Holidaying @ Allahabad in freezing Dec 08

22 of January was a Monday and unlike the usual trip into the traffic laden streets of Mumbai I was huddled into a cab with my babies heading to Kurla terminus to catch the train to Allahabad for the wedding of Azhar (31) and Saman - Azhar is Bhabijaan' older brother Bari and bhabi Sarita Sheikh' older son - he lives in Canada and is a consultant there. Despite my repeatedly saying that we should not leave the house before 10.30 we left home at 9.30 to catch a train that was leaving at 12.30!!^%$# We arrived at the station expectedly (for me at least) at 10.30 and spent the next 2 hours waiting for the train on the dirty and smelly platform! Well so much for listening to Mr. Know it All Guddu and my hubby do nothing but loyally agree to his brother!!? %$#&@# Whatever!! The holiday had just begun so I decided to put such small things behind me :) The holiday gang consisted of hubby darling, Rosh, Rock, Sanjana (Archie Prashant' daughter), pretty lil Alize (Honey' babydoll) and me and oh yeah ... how can I forget ... annoying but nevertheless with us for the next 10 full days, Guddu!?!! The train journey was miserable to say the least -- we were booked in AC-II tier seats and despite the fact that we juggled our seats with fellow passengers so that we could all be together, it was not much fun at all :( Rock was still ailing from his horrid throat infection; the compartment was smelly intermittently, the food on all the stations and the in-house pantry was unpalatable (I had thank fully taken along some cheese spread, nuttella, dal and rice, dahi and a packet of bread for rock and some bananas and apples for the others - by the end of the journey the kids were sick of my even mentioning cheese sandwiches or apples -- ha ha -- they were all soooooo hungry and bored of the same food for the past three meals) and to top it all there were rats in the compartment!! Lord have mercy I thought to myself, as I lay straight jacketed in my bunker bed. I had nightmares of rats running into my jacket and getting caught in the several layers of clothing I had on. I got up feeling like the weight of the world was on me - my body ached from head to toe and for some reason my beloved hubby had christened me Hanuman (and much to my annoyance that he of course didnt care too much about continued to do so through the trip - whatever once again -- there are a lot of whatevers in this trip but the trip was great nevertheless) and hauled my self out of my bunker and almost fell onto a passerby (my bunker was one the aisle ones).

Well finally Allahabad did arrive at a little past 10 and we were all bundled up ready to brave the icy cold of the north. Azhar the groom himself in a cool pair of jeans and jacket and slip ons (alias Baba) and their house-help Rakesh arrived at the station to receive us. We broke up in to 2 groups the kids and hubby going in the Tata Sumo while Guddu, Baba and I went in the family car racing thru the narrow bylanes of chowk and civil lines to finally reach the famous 100+ year old rickety bridge of Naini that runs over the Jamuna -- I held my breath as we drove across and finally into the Agricultural campus to meet with Bari Bhai, Akhtari Apa (who had come in from the UK), Kaneez apa, Tasneem apa, Naseem apa and Shazia all of who had come in from Pakistan specially for the wedding; and finally Gauri the super efficient age-old house-help each of them greeting us with warm hugs and smiling faces.

Roshni looking as radiant as the flowers in the background

All dressed up for the sangeet evening - Starting from your right is Sanjana, Roshni, Raunaq, Farrukh, Omar, Azhar, Armaan, Imaan, Yavar and Alize on his shoulder

At the sangeet ceremony

The rest of the gang had gone to Kanpur with the girls mehndi and their Sangeet ceremony. We were quickly shown our bungalow which was adjoining Bari bhai' home and separated by a mere bush; we freshened up and were summoned for breakfast which was the traditional potatoes and masala scrambled eggs with hot paranthas and hot tea. As we hogged our guts out (remember we had a very frugal and limited cuisine diet for the past 24 + hours) we chatted with the apas and bari bhai. Once breakfast was over we went into our bungalow to settle down -- Fruki was obsessive about arranging all our things into the empty in built wardrobes , which had very very narrow shelves - well we did arrange our stuff and as we were done with this very vital exercise Sarita Bhabi and the gang who had gone to Kanpur arrived -- this included Bhabijaan, and from the UK had come Bari Bhai and Sarita bhabi' younger son Yavar (28); Bhabijaan' younger sister Parveen Apa with her son Omar, beautiful and multi-talented daughter in law Zeenat and her samdhan Abida Apa (You can see them to the right of my picture with Archie); then there was Nazmi (Nammo my darling laughing out loud in the picture below - she was the dearest friend I made there - she is my age and is a tax inspector with the Govt of UK, she is married to her own first cousin Khalid bhai and they have an adorable daughter called Imaan (14 year old sweetheart who we all nick-named Imli); and from Delhi came Sarita Bhabi' younger sister Dipti Didi and her hubby Rajesh Bhai and their beautiful daughter Nayantara (26), and typical punju dude like son Armaan (16); and from the US had come Bhabijaan' older sister called Shamim Apa (she is a Prof. Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, attained her Phd and taught Geography all her life, and now is an active member of a cool group if retired ladies who get together once week and bitch the hell out of their hubbies, she also is a certified Rosarian and she personally maintains the most beautiful rose garden ever that has over a 150 rose plants) -- basically met the whole family -- each of them lovely warm people.

