Siby Kuriakose

"To open the door or not open the door?".... "The man he was accused of killing and was sent to jail for, is alive" . The woman was sitting in the middle of the top deck of the train compartment. Oblivious to her companion travelers'  indifference she continued to spit out these non sequiturs. The companions were, relatively speaking, doing extremely sane things, one woman was reading a book on " Stress Testing "... One was working on a packet of potato treats like they were going out of fashion soon.. most of the others were aurally wired to their music boxes. Now she pulled out her comb and manically or methodically brushed the fringe of hair in the front... I was of course furiously trying to capture the various non reactions of the other passengers. " the next station will be....... " came the announcement over the train speakers.. "The next station will be what?!?!.. She exclaimed.. Surprising everyone with a bit of lucid observatio...

Ever wanted to buy a piece of carry on luggage but you were not really sure what the right size is for all the various airlines? Here's a ready reckoner. I put this together because i was tired of going through all the individual websites, also find airline site links for reference, ALWAYS check to see if the information has been updated, American Airlines: The maximum dimensions cannot exceed any of the following measurements: 22" long x 14" wide x 9" tall or 115cm (56 x 36 x 23 cm). All carry-on items should be stowed in an overhead bin. Personal item  - includes: purse, briefcase, laptop bag OR a similar item such as a tote that does not exceed 36 inches( length+width+height) and must fit under the seat in front of you. http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/baggage/carryOnAllowance.jsp Delta Baggage may not exceed 45 linear inches (or 114 cm) in combined length, width and height, including any handles and wheels Baggage must fit easily in ...

Like everyone else i was eagerly waiting for the Nexus 5 release..so was prepared to hit the checkout button the moment it appeared on the Play Store and i did. I love to keep a lot of pictures, music and videos on the phone, you never know when you might be bored of all the other apps right? So i ordered the 32GB version, with taxes (Illinois) and the slightly more expensive 2 day shipping it was about 445 dollars. Given the specs the phone claimed to have, money well spent i assumed, and i'm not saying it isn't, yet... Although the phone was supposed to leave the warehouse only on the 8th of November, it left much earlier and it was in my hand on the evening of November 5th. That's a neat trick Google, over delivery or rather early delivery will always win you brownie points (Side note: I was moving from the Galaxy Note to this phone. Before the Note I owned a LG P500 which was my first Android phone. Both i believe were trendsetters, the LG P500 a great "value fo...

So.. decided to start blogging again. What do I start with? Making Pulao!..Siby's coming of age blog post... For many years I have believed that I am a good cook, without ever having cooked anything. Confidence eh? Ok that's not really true..I have keenly observed all the happenings in the kitchen from a very young age. As a kid whenever we visited Kerala during summer vacations , I spent an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen earning me a nickname that I will not publish. Me and sis started making tea and toasting bread at a very young age, fresh breakfast for dad when he took his break from work. So there you go, have keenly watched and actively assisted, but never really really cooked anything complex all by myself And the best part, when you have lived at home all your life you don't have to! So now's the time, to put those imaginary skills to test. MTR and their likes have made it easier for wannabe cooks to take baby steps in their culinary journey. So I...

Kalyan Silks Bangalore...crushed in, hard to spot are the first impressions. The lack of space is obvious too, unlike their prolific jewellery store which has an expansive store further down on Dispensary Road, Kalyan Silks is sandwiched between a sports good store and a mall. There are 4 people standing at the door waiting to welcome you? unfortunately neither their demeanour nor actions or lack thereof are inviting. Since we were looking for silk sarees we were shepherded to the first floor. The shop assistants were cheerful and helpful, and the selection of sarees according to the gathered women folk were not too bad either. Did the constant branding on television sway their opinion? or was it genuine appreciation? can't really be sure. So, after hours of  debates and drapings the basket of woven silk headed to the billing counter. From here onwards, the experience spiralled downwards alarmingly. Despite the invoice reaching close to six fig...

TL;DR Simple answer to your query is; "Housewarming" would be the most appropriate English translation of Griha Pravesh. You can write it as one word "Housewarming" or hyphenate it to "House-warming" although the former is more popular. Original post below -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We Indians tend to ape the west. "OMG! Seminal thought you were going to say?" Let me give you one more reason why, while you rein in your sarcasm. We have two perfectly fine words to describe a momentous occasion for most middle class Indians, Griha Pravesh or Griha Pravesham, the auspicious day when one enters a newly constructed/renovated dwelling.. The Sanskrit root is quite obvious, with the "am" at the end for all people south of the Vindhyas. No, that wasn't enough for us or we thought the literal translation "Entering House"/"House Entering" was too drab, so ...