Mangalore Buns

#mangalorebuns #mangalorefood #vegetarian#vegan #breakfast #snacks #coconutchutney #indiancuisine#nostalgic #memories #friends #friendslikefamily #trips#scubadiving #trek #waterfalls #murudeshwar#brothersisterbonding #bengalurudiaries 

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Mangalore Buns - 

I make these delectable Banana buns or Mangalore buns when the bananas overripe and go beyond recognition 🫣
And every time I make them I get nostalgic about the very first time I got to eat them, back in India. 😊

It was during this very memorable trip to Murudeshwar with a bunch of friends old and new. Fun filled and exhausting from scuba diving 🤿 
to trekking to some waterfalls 🏞 
to serene temple visits in the night. 😌
We even got to see this massive Lord Shiva statue, with Arabian Sea for a backdrop and is apparently the 2nd largest in world!

Strange experience - with a teller…

Yesterday I had called BofA to check few things and had this bizarre experience. Initially I got what I needed regrading my Checking account and later I wanted some more details about my Credit card. So I asked the person to transfer the call and Mercedes as I recall her name (hard to miss 😉) was kind enough to transfer the call.

Now, I start conversing with this other person (I don’t recall the name) and tell her that I called in to check regarding a specific credit card ending in ‘ABCD’. And she goes mentioning a different card number ending in ‘XYZO’. 

So, there was a little bit of confusion and then she finally said something like “Oh, I wanted to check if you got any offer or need details for this new card ending in ‘XYZO’ “

Then I clarified to her again and gave her my full name and the specific credit card details - ending in ‘ABCD’. She couldn’t pull it up. 

Next, she asked me if she could send a text message for verification to a mobile number ending in ‘1234’, while mine was ending in ‘4321’!! 

At this point, I was not sure why my details are not matching up. So i offered to spell out my entire name using phonetics and still no luck. So the next thing she asked was my email ID, again for verification purpose so I gave it. Still no luck.

I was getting a little edgy and asked out of curiosity, if it was BofA - Credit Cards Department and she said, Yes. 

I thought to myself, okay may be she is a new trainee or must have got something mixed up while multitasking so I was trying to be patient. 

But the next question, threw me off. She had asked my entire SSN, again for verification purpose!!! I mean, not just the last 4 digits (which is usual) but the complete SSN.. 😳🤯

So at this point I took a call and told her that I’m not comfortable with so many details mismatching and now to give away my entire SSN over a phone call and hung up.

Hmmm….All along the conversation, I may have given out information voluntarily (like asking if it was BofA - credit cards, instead of a simpler “which department it was”).

There could have been a genuine lines mix up, backend database or server issues which didn’t pull up the right data or some other technical issues. 

And like I said before, the person might have been new to the job.

Also, if you recall I was the one who made the call to begin with and just asked the call to be transferred.

But nonetheless, I feel more secure and comfortable getting off the line without sharing more than required. 

I can always call back and reach out to a different representative. 

Sometimes, you need to take a call when you need to get off!! 

Ducks

 

#backyard #backyardstories #duck #mallardduck #spa #swimmingpool #water #fountain #love #photooftheday #smile #look #instagramers #nature #lol #followme #family #instagood #wild #swimming #water #instanature #spring #seasons #couple #loveisintheair #nest #eggs #brooding #waiting 

Little did I know that this would happen… 🤦🏻‍♀️

It was initially amusing to do the ‘bird watching’  📹 👀 right in our backyard and see the birds take a swim or stroll around. What a lovely couple I thought! 

But hey wait! No!! This is OUR home and don’t go making them your’s. 

So yes, I did realize about the consequences and started shooing them away every time I spotted one. But then my little vacation from last week and the already overgrown weeds 🌱🌿🍃 (thanks to all the showers and sunshine even within a day - 🌦TX weather 🙄) made way to a little nest 🪺 

Now the mama duck 🦆 is brooding day and night, guarding the eggs with her life. And I’m researching around how long should I wait until my ‘tenants’ leave. 