Bari Bhai and Sarita Bhabi' house is one of those old age English homes that looks a little run down from the exterior due to weather conditions but over all a beautiful house with flower-filled gardens all around it. It overlooks the Yamuna river and you can see the Naini bridge in the distance and you can hear the trains going over it. The kids had a ball of a time with the open spaces and the tree in this picture was Roshni' favorite tree under which she would often just loll around and nap.

Fruki, Rock, Me and Rosh

The bride Saman and the groom Azhar at the baarat ceremony in Kanpur - smitten by each other!!!

Yavar, Sarita Bhabi, Azhar (the groom) and Bari Bhai

Bhabijaan, Shamim Apa, Bari Bhai, Akhtari Apa and Parveen Apa

The Sangeet ceremony was on the 24th in the lawns. The house was looking like a fairy land once all the decorations were completed. And all of us were all set to do our bit for the guests -- we were expecting over 150 guests including the girls family -- who were coming to put haldi mehndi for Azhar. The guests arrived VERY LATE and so all the ladies including yourstruly sat on the gaddis arranged; and sang all the possible punju shadi songs. It was fun but kind off not that cool as there was no mike arranged for and hence whatever we sang could hardly be heard beyond 3-4 ft. When the guests did arrive we thru petals of flowers on their path, gave them bouquets of flowers and took them to the main pandaal. Azhar was then brought into the crowd dressed in a pale green Sherwani (tailored by nonen other than Dipti Didi) looking so excited and bashful. All the men of the family were holding a beautiful dupatta as a cover above him and he walked below this like a little prince -- it was a truly princely moment and I had tears in my eyes to see the happiness on Sarita Bhabi and Bari Bhai' faces. On the 26th came in the late arrivers Honey and her love Maanav Shah (he is a dream with lil Alize and she adores him too -- he is basically a really nice guy). I havent seen Ali more confident and happy in such a long time and honey so pretty and happy too. I pray that they are a family soon -- insha-allah. As soon as they came we packed into 2 cars and drove to Bari Bhai' farm house where all of us could not stop eating delicious sweet guavas straight off the trees -- this was the family orchard with several hundred trees; a short drive away from the farm house is the ancestral property where Bhabi jaan and Bari bhai' Grand Dad lived several years ago. They were the Thakurs of the village called Mandari -- crowds of village kids and adults gathered to get a glimpse of us -- the caretakers insisted that spirits haunt the haveli even today; the kids enjoyed the cycle rickshaw rides across the city. That evening Archie and Linet came too by flight; Linet was sick with a sore throat while Archie was bubbly as ever. The evening they arrived was the Mehndi -- so with mehndi on our hands, the kids i.e. Rosh, Rock, Sanju and I with Bima and Parveen Apa went to do our hair which was in a real state as had not had a head bath for the past 4 days. Rosh washed her hair and did her nails, Sanju washed and blow dried her hair straight and Honey did her hair and pedicure.

The next morning we were to set off for the baarat to Kanpur. The bus journey to Kanpur was a riot with all of us swinging to antakshari songs and hubby darling making everybody laugh like hell - at one stage he went and sat with the driver and also tied his turban in his josh. He had christened Sarita Bhabi as God Mother and kept all of us in splits with his mad antics. It was good to see him in his elements -- of course the flip side is that he hardly spent any time with me on this entire trip as he was busy pleasing the everybody else.

The last to arrive were Sarita bhabi's youngest sister Nandini, her hubby and kids Jhanvi and Ishaan - I really liked chutkoo didi very much and do believ that we would have got on very well had she arrived a bit earlier. Nevertheless it was great meeting with her and her lovely family.

We ate loads of yummy grub - the non-veggies went mad digging into ALL the variety that was served on each day and the several occasions, one evening Sarita Bhabi treated us to mouth-watering chaat at Shiv Chaatwaalas - paani puris, dahi puris ragda pattice; we indulged in loads of decking up for all the different occasions - mehndi, sangeet, baraat and then finally the reception, we would break into a dance at the drop of a hat and singing antakshari anywhere and every where too;

we also visited the sangam of ganga and jamuna into the saraswati in a boat that took us to the new Jamuna bridge and then back to view the freaky mixing of the 2 rivers, we then visited Farrukh's old school "Boys High School" where he spent 3 years of his childhood years - he was so excited showing us where his classroom was and where he was made to kneel down and where he parked his bicycle.

