Roshan Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 51

What was the last personalized gift you gave someone?

Today's Blog-Tember challenge asks us to "Get creative! Sketch, paint, dance, play music."

Once more, like it did for Karna, when I need my skills the most, they tend to desert me.
So instead, I would like to showcase a creative gift I received this weekend from a dear friend. Years ago, I had written about her in a much beloved post "Her Happiness Matters to Me". The fact of the matter is that we finished celebrating a decade of friendship this year, we realized. During this time, we have met...

5 fictional novels I wish I had written #MondayMusings

Today's Blog-Tember challenge asks us to write on 5 books that impacted our lives. I wanted to do a slight spin on that question and so decided to talk about a different list of 5 books.

So many times, we come across a book that is so unique and awesome that we end up saying "If I could write a book someday, it would be like this."
The thing is when people ask you to make such lists, invariably we fall into the habit of quoting self help books, religious books or fictional classics... or the Fo...

Do dogs get jealous?

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Well, here are 4000 words taken in a single camera shot (time burst shift mode) that certainly speaks volumes about how a certain young fella' reacts when he has to share 'his human being' with other dogs.









Got a caption for this series? I would love to hear what you think is going on in their silent language!

Authors note:This post featured cameos by Snoopy and Victor. For more DOGyears@Godyears posts, click here. 

I am partici...

My Friend, Are you thinking of committing suicide? #SuicidePrevention

"I don't want to be around her right now. Listening to her sorrow will spoil my mood. Her depression is contagious."
"If she wants to come and talk about it, nobody is stopping her. But I am not going to go and ask her!"
"Yes, I know she was going through a bad phase but I did not think she would try to commit suicide. I mean, come on, ya. It was just a silly break-up! Some people just don't know how to handle life."

Think carefully.

Have you ever uttered any one of the above phrases? Have y...

Driving Snoopy nuts!

Snoopy by nature tends to be the most fun loving dog one can imagine. Over the last two years, since the day he entered our house, he has displayed certain unique characteristics that no other dog in our house over three decades has ever exhibited. These would include stuff like
1) walking around with his own bucket,
2) being the first dog in our house to actually fetch the ball,
3) sitting on coffee tables and
4) walking around with a dog bone as though it were a cigar.




Yet, as you can see i...

Prawn shells - What's in a name?

In her Blog-Tember challenge, Bailey Jean asks to write on the origins of the blog name.
It is a question that I commonly get asked by both regular and new readers to the blog as well. "Why Godyears?" The common assumption is that this is going to be a religious site and some are sorely disappointed to find a lot of things in here from dogs to fiction and even recipes now, but no God. Well, atleast, not the way they would have hoped for.

I actually answered this very same question in a 2013 int...

Kindness and a cup of Sulaimani tea

In 2012's Malayalam movie 'Ustad Hotel', we follow a young disillusioned lad Faisal who goes against his dad's wishes and wants to be a chef in Switzerland. As the father-son relation gets worse, he is forced to postpone his dreams and return to the idyllic city of Calicut and work as a cook in his aging grandfather's small restaurant. The clash of generations and lifestyles between the NRI child and the religious Sufi grandfather gives way with time as Faisal begins to see the good his grand...

Recipe - Fish Vindaloo

In my mind, Vindaloo automatically co-relates to Goa. A relatively spicy dish even by South Indian standards, it is a favourite around the coastal region and often made with pork. Over the years, it has undergone a sea of transformation and now the dish incorporates fish, chicken and lamb. And while it remains a very popular 'Indian dish' abroad, the fact is that most restaurants in U.K. and USA tend to just pass off a spicier version of regular Indian curry as 'vindaloo'.  
Saffron Trail...

Recipe - Tomato Dosa

Back in Mangalore during our student days, there used to be a tiny little outlet called 'Dosa Camp' near Falnir which was famous for its varieties of dosas. For people like us who were used to the usual array of dosas (plain dosa, masala dosa, set dosa, mysore dosa), this place was heaven. Every day, they would fill out a black board with nearly eight to ten special varieties for the day. So you would have stuff like carrot dosa, mushroom masala, banana dosa, paneer dosa, brinjal masala dosa...

Recipe - Masala French toast

Think of the yummy French toast and you picture golden toasted slices of egg-milk-cinnamon soaked bread dusted with powdered sugar or drenched in maple syrup. Of course, the Malayalee (or is it Indian?) within my mom shrieks against this sweet heaven, even as I try to defend it.
"We need some spices mixed in!"  she cries out, holding a bucket of chilly powder menacingly.
"But... but that's not french toast." I try to reason with her.
"We will call it Indian toast!"
"But everyone will know yo...