Well, looks like the eggs might take almost 28 days to hatch!! 🐣 😳 🫣

And then the little ones need to stay until they learn to 🐥 walk, swim or even fly away.

So for now, it’s just a waiting time for the nest to empty … 🫥⏱⏳🪹

Playlist finally put to use…

A short write-up but am glad that am back to writing after a long time, thanks to my buddies :)

After a lot of struggle, I finally throw myself out of bed on a weekend morning. I look back and the bed seems to be in love with me all over again. But I make up my mind, tighten my shoe lace and am out on the street to welcome the sunrise.

I was apprehensive about going to the old airport assuming it would be abandoned, but I’m glad I didn’t change my mind. To my surprise it was happily crowded, with people having various receding hairlines in shades of black, grey and white. It was such a pleasant sight to watch the mixed group engaged in various activities.

The tiny tots cycle around looking behind intermittently for their watchful parents. The busy parents, though indulged in chit-chats with their ‘walking friends’ never take away their gaze from the kid who is trying to reach a pedal, lest they fall and hurt themselves. The happy, innocent smiles and the anxiety of the parent - this beautiful language of parenthood though restricted to them, an insight into it cheers you up for the rest of the day.

A little ahead I see an old man making some gentle gestures and body movements. I wonder if he can listen to the tune on my iPod and is shaking a leg in rhythm or if he is imitating any fitness freak out there. But the friendly smile assures me that grandpa surely knows what he is doing.

And then I spot a group of guys on bikes with their cricket kit in some serious discussions. I think they are waiting for this morning crowd to clear, who have encroached their playground. Did I hear them curse or hoot? Either ways I quicken my pace unperturbed.

There are a few stray dogs which thankfully don’t run along or bark. They don’t even chase the pigeons around and the harmony surprises me. And I ponder over the waging wars around amongst the other species.

The cool breeze on my sweaty face and the warmth of the slanting sun rays shake me to reality and remind me not to stroll but catch up with the ever changing world. I’m glad I put away my mobile, which would have otherwise blurred my vision to these morning beauties and made use of the long-back-made playlist on my fondly gifted iPod :)

Stapler...

Tick…tick…clip…clip.. Goes the stapler…. Wondering about this simple yet so useful invention I take a walk down my memory lane. As a kid, in spite of so many warnings and monitoring by parents, I wonder how I managed to clip my fingers rather than the bunch of papers (most of the times it would be just one sheet of paper with endless pins bordering the sheet in different patterns). Initially I would be amazed to see the dangling metal part from the tip of my finger, until the excruciating pain took over my excitement. And then I would run about the whole house creating pandemonium, leaving my parents in jitters.

At that point of time, enters my Hero. My dad would make me sit on his lap and handle my tiny little fingers with utmost care, as if they were The most precious thing in the whole universe, Of course every child is an apple of the eye to their parents. Looking back, now I understand the agony that he would have gone through to see me like that. Very carefully he would try to pluck out the alien element, trying not to shed any of the coloured liquid from me. Yet, the foreign body would leave behind a tiny bead of blood making me burst into tears. This would only worsen the situation for him, to see his princess cry, making him feeling that he was the cause for the pain. How I wish I had cried a little lesser and smiled for it was over….

And today when I see the stapler on my desk, I know I can never go wrong with it again, lesson learnt! But yes, I also see another person in line who could be doing the same in near future….

Stranger becomes friend or foe?