The kids at the banks of the Yamuna with a sadhu seeking alms -- Imli, Sanju, Rosh, Alize, Sadhu and Raunaq

Proud and excited Farrukh and Rosh at the Boys High School Compound

Roshnis hand with Mehndi

Raunaq riding a cycle Rickshaw with Sanju and Alize in the back :)

The kids on the roof at the haveli

Me amidst the crowd of kids that had gathered to see us at Mandari

Raunaq with a lil chick in his hands -- the kids just loved all the animals on the farm - Hens, goats and cows.

Raunaq posing in the Guava orchard

We generally enjoyed taking in the fresh crisp air and meeting so many lovely people ... it was good to see this side of Farrukh's family -- people with values, education and warmth. They totally loved Farrukh and he was in his wildest elements making everyone have a great time -- I felt really good being there and would like to submit that I have taken back with me some lovely memories that will give me a lifetime of warmth.

Yeh hai Bombay meri JAAN!!

When I am by myself with nothing particular on my mind, my eyes close to block out the worldly light in search of the beautiful light within .. time stands still and my thoughts stray to an ideal moment of love and peace all around me .. with a smile in my soul naturally flowing to my lips as I hold a hot cup of tea in my favourite flowery ceramic mug made perfectly light in its substance and having the sweetness that makes my eyes close with pleasure and as I envision the hot liquid going down my throat, my soul takes in the santoor playing in the background ... my beautiful thoughts, lilt me to wake up to the beauty that awaits me in this wonderful wonderful world ... and I see the world anew with love and peace despite whatever ...

I was born in Visakhapatanam and despite being a Punju brahmin by origin and having travelled the country being an armed forces kid; more than 75% of my 43 rains have been spent in this livewire, fast paced, multi culture, multi cuisine, financial capital of India -- Bombay or newly named Mumbai ... and clearly it is only because of this city and the experinces it has offered me that I am what I am today in mind and spirit. In fact it has given so much to all of its inhabitants like a mother does endlessly, patiently and lovingly providing for all her children may they be of whichever land ... they say it is very difficult to die of hunger in this city as it nurtures you to be a survivor despite whatever!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ... I was in deep sleep nursing a bad back having taken my food and a pill and gone to bed early and was in the midst of some complicated now forgotten dream when Nu woke me up abruptly at about 11.00 in the night on the night of 26th ... Priya dekho Taj or Oberoi mein aag lagi hai!! My bleary mind started playing logic "Taj and Oberoi burning? But they are so far apart ... how is there a fire simultaneously in both the hotels?"

As my cornea and lashes adjusted to the sudden awakening I turned on my side to look towards the TV, and to my horrow heard what the news channels were rattling away with unabated breath while the images of the Taj burning from the roof unfolded; bullets being fired from a police van at reporters; abandoned baggage covered in blood pools at the CST; salaskar, karakare and kamte getting ready for the kill only to be ambushed a short while later; and above all to know that a group of youngsters had caused all of this unbelievable carnage ... WHY HOW WHAT OH MY GOD !!!! was all that I could sputter as we watched into the wee hours of the morning ... I wanted to scream and do something so much and felt so inept to do anything to bring back peace, blow out the fires, bring justice to the victims and above all bring back life ... this was my ilaka where I spent my youth ... our officers that we probably even know ... My city, my mother, my home and yeah the hotels that are joined to some of the most amazing memories of my life -- was hostage to these jerks who believe they are doing well to please their lords, their god and their religion by massacaring innocent people!!? When I gathered my senses after the first few minutes I tried calling Ankita thinking that she may be one of the victims being a towny ... there was no response from her phone and my heart missed a beat as I thought of all the others that I know living in town - Baman n Pam, Jaya n Chetan n their kids, Vandana and her family and Pooja being the dearest -- I couldnt get thru to anyones phones ... I collected myself and prayed that all was well as my heart sank and tears rolled down my cheeks watching the events unfold ...

Oh lord of this universe help wisdom dawn upon the likes of these terrorists that they cannot ever win your love by doing what they do and are continuing to do ... I beckon thee to bring them and all such outfits across this world to justice! Oh Lord do give more love to all the people who suffered and survived the recent carnage and make their lives ahead beautiful and above all hold dearly all the souls of the people who have died and look after their loved ones who have been left behind...

And albeit these horribly wrong happenings and worrisome thoughts I closed my eyes this morning seeking the wondorous light of an ideal world ... to seek that special moment of wonder that will make me see the world anew once again ... because I am an emotional fool and love Bombay and its people and its cosmopolitan and cultural bhel puri beauty and above all its undying spirit so much .. because I love this great citys spirit for surviving the politicians, the corruption, the terrorist attacks and natures anger upon her ... because this place is home for me ... Bombay is my motherland. Yeh hai Bombay meri JAAN!!

Memories from the past - I

Although this picture is during my early days at Vizag and I look quite pleased as punch in my Papli' lap I don't remember any of this emotion. I am however told by my parents that I was quite a gurgling delight and had a fascination for mangoes at a very early age - to date it is my most favorite fruit.

