IIT to America - my recent book

 

My latest book I was commissioned to write.

I was headed on my annual visit to the boys when I found an email in my inbox from my professor colleague in Iowa State Unie, requesting me to be agreeable to write a sort of autobiography of a friend  who was his IIT buddy and now lived in the US for the last four decades. Kamala Rajan had grown up dirt poor in a slum in Chennai and through various serendipitious chances which he grabbed with both hands he  got into the prestigious IIT and then onwards and upwards to the US. 

When I first aw the email while I was travelling through London to the US I felt who the heck wants to write about a rich dude who just wants to show off? Hardly what I would enjoy writing about. My travels took me onwards to the US and there my Professor friend said cummon write the book, hes a very decent man. I said give me time to read the brief and I'll get back and that was that. One month flew by in the US and I arrived back in the UK. Sitting quietly in my room one afternoon while the house was quiet, with all away on their work I re read the email and the brief and was instantly hooked.

The story was a shocker and so compelling for me, coming from a fairly comfortable back ground. The hunger Rajan had faced was unimaginable for me. Just by chance his muslim friend asked him to accompany him to Loyola college to put in his application. Loyola was my dads old college so that was another plus.

 Standing there in the que with rich children he was embarassed with his broken chappals. When the registrar came and shouted at them for coming to this hallowed institution, his friend stood up for him and said -- look at his marks card and you will see his true value. The registrar looked at the marks card and walked up to the principals office with it. In minutes the principal came out in his cassok and asked -- Who's Rajan?  and the rest as they say is history. The Jesuit priest saw Rajans worth and gave him the first step forward like all our religious institutions do.

 

Read my book -- it gives you an idea of the poor boys determination to succeed. Today he heads a multi-million dollar conglomerate in the US and India. And my fee of 8 lakhs I divided it between my grand daughter for their University fees. My needs are small and I really need to see the girls are well educated so they can always stand on their own two feet and not get dictated to by any silly man. 

Halloween catches up in the UK

 

Pumpkin carving for Halloween

On my way back from Andy's in the US I stopped again for a few days before heading home. It was fun to see the kids and Rashme carve pumpkins getting set for Halloween. Strange to see Halloween an American  festival become big in the UK too! 

Nice size to carve unlike the massive US ones!

So Rashme took the kids and got them these beautiful , decent sized pumpkins unlike the US ones which were so HUGE, we couldn't even lift them at COSTCO!! Rather than mess the dining table they took the fruit out to the garden and I got to collect the seeds for my Hoskote.

Seeds were washed and dried to carry home to Hoskote

I collected the seeds, but they had some pulp sticking to them so needed to be soaked and washed. Have no idea of they will grow but I have  to give them a try now in the  unseasonal rain. Last time I grew them I took the pumpkins to the Only Place restaurant who made wonderful pumpkin pie. I got a free pie while they sold the rest!

Arthur poses with his perfect one!

Then when Halloween came round Dave and I bought bags of sweets as they're called in the UK.  Not candy as they are called in the US. The kids who came around trick or treating were so British and well behaved. No wild grabbing and being greedy - instead each child just took a small pkt of M&Ms or Haribos each! I think its a cultural thing, good manners. They are brought up with the correct attitude and parents are quite particular that the kids are not loud and wild when they are outside. 

The pumpkins lit up at night!

I've seen it in Wales where the Brits in the bus will be quiet and polite while our Indian kids who have come to study in the Unie,  are wild and loud. No wonder they are fed up and killing off young Indians who go there to work. We were always taught to gell with the locals. Blend in, don't stick out. But today's generation want to go to their countries and be loud and dirty in typical fashion and so -- get into trouble.

Apple picking in the fall!

Apple picking in the fall!

The road to Jetta Farms

 Its such an amazing trip every single time I visit S Carolina or London! The boys make sure their mother is taken out to visit places she can write about for her magazines. So this time since it was Fall, Annika booked our visit to our favourite Jetta Farms. One can go apple picking for 35$ a basket and you can eat as much as you like while picking! Been told to do it for my farm  by the boys -- open it up for chickoo and mango picking but I'm reluctant as its a massive undertaking. Plus Jetta makes money on Cider donuts and all sorts of produce  including warm Cider and pies. You can make a whole days outing like we do -- buying food and enjoying the day out. I ant do that in Hoskote unless I am present to oversee it.

Annika was busy picking so is out of the pic

Its a fun trip and of course I got a great story for my mags. The apples had been damaged when young by a freak hail storm. To heal themselves, they grew a bump around eat hit!

The Depot where we took our harvest.

 Looked a bit like chicken pox and not very appealing, but we were educated on the issue once we were taken to the orchard. I was curious and so bit off the lump to see it was exactly that! a growth by the fruit to heal the 'wound'!

The lumps and bumps on the fruit

Reading up on the phenomenon, I wanted to be sure before I wrote a story for any magazine. Yes! Nature is wonderful in helping to heal the fruit rather than leave it open to attack from a virus or fungus. The apples were perfect to crunch into. Fresh and juicy unlike the powdery ones we get in India. I bought a huge bottle of apple cider vinegar as I love it in all meat dishes and ofcourse the hot and sweet Brinjal pickle which Mum used to make and I do now.

Hammered by sharp hail stones

We walked around picking a whole variety of apples and took the basket home. I had brought some apples from Davids tree which Alaina and me made an apple pie with but she insisted we make one with Stevia so we made the first one with Stevia and I scoffed the whole thing alone!

Alaina is 11 and a fine chef already!

It was Alaina who quickly found the shell of the pie in Aldis and said it saves tons of time. Then I sliced the apples and quickly sauteed them with cinnamon and Stevia. Oooh! the smell of cinnamon is enough to make me salivate. A squeeze of lemon"!:  said Alaina will give the final flavour and it did!

Then we pushed it into the oven for a few minutes and then I could enjoy apple pie after years. Being diabetic means a lot of food I do not touch, but this one time sorted my cravings till the next time Alaina makes me something with Stevia! Its so very sad that Mum and Dad cannot enjoy these kids like I do. I know they would have loved them like they did my David and Andrew! There is so much the boys remember of their years with them and I am truly grateful.

 The tractor what took us around the farm