Potato Love

I don’t remember since when, but my fondness for potatoes probably dates back to the earliest of my memories. And my parents vouch for that. I couldn’t resist potatoes as a child, and I still maintain that. Besides, staying in a place like Pune, where potatoes are a staple, has drawn me only closer to my favorite vegetable. The mere sight of round potatoes with unblemished and shiny skin makes me smile. Just as it did today when I went veggie shopping oblivious of the shop keeper’s confused glances! Nevertheless, I bought a batch of those beauties, came home, cooked up a delectable dish of my favorite ‘Aloo Gobi’ and had a satiating meal for the night.

Who says potatoes are bad?!? They sure know how to keep me happy!!

Blah, blah, blah!

The easiest way to escape from an overrated criticism is to ignore it completely. That is, if it is overrated and unjustified, the argument needs to be ended in such a way that the ‘arguer’ is satisfied. And that happens only when the ‘arguee’ is quiet. That’s right; don’t say a word and all is solved! It is an art, but can be developed over continuous practice. A method that begins with visualizing the words coming out of the arguer’s mouth and before it reaches your ears (the gateway to your brain); you need to imaginarily shut them – tightly. That’s all you need to do. Now relax and without concentrating on the voice, visualize the words bouncing away from your ears and disappearing into a void! Aahh!! Pure bliss!! Some experts even manage a smile at this point!

When you know that what you’re doing is right, there’s absolutely no need to take a critic’s words seriously, cry over it and get depressed. It’s not worth it. Do what you do best and ignore the rest.

Living in the future

This ‘living-in-the-future’ thing can be quite interesting. We get to experience everything before they do. We go through the day, hour by hour, before they do. We see the daily sun rise and set, before they do. We have our lunches and dinners before they do. We are done with our chores and are winding up when they are just waking up to their monotonous schedule. We enjoy the relief of leaving work for home before they do. We even celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries and festivities before they do.

Thanks to the different time zones, we are now, technically speaking, the “future beings”!

I’m in love!

The first time our eyes met, I quickly looked away. I knew he was looking at me, but I didn’t meet his gaze. I wonder why. A year later though, I was head over heels for this guy. Although I had known him well now, the emotions were something new. The quickening of my heart beat when I heard his laugh, the twinkle in his eyes when he stole a glance at me….it all felt great. I didn’t know if it was love back then, but to realize that a certain someone exists exclusively for you and that that someone is attracted to you is, in itself, a secure and satisfying feeling in a new relationship.

Today, as we celebrate the seventh year into our marriage, I am surprised at the deep understanding that we have formed. It’s as though we can read each other’s minds. But it didn’t come easy (it never does!)This feat is a result of countless arguments, misunderstandings and confusions we’ve had over the years. Ours was an arranged marriage and, believe me, even as I write this we are still trying to figure each other out! Nevertheless, I’m proud of our heroic achievement. The hard work, efforts and patience to make a relationship work between two perfect strangers paid off and how! Now, when I look back to the day our eyes first met, I’m glad it all happened the way it did because that day, I had found myself the perfect husband! *

This may sound so cliché but is a fact. I am really lucky to have him in my life. With an arranged marriage I could have ended up with just anyone! But this is where I am forced to believe in destiny. Perhaps, we were made for each other and just had to get together anyhow. Marrying him changed me, definitely for the better, and my concept of love. Redefining the meaning of love he taught me that love is not about looking for compatibility in each other. It’s about accepting your partner with his/her good and bad qualities and loving them unconditionally. That’s the best thing I like about him. He likes me the way I am. He never asked me to change; he doesn’t want me to. Isn’t that cool enough?

So here goes. People, I have finally found the love of my life. Yes, I am in love!

Reghu, this is for you sweetheart! For accepting me, standing by me and making me the queen of your life! Happy Anniversary baby! I love you!


*Conditions apply!

Dream On

There was this little girl who loved to dream. She would dream of everything possible because nothing was real in her life. She wondered if she could have that extra piece of her favorite chocolate cake but was terrified at what her mom would say. And so, she would dismiss the thought. She wondered if she could have that cute toy from the store for herself but would say nothing fearing the harsh remarks from her dad. She often wondered if she could sleep with her parents at night but would shun the idea because more than the fear of darkness and imaginary monsters, she feared her parents. She would be left sleeping alone.

So, she dreamt. At least that was possible. No one could control how she dreamt or what she dreamt of. It was her dream and she created a whole new world for herself. Her very own dream world. Where she could be anything she wanted to be, do anything she liked, eat anything she craved. It was magical! And soon she would be eagerly waiting for the time to go to bed, so that she can begin her journey to this wonderland and be happy. At least for the night.

Today, she is a much happier, confident and positive individual thanks to some really important people in her life who have managed to change her for the better. And now she doesn’t need to dream about chocolate streams and ice cream covered roof tops anymore. She can just buy and eat anything! Anytime she wants to! But old habits die hard, they say. Even today, occasionally, whenever she wants a break from her dreary and usual routine, she goes back to her fantasy land.

To see what else she can create. To see what else she can be.

Our new friend – Terrorism

Friend because ‘HE’ has become a part of our lives now. We all were leading a normal but a not-so-cheerful life with our daily grinding routine- stress at work, personal problems, corruption at every step, useless politics, ineffective government etc. and as if this wasn’t enough, one day, we meet him-Terrorism. Some of us greeted him face to face and some on a TV News channel. At first, he stunned us with his extent of destruction and the ability to casually wipe out innocent lives. But then as he made his presence felt all over the world, we began to accept him. He was always there, but we ignored him. And now, he is still there, even in our city but we continue to ignore him. The channels and newspapers would repeatedly telecast the same images over and over again, maybe for a week. We would watch open mouthed and pity the deceased and their loved ones. And then, back to our daily routine. The same personal problems, stress at work…. Our day-to-day life is far more realistic to cloud our thoughts over this five day news. It happens, everywhere, we say. But we are unknowingly waiting for him.

Now he walks with us, everywhere, and we, get used to him every day. Effortlessly.

Delhi Delight

All know that Delhi is the capital of India. But it is also the capital of tongue tingling, tasty food that you will find nowhere. And trust me on that one. Delhi is home to the mouth watering chaats (fruit chat, in particular!) samosas, kachoris and a special array of sweets. But the ever-so-yummy “chole” takes the cake. You got to taste it, to believe it! Not that I have traveled a lot, but I have never, tasted such delicious chole in my entire life! Though almost all cities in India dish up so called “Delhi chaat”, they have never been able to accomplish that extraordinary flavor that Delhi provides.
And this time while I was in Delhi, I just simply had to visit THE place for chaats and chole bature- Roshan di Kulfi in Karol Bagh. What surprised me was that even after so many years, it continues to retain the exact same taste in its dishes. It’s a small place, specializing in chaats and kulfi (and hence the name) and usually crowded with its regulars. As you enter the eatery, the aroma of the dishes cooked right outside lures you almost hypnotically. And you are left wondering which dish to select and what to taste because each one of them look absolutely finger licking! But you have to consider the capacity of your stomach and the aftermath of hogging onto such food (many wouldn’t mind, I know!) and that’s exactly where the tragedy of this whole thing is. To even think of letting a few items go untested is devastating. The only solace here is that you can always come back and taste the rest of the stuff whenever you want to.
So now, whenever I’m in Delhi, I know that I can go to this one place where I get to taste the authentic Delhi flavor and satisfy my taste buds to the utmost delight each and every time. And I also know that I’ll never be wrong!