My earliest vivid memories go back to St Joseph's High School, R.C. Church, Navy Nagar, Lion Gate, Band Stand, trips to the Sea-side and last but not the least Guru’s shop all of them being in the south most part of Bombay in the years of 1968 to 1971 – that was when I was 3 years old. My father Lieutenant Inderjit Sharma was serving the Indian Navy and was posted in Bombay. He was the Captain of INS Nirghat - I remember marching up the wooden gangway of his ship occasionally looking over at the water below and wondering how deep it was and trying hard to catch sight of some fish before I got on board!? Trips to the ship meant my younger sister Mala and me getting dressed in our newest party frocks tailored by none other than my Mum, Chander Rekha Sharma - I have always been Miss Vanity Fair and loved ogling at myself in any reflective surface from the earliest time that I can remember. In particular, I recollect wearing my pink polka dotted umbrella cut dress with a matching hair band holding back my thick black locks on one of the ship visits, with netted self designed socks hugging my skinny limbs all the way up to my knocked knees and shiny white pointy buckled shoes completing the attire.

Papa, Ma, Mala and I would take the bus to Lion Gate or at a later date we would ride on Papas Lambretta Mala standing in front enjoying the breeze while I sat between papa and Mama squeezed and sweaty. On the days we took the bus, on reaching Lion Gate we would walk to Nirghat. Walking to the ship was always a great experience -- we would pass by a fleet of grey blue ships that looked so impressive and gigantic and I would gape up and back at them as Ma or Pa pulled me along and dream of myself sailing off to the high seas on a long voyage across the world; we would catch sight of senior officers that would zip past us in their fancy cars and Jeeps with a flag on their bonnets (I often wondered when my papa would become a senior officer and zip around in a fancy car with a flag); and enjoyed most seeing the several officers in uniforms of different types and color but more often than not in white and on foot saluting my Papa as we walked on - Mala and I would try to copy them and salute back and keep checking with Papa if we were saluting well enough and who was better and that if I could become an officer when I became big!!??

At the gangway of the ship after papa was saluted, the officers in the ship would assemble to greet us as we came on board and shake hands with us. I found that very weird as their hands were always so large and often very tough. My tiny hands kind of got very lost in them :) A visit to the ship also meant yummy treats from the pantry of the ship and drinking the ever favorite coca-cola and gorging on ice-cream.

We lived on the third floor (I think) in M17. The house had 2 bedrooms with built in cupboards and attached bathrooms, a small study, a living cum dinning room, a kitchen and a servants quarter for good ol' house maid Anandi and her drunk husband Ganpath. I loved this home very much and remember playing with my Russian dolls that would close their beautiful big blue eyes if you made they lie horizontally. I loved making my doll lie down and then would prop her to stand and stare at her eyes and would wonder how she was so much more beautiful than me. I loved playing house house with my dolls in the living room.

It was Dec 1971 when ... when papa had gone on war with Pakistan. All of navy nagar and I am told rest of Bombay too was blacked out by pasting black paper on all the windows. We would see ante firing in the dark evening skies and cry thinking that we were surely to get killed by the Pakistanis. One evening I remember Mum taking Mala and me to a neighbours house where we heard a recording of Papas voice where he was telling us he was well and he also sang a song -- I was quite amazed at this and wondered if the neighbours were hiding my Papa somewhere in their house. During the war time Mala and I were making small glasses of sugary juice one evening with the intention of putting poison in them and we had planned to offer the juice to the Pakistanis if they rang our doorbell to kill us. I wonder what would happen if that really happened ... Sigh the imagination of a child!! Papa came home after several days and I remember him having a bandage on his leg. He said he had got hurt in the war? I asked him if the Pakistanis had hurt him and if he fought them with his sword? He had actually just hurt him self while getting down one of the endless ladders of the ship. When I grew up I learnt that Papa was awarded the Vir Chakra for the 1971 war where his ship INS Nirghat and that his ship had sank PNS Khyber... I often wonder about what the families of the officers of that ship must have gone thru when they got the news. To date Papa' name is taken with great honor on every Killers Night that is celebrated on 04 December.

Mummy was a teacher in St. Josephs, R.C. Church and Mala and I studied there too. Our principal in those days was a nun Mother Helen who was the sweetest lady ever. I remember my teacher Mrs. Goese in grade 2 and Mrs. Star in grade 3 who I thought was simply amazing and in my class 3, I made my earliest pals -- Anisa Poonawala, Ramona Dhawan, Sangeeta, Geven, Shola, Seema. I also remember standing 2nd in my class in the 3rd standard and was very happy when Mum showed me my report card.

I also have fresh memories of visiting the shiv temple near the sea and thereafter taking a walk at the seaside; Meena Masi and Bunty visiting our home; Bunty sucking on a piece of orange and then chucking the remnants up to the ceiling -- it took a while and quite some effort to get them off the roof; stealing money from Mum's cupboard and visiting Gurus shop at the corner of K block to eat ball ice-creams.

