiple version of our precious photography moments safe have become an easy task. However, for new viruses, there is always an easy access and I try to avoid using USBs and other connectors on common computers.
Wish to hear your comments and see your photography knowledge shared. Please invite any keen photographer who may be interested to share his knowledge and skills for our benefit and let us progress ahead each time we visit Passionate Photographers group.
Always keep your eyes open for a precious moment and have a great journey ahead.
God Bless.
Ramesh Menon
29082009
ClicksandWrites 
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