Veranda Tales-A meaningful life with purpose

ఏమి చేస్తున్నావురా అంటే పారబోసి యెత్తుతున్నా అన్నట్టు (emi chestunnavura unte paarabosi ettutunna annattu) - I graduated from college with an engineering degree and came back home as a different person.

Veranda Tales-Where is that time machine?

వచ్చేటప్పుడు తీసుకురారు పోయేటప్పుడు తీసుకుపోరు (Vachetappudu theesukuraaru, Poyetappudu theesukuporu) - Growing up in India is grounding and enriching. Life’s joys, trials, and tribulations are in full display on the streets of India.

Veranda Tales-What happened to the errand runner?

మసి పూసి మారేడు కాయ చేసినట్లు (masi pusi maredu kaya chesinatlu) - When I left home to go to college, I was barely sixteen years of age. All my classmates were either younger to me or a bit older to me.

Veranda Tales-What happened to the parrot prince?

చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) continued to live among the parrots who adored and revered him. Meanwhile, his seven wives continued their search for him as they ruled in his stead.

Veranda Tales-Seven wives of a parrot prince

చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) - Once upon a time, there lived a మహరాజ (maharaja is king in Telugu) with his మహరాణి (maharani is queen) with their యువరాజ (yuvaraja is young king or prince). Back in those days marriages were a means of forming alliances with neighboring kingdoms.

Veranda Tales-Are they connected?

కాకతాళీయం (kakathaleeyam) - I grew up in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh, home to several rivers, including the Godavari, the Krishna, and their deltas. The Krishna-Godavari delta is known as the rice bowl of India.

Veranda Tales-Summer of vegetable farming

The summer between my 6th and 7th grades, we moved from a smaller quarters to a larger house on the campus. We had a larger front yard and backyard extending all the way to the Howrah–Chennai main line train tracks. There was a handpump in the front yard.

Veranda Tales-Where did the candy go?

అందరూ శ్రీవైష్ణవులే- బుట్టెడు రొయ్యలు మాయమయ్యాయి (andaru srivaishnavule - buttedu royyalu mayamayyayi) - I grew up in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh living close to the coast, enduring cyclones and tropical storms. The coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh region is home to several rivers ...

Veranda Tales-Biryani belly

అజీర్ణానికి లంఖణం మందు (ajeirnaniki lankhanam mandu) - A visit to India requires a lot of planning. I am not talking about booking a flight to get to one of the major airports in India and then figuring out how to get to where your family lives.

Veranda Tales-Bucket bathing time

గజ స్నానము (gaja snaanam) - When I was growing up, I didn’t have the luxury of turning the faucet on to get hot and cold water on demand for washing hands or taking a shower. We didn’t have running water in our house and we stored water in large buckets or water troughs.

Veranda Tales - Free advice anybody?

ఆయనే ఉంటే మంగలి ఎందుకు (aayane unte mangali enduku) - During the course of my career, I have moved from one division to another within a company, and employer to employer in pursuit of challenging work.

Veranda Tales-Dussehra memories from the past

అయ్యవారులకు ఐదు వరహాలు వారి పిల్లలకు పప్పుబెల్లాలు (ayyavarulaku idu varahaalu vaari pillalku pappu bellaalu) - అమ్మ (Amma is mother in Telugu) grew up with two older brothers, two older sisters, one younger brother, and one younger sister, a total of seven children including her.

Veranda Tales-Weaving golden threads of magic

పగలెల్లా బారెడు నేశాను - దీపం తీసుకురా దిగనేస్తాను అన్నదంట (pagalella baredu nesanu - deepam tisukura diganestanu annadanta) - My first introduction to Greek mythology, Iliad, and Odyssey happened while I was finding books in తాతయ్య (Tatayya)’s library when I was little.

Veranda Tales-Somayya’s bread basket

రొట్టెలోడి కంటే ముక్కలోడి పని హాయి అన్నట్లు (rottelodi kante mukkalodi pani hayi annatlu) - We are a foodie family and adventurous when it comes to trying out new foods and restaurants. We love trying out new foods from different cuisines while we are in our neck of woods or traveling.

Veranda Tales-Onionology

ఉల్లి చేసే మేలు తల్లికూడా చెయ్యదు (Ulli melu talli kuda cheyyadu) - On a recent trip to Chicago, I saw so many trucks full of onions on Interstate 80. Some trucks were carrying just one kind of onion, while others were loaded with large bags of reds, whites, and yellows.

Veranda Tales-A very long rope

కొండవీటి చాంతాడు (kondaveeti chantadu) - On a recent trip to Chicago, I had the pleasure of hanging out on the Lake Michigan shore. It was awesome to watch the waves crashing and Canadian Geese lounging close to the shore taking off when a water scooter got too close for their comfort.

Veranda Tales-Fallen leaves

కిందాకు రాలె మీదాకు నవ్వే (kindaaku raale meedaaku navve) - The only deciduous tree I was familiar with during my childhood was బూరుగ దూది చెట్టు (boorugu doodi checttu is Silk Cotton or Kapok tree in Telugu) in our backyard. It would shed all its leaves during the fall in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Veranda Tales-Nanna laughs like Bhima

కాగల కార్యం గంధర్వులు తీర్చినట్లు (kaagala kaaryam gandharvulu tirchinatlu) - I was about five or six years of age when I was enrolled in a school in the town where my grandparents lived. We were there for the summer like all other summers to spend time with aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Veranda Tales-Where are my sunglasses?

చంకలో పిల్లవాడిని ఉంచుకుని ఊరంతా వెతికినట్టు (Chankalo pillavaadini unchukuni oorantha vethikinatlu) - I misplaced a book a while back and am still searching for it. I searched in every single place I keep books in my house ...

Veranda Tales-LEGO wars

విడవమంటే పాముకి, కరవమంటే కప్పకి కోపం (Vidavamante paamuki kopam, Karavamante kappaki kopam) - Our home transformed when my spouse and I had our first child. Our family room was reasonably clean without clutter. That changed overnight when we brought our two day old little one home.

Veranda Tales-Eating tea leaves

కూడు వండటం గంజికోసమన్నట్టు (koodu vandantam ganjikosamannattu) - My paternal grandparents' house transformed overnight from a quiet place to a summer abode for their eight children, spouses, and grandchildren.

Who Am I?

I was hiking the trail around a beautiful lake with my family. It was a perfect summer day in the mountains. Beautiful blue skies were enchanting as they reflected in the alpine lake we were circling on our hike. All of the picnic tables close to the trailhead were occupied

Veranda Tales-Don’t stretch my sweater

పట్టు చీర అరువిచ్చి పీట పట్టుకొని వెనకాలె తిరిగినట్టుంది (pattu cheera aruvichi peeta pattukuni venakale thiriginattundi) - We all have been in a situation when someone asks us to do something or borrow something, we agree to it because we couldn’t say no.

Veranda Tales-How is that relevant?

రామాయణంలో పిడకల వేట - ప్రేమాయణంలో పడతుల వేట అన్నట్లు (raamaayanam lo pidakala veta - premaayanam lo padathula veta annattu) - On occasion I find myself thinking about something that comes to mind distracting me from the task at hand.

Veranda Tales-Take a peek and come right back

చూసి రమ్మంటే కాల్చి వచ్చినట్టు (choosi rammante kaalchi vachinatlu) - It was common for me to run errands and do chores when I was growing up. అమ్మ (Amma is mother Telugu) was too afraid of me getting hurt while cooking and didn’t teach me the cooking skills.