Trips to Bandstand were rare and undoubtedly the best treat ever! Taking rounds of the park on the horses that stood in line with their respective owners calling out to you for a ride on their special horse. I loved choosing to ride on white horses and felt on top of the world when I was atop the horses back - I felt taller than Mummy and Papa too :) After that would follow a few games in the park with Malee and some yummy bhelpuri in paper cones followed by chilled cocacolas ... this was the absolute highlight!!

When the decision to transfer to Vizag was announced to us I was not sure what lay ahead and was sad that we would not be able to do horse riding and that Mother Helen, My favorite teacher Ms. Star, Guru the tuck shop guy, all my friends including the one who ate worms(??!#@!) would be left behind...

2008 ala re ala!!

2008 -- its the year of the number 1 people ... the ones I know of are, Farrukh and Gautam ... insha-allah they will both have a great year ahead!!

As December approaches and Nu's birthday is behind us the next big quest that looms large is what we will be doing for New Years ... stay at home, friends place, gymkhana with blazer and gowns, disco, hotel party or go out of town ... somehow the best choice always seems to be out of town!! So it was decided to go to Khandala from 30 Dec - 01 Jan.

29th evening was a flurry of actvity as Rosh returned from her trip to Pondicherry and it was only after she got back home at 10 (she had a BLAAAAAAAST - more about it in another blog) that we started to pack our bags!! By the time we were done with dinner and packing it was past 12 and I willingly snuggled into bed while my mind wandered into dreams of what would it be like in Khandala.

The holiday group was made of -- The 4 of us, Guds and Linnet, Prashant-Archie-Sanju-Aunty and last but not the least Lil Alize :)

We met up at Carter Road and from there jumped into 3 cars (our Esteem, Gud' Swift and Prashant' CRV). We set out at about 9.00 and the first halt was at McDonalds Drive-in where we hogged on some burgers and shakes and moved onto the expressway to halt but once again to fill gas and grab some delicious Vadas. From there it was non-stop to Khandala.

The Heritage Villas owned and managed by Bunty and Alka Anand was a kilometers drive off the main expressway road. The road to the villa was a kachcha rasta and was one helluva bumpy ride. When we finally got there all we saw was 4 tiny cottages and I thought to my self "Heritage!!?? Villas". It is only after alighting and walking around a bit and checking the rooms out that I concluded -- simple, unasuming, clean, in the lap of nature (it is situated at the foothill of a mountain that housed the Karla Caves and adjoins a small village which one passes thru to climb the mountain)... chalega ... actually daudega!! What I liked most about the place was that they didnt boast of too much and offered whatever they did with a homely touch. So here we were, away from the mad rush of Mumbai to spend the next two days together and also bring in the new year ... lets make the most of it man!! That was the spirit that each of us had :)

The kids had a ball as there was a lot of open space to run around, explore and play cricket, lagori, darts etc. Bunty' lil son Jai was the highlight of the place ... he was a really spiky and willing to mix with everyone kind of kid and we all loved him instantly. Bunty and Alka too were very warm. Alkas parents were there too (her Mum' was the Principal of Poddar School and her Dad is a hockey enthusiast and is involved in all the possible hockey matches played on a national and international level as one of the key members) -- it was lovely meeting all of them. The food which was home-cooked was excellent too and we hogged and virtually licked the last morsel off the dishes ...

Our so called NEW Cannon camera was misbehaving all thru the trip and kept blinking at me for new batteries. I tried all kinds of stunts to get whatever pictures I finally got. I think the connection must be lose!? I will need to visit Cannon Shop ONCE again!!

To digest the yummy lunch we went for a walk towards the mountain and ended up doing a 2 hour long cross country walk. On the way we saw and captured some lovely village moments like a tabela with cows chewing away and crapping too, a lady selling wood for the wintery chilling nights, bullock cart, scurries of hens and their chicks, nose-running babies gawking at us, a beautiful water encampment into which we hurled pebbles - Nu and Guds' pebbles were reaching the other end of the water while mine barely plonked into the water a few meters away. The kids also saw some interesting rice seaving and also how bricks are made. By the time we got back we were all exhausted and although we freshened up I guess the walk took a toll on our energies and we retired much earlier than expected.