It was on one fine day, or one of those days when I missed my cab again. I got into a Volvo bus, standing, trying to finish my furity-breakfast doing the balancing act, when I over-heard the person standing next to me. He was a middle-aged man, early thirties I think, I’m not very good at guessing game. It was evident from his conversation that he was very much naïve to the city or atleast B’lore traffic. During the peak 10 o’clock office hour’s traffic, he was assuring someone on the phone, that he would reach Whitefield from Domlur in about 10minutes!! My heart leapt out to him and also the other person waiting for him and so I told him that it will not be feasible to reach that soon. He just enquired about the number of stops and roughly how long will it take and I answered his queries politely, all the while finishing the grapes by myself.
Later we just got into a typical introductory conversation of where from, what you do etc,. He was from Goa, not dressed in a bright flowery shirt or straw hat. Not an IT guy, for a change. He started asking me about my work, damn! My roller-coaster career with a shift from Biotechnology to IT industry, the dreadful question and then the job satisfaction part. I ponder over his questions, wondering how life has become, or I had let it happen to me.
Time flew by as we chatted for a little longer and then he popped the popular question of, “Are you on FB?” with my jaw dropped down, I blurt out frankly that I didn’t expect him to be on FB. I gave him my email id unaware of what it got me later. I reached my stop and we parted after exchanging pleasantries and not before providing him sufficient navigator information.
The day after, I see an email with a not so familiar name, but an eye-popping subject, “…from ITPL bus”. Now that was quick. After much dilemma I open the mail to see some phone number and about keeping in touch. Sigh! Bekitha? After having some internal conflicts, I sent a polite reply which doesn’t make a concrete promise of keeping in touch. But then I’m left with so many questions - too many to pen down, too many for me to handle. I feel like a kid refusing to grow up and wish I could go back to my cocoon sheltered by my parents.
But one of the many questions that still keep haunting me till date is - who else got my email id??

Travel hangover!!

Do you know what I’m talking about? I don’t even know if such a term exists, but I think this is what I’ve been facing since morning. Weekend trip to Hyderabad from Bangalore has made me sleep deprived for almost 3 days in a row now. People say it is just Hyderabad- Bangalore, overnight journey and that you can sleep through it. But then, it is otherwise, at least sometimes.
It all started on Friday evening, rushing from office to make it to the bus stand just in time, only to find myself lost amongst numerous buses. I was running from one end to the other looking for my 20:43 bus. There was 20:25 and 21:04 bus, but not mine. After frantically searching I finally got onto my bus, made all the calls and messages about safely boarding the bus and then I nestled on my seat making myself comfortable. After the tiring day and luggage tugging, I was ready to fall asleep at the drop of a hat in spite of the not-so-good comfort of a bus ride. But then, I was not very lucky as the girl seated next to me seemed to be on a marathon-talking competition. I wanted to politely point out to her that she was on the higher end of permissible decibel level of sound. But then the alien language was explicit enough to reveal her mixed feelings, the excitement of getting a visa and flying to a new place and the pain of parting from the loved ones’. So I chose to toss around for a while until I caught some sleep.
I woke up to the sun rise (if I had fallen asleep) which looked more like an hour glass to me with the sand sliding down faster than ever. One more sun rise in Hyderabad and the next in Bangalore again. Sigh! I’m reminded of the lines, “…..And miles to go before I sleep” (courtesy “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening” – Robert Frost). As the clock ticks away, I decide that sleep can wait, so am on my heels doing all the errands. I was looking forward for the eventful evening as it was my school’s annual day, the primary reason for my trip. It was a wonderful evening to see my teachers’ proud of what I am today and of course to catch up with old friends. Late in the night, I decided to go for a movie with my parents the next day. Though it meant incomplete sleep I chose the first show so that I’ll get done with it and my other plans will still remain undisturbed.
I was glad I had watched the movie with my parents in the big screens of IMAX, 3D. My parents too thoroughly enjoyed themselves. From there, it was the meet up with college friends followed by some souvenirs, Karachi bakery biscuits.
Later in the evening it was back-to-square-one, packing and rushing for the bus (it is genetic I suppose, making it in the last minute) .Boarding the bus again and thinking of the long journey ahead and the day ahead made me sleepy and tired. But insomnia continued to haunt me, in a different version this time. My blanket! I couldn’t believe that it was not enough for a person of a small stature like me too. It seemed more like a table cloth. When I couldn’t get a replacement, I had to dangle my feet out all through the night getting them cold. I was hoping not to fall sick and tried to catch some sleep with the speakers just above my head thumping some loud movie dialogues.
Monday morning blues, I say to myself and reach office hoping the day to pass. With the caffeine kicking and keeping me alive I wait for the sun set so that I can reach home and slip into a deep slumber. The trip has left me happy and contented though it meant going that extra mile.