The next morning was beautiful and the weather nippy while we sipped chaia and marie biscuits and shakarparas (courtesy Archie). After some yummy omeletes and to die-for POHA we dressed and left for Pune which was an hour long drive from Heritage. We first drove into Magarpatta which is beautifully landscaped and very green. Prashant, Archie and Guds got possession of their shop at Magarpatta, while Nu got his haircut, the kids busied themselves by playing hide-n-seek while Linnet and I yapped about several things and Yoga. I suddenly said I want to learn the Surya Namaskar -- so there we were prostrate on the ground doing the 10 different stages of the Surya Namaskar ... all of this was happening in the middle of the builders office reception (of course there was nobody but the receptionist around who looked on eagerly) - I enjoyed the education and believ it or not was sweating after doing just two sets. I believe they do up to 100 of them in Power Yoga sessions!! The paperwork completed and a round of the complex and a quick dekho of the type of flat they have invested in was followed by a lunch at our favorite joint Flags with some Margherittas and delicious HEAVY CHEESY food. Yikes we were bursting at the seems so much that we got off once we got off the highway towards the drive in to Heritage and walked back to burn the over-consumed calories. On the way we got a tutor from the Brick Kiln guy on how they make bricks. Let me see if I can remember ... black mud, red mud, water, hay is all mixed up and put into moulds for shaping. The bricks are then layed out till they dry and then baked in the kiln till they are done. They sell 3000 bricks for a 1000 bucks. I hope I got those figures right!!?

That evening was finally New Years Eve and all (except me) dressed for the ocassion despite the cold -- I of course chose to be well clothed as I CANNOT bear the cold. Spirits were high and Wines, Vodka, Baileys and Tequillas were flowing -- Nu of all the people had 3 shots of Tequilla ... I was expecting him to pass out as he is usually a one beer man ... but he stood thru just fine ... hmmm I wonder how!? Although I have to add that he was behaving quite mad while dancing but then generally he always does behave mad so there was nothing new about that! We'd ordered the grub from Sunny' Dhaba which was yummy and Alka was a gem to loan us her Microwave so that we could eat hot food at whatever hour that suited us. Bunty had organised a deck and I'd recorded some dhisco mhujhic so the evening was gay and merry with a lot of laughter, dancing, drinking and generally having a blast ... all in all yet another GREAT New Years together ... Cheers to all of us and I pray that the year goes well for everyone!!!

Tu jiye hazaaron saal... janamdin mubarak Mama

Christmas is always a joyous day at our home. We start the week before by setting up a Christmas Tree and then on the morning of Christmas have a long winding treasure hunt for the kids which they enjoy like hell. And then to top it all it is Mum and Apajis birthday.

Apaji would always love gifts and flowers so invariably we would cut a cake buy her something special and get her some flowers which she would carefully decorate in all the vases of the house. I miss her loads and often as after her and Daddy going away there is nobody in Carter Road who really cares truly about me. May God bless her soul and I pray that I have the opportunity someday to do her proud :)

And then it is also Mumnis birthday. Papli was really excited when we went shopping for Ma. In fact he took her shopping over the entire of last week looking for sneekers that she was comfortable with. But Ma will be Ma and she is still to find the right pair after doing the rounds of all the Reebok, Nike and Adidas stores... she still wants the Stitcher brand which clearly is not availbale in India ... In any case last weekend we went shopping for Ma at Westside and got her some really nice SK's and kurtis + a pair of really comfy slip ons... she was happy.

On the day of her birthday Papli was excited as hell -- he called at about 9 in the morning to get us to wish Ma ... We'd just about got up as we had gone to see the late night show of Tare Zameen Par and slept at about 2AM in the night. He then organised a Cake and Card and had ordered a huge bouquet of flowers for Ma and above all himself made some Phirnee and organised the Menu which was coke and PIZZA. We arrived in the evening at about 7.30 and then we ordered the Pizza from Pizza Hut ... yummy plain cheese and Four seasons family size, arabic chicken (medium) and paneer (medium) with some yummy garlic bread too. Ma cut the cake like an excited baby and we all sang and all and after 10 minutes realised that she had forgotten to blow the candle... It was a lovely evening of love, yummy food, great company and some great discussions on how "TEMPER is VERY COSTLY"

Recipes I love ... you will too

Simply LIP SMACKING, FINGER LICKING YUMMILICIOUS RECIPIES …ENJOY!!!!

I will keep updating this post with more and more :)))


MAHIM KÉ ALOO
Boil mini potatoes – peel when cooled and keep aside
Lightly brown zeera seeds, dhaniya seeds and kashmiri red chillies and then grind to a powder
Soak kokum leaves and then grind to a paste
Oil - Rai – Hing - Kari patta - Green chillies – finely chopped onions
Once the onions turn light pink add the powdered dry masala and the kokum paste and sauté till the oil leaves the sides
Add mini boiled potatoes to the masala and sauté for a few more minutes with salt to taste
Garnish with coriander

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KARNANI AUNTY’S PANEER
Soak paneer in warm water to make tender
Chop into thick pieces of 1.5 inch length and one inch in breadth
Make a puree of tomatoes
Grind kaju kanni, garlic, kashmiri mirch, coconut powder to a paste
Put some oil and a spoonful of butter into a kadhai and add half a tea-spoon of kasturi methi to it
Add the ground masala, tomato puree and some chopped tomatoes to the oil and butter
Once the masala leaves the sides add the chopped paneer to it and let it sauté well in the masala. Add salt to taste
Garnish with fresh coriander

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ALIYA’S CHICKEN ANGARE

Wash the chicken pieces well (preferably use boneless chicken)
Marinate for an hour with the following – 2tbsp of ginger garlic, 1tbsp of browned and powdered kasturi methi, 2tbsp of curd and a pinch of colour.
Grind 4 tomatoes, two onions and a fistful of cashew nuts separately.
Heat oil in a pan and add to it the ground tomatoes, onions and nuts and let it cook covered for an hour.
Add the marinated chicken to the masala and let it cook till it is well done. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Throw in a piece of burning coal into the curry and cover till the steam of the coal stops

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ALIYA’S MUTTON BIRYANI

Wash ½ kg of mutton pieces well and put them in the cooker. To this add 2tbsp of ginger garlic paste, 3-4 chopped tomatoes, 2 big chopped onions, 1tbsp of oil, red chillies, garam masala and salt to taste and cook under pressure for two whistles on a full flame. When the cooker cools open the cooker and cook the meat well till the masala leaves the sides.
Take two cups of basmati rice and to this add excess water, salt, cloves and cardamom and let it come to a boil. Switch off the gas and strain the rice in a colander.
Layer the bottom of the vessel with the rice and then put a layer of the meat. Continue the alternate layers till the meat and rice are over.
To garnish add to the top crisp fried onions, coriander, a few drops of colour added in some milk and lastly saffron.
Now place the biryani over a tawa for it to cook till the rice is completely done.

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BAJI KA DABBA GOSHT

Wash 1kg of fresh mutton pieces well and place in the cooker.
To this raw meat, add salt to taste, red chillies, two chopped onions, three tomatoes, 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste, one tsp of garam masala and one tbsp of oil.
Close the cooker and cook the meat for at least three whistles.
Open the cooker once the steam is gone and cook the meat again on a high flame for 5 minutes and then on a slow flame with the cooker open till the gravy is thick and almost dry (but not dry).
Once well done, add a tsp of ghee and coriander leaves.

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ARCHIE’S MASALA MUSHROOMS

Marinate mushrooms with 1tbsp of curd, 1tsp of garam masala, sald and chillies to taste, 1tbsp of ginger garlic paste and 1tbsp of brown vinegar for an hour
Heat 1tbsp of oil in a pan and add the marinated mushrooms to it.
Cook in the open pan on a high flame till well done.
Garnish with coriander

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ARCHIE’S BABY POTATOES

Boil 10-12 baby potatoes in a cooker
Once done drain the water
Do not de-skin the potatoes
Add 1tbsp of salad oil in a pan and add to this 1/2 tsp of basil and 1/2 tsp of oregano and 1/2tsp of freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
Saute for 5mins and serve with coriander garnish

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VANITA ki MAA KI DAAL

Ingredients
Black Dal 1 cup
Rajma fist-full
Onion 1 large
Ginger 1 inch
Green chillies 2
Tomatoes 2
Ghee 2 tbsp
Laung 3-4
Tej Patta 1
Milk 1 glass

Method
1. Wash a one cup black whole dal + a fist full of rajma (this is optional) well
2. Soak the washed dals over night ideally or at least for 3 hours, in about 2 glasses of water
3. Next morning you will see that the dals have grown in size and the water has got a red/blackish color. Remember to retain the soaked water to cook along with the dal
4. Grind 1 onion, 1 inch piece of ginger and 2 green chilies to a fine paste
5. Grind or grate 2 tomatoes to a paste
6. Take 2 tbsp of pure ghee in a cooker and add to it a 3-4 laungs, 1 Tej Patta and the onion, chilly, ginger paste to sauté
7. Once the paste is slightly brown add the tomato paste and the soaked dal and rajma with its water
8. Let the dal come to a boil and close the cooker with the whistle on. Let it cook till it blows at least 5 whistles. Turn the cooker to a slow fire and let the dal cook for at least 20 mins.
9. Once the cookers’ whistle has settled, you may open the cooker, light the fire again and let the dal cook with half a glass of milk for at least another half hour on a slow flame.
Also take a mathani and dough the dal well so that it has a smooth consistency

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MY VERY OWN PASTA

Chop small and boil vegetables / meat of your choice – peas, potatoes, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, mushrooms etc or chicken, mince meat or boiled eggs.
Take one tbsp of butter, one tbsp of maida and brown in an open pan. Once done turn off the flame and slowly add a cup full of milk to the mixture while continuously stirring. In case nuggets form whip the paste in the mixie for a few minutes. Once the thick paste is formed add a slice of cheese, salt and pepper to taste. This is your white sauce – the base of your baked dish.
Now add one finely chopped onion to a tbsp of butter in a fresh pan and to this add finely chopped tomatoes and a big clove of garlic finely chopped with a little bit of salt. Saute until tender. Add the white sauce and vegetables to this mixture and sauté for a few minutes. Add some grated cheese into it and then garnish with coriander after serving in a dish.

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VANITA ke BATATE VADE

Ingredients

Garlic 4
Green Chilly 4
Dhania 1 tbsp
Rai ½ tsp
Kari Patta 5 leaves
Turmeric ½ tsp
Boiled grated potatoes 6
Salt To taste
Lime 1 squeezed
Besan paste 3 tbsp besan and 1 cup of water
Pav 10-12
Red Chutney
Green Chutney

Method
1. Grind big garlic cloves and green chillies.
2. Grind dry dhaniya seeds coarsely.
3. Add rai and kari patta to hot oil in a kadhai along with haldi.
4. Add to this the ground garlic, chillies and dhaniya.
5. Then add the grated boiled potatoes and salt and lime to taste.
Make balls and dip in thin mix of besan, salt and water and deep fry in medium hot oil.
7. Serve with fresh pavs and red and green chutneys.
8. Red chutney – Lasan, salt, kashmiri chillies, amchur
9. Green chutney – green chillies, coriander, salt, lime and a small piece of coconut.

GREEN CHUTNEY
1. Take 2 green chilies, a bunch of cleaned and chopped coriander, two large pieces of garlic and put them all into your grinder
2. Before turning the grinder on squeeze one lime onto the ingredients and then close and turn on the grinder (The squeezed lime helps retain the green color of the chutney)
3. Add salt and black salt to paste
4. Preserve in an air tight jar

RED CHUTNEY
1. Soak 100 gms of kashmiri red chillies in a cup of water for about 2-3 hours.
2. Grind the soaked chillies in their water along with a cup full of garlic
3. Add white vinegar and salt to taste and preserve in an airtight jar

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MY VERY OWN EGG CURRY

Ingredients
Eggs 6
Potatoes 3
Large Onion 1
Tomatoes 4
Green Chiilies 2
Oil 2 tbsp
Hing 1 pinch
Jeera 1 pinch
Garam Masala 2 cloves, 1 inch of dalchini, 1 tejpatta leaf, 4-5 pepper balls, 1-2 cardamoms, a little jaiphal, a little javitri
Ginger paste 1 tbsp
Garlic paste 1 tbsp
Dhania powder 1 tbsp
Lime juice 1 lime squeezed
Coriander 1 handful chopped

Method
Boil six eggs, shell them and keep them whole
Peel 3 potatoes and cut into half
Chop one large onion fine
Grind 4 tomatoes and 2 green chillies to a fine paste
In a kadhai add 2 tbsp of oil, add garam masala, a pinch of hing and jeera. Allow to splutter. (At this point if you wish you could take out the garam masala from the oil except for the taj patta
Add the onions and let them brown then add the tomato and chilli puree and saute
Add 1 tbsp of ginger paste and 1 tbsp of garlic paste to the masala along with ¼ tsp of turmeric and 1 tsp of kashmiri chilli powder and let them cook till they leave the sides of the kadhai
Add half a cup of water and cook till the masala becomes a thick curry
Add a tbsp of dhania powder to thicken the gravy. Now add the half cut potatoes and salt to taste and sauté for a while. Cover to cook till potatoes are done (approx 20 mins)
Add the boiled eggs and a glass of water to make the gravy. Bring to a boil and add the lime and coriander to garnish

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MY VERY OWN BUTTER CHICKEN

Ingredients

Kajus 15
Boneless Chicken ½ kg
Tomatoes 4
Pepper 2
Tej Patta 1
Big Cardamom 2
Red Chilli 1 tsp
Sugar ½ tsp
Vinegar 1 tbsp
Fresh cream 2 tbsp
Ground pepper ½ tsp

Method
Put the kaju, whole tomatoes, pepper, cardamom and Tej Patta in a cooker with half a cup of water and let it cook for 3 whistles
Remove the puree from the cooker and take out the garam masala we added. Grind the puree
In a kadhai add a tbsp of butter and the puree, red chilli and sugar and allow simmering till the masala leaves the sides. Then cook for 10 mins on a low fire.
While the masala is cooking prick the chicken with a fork and add vinegar and leave to cook in the microwave for 15 mins. Once done cut into small cubes or triangles
Put the pieces in the gravy and add fresh ground pepper and fresh cream on top

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BIMA ke KEBAB

Ingredients
Mutton Kheema ½ kg
Channa Dal 1 cup
Red Chilli 7
Ginger 2 inch piece
Onions 2 sliced long
Khus Khus 1 tsp
Chironji 1 tsp
Salt To taste
Egg 1
Corriander 1 bunch chopped fine
Onion 1 chopped fine
Pudina 1 bunch chopped fine
Green Chiili 4 chopped fine
Garam Masala 1 flat tbsp


Method
Cook the washed Kheema, Salt, Dal, sliced onion, khus khus, ginger, red chilli and chironji till dal is well done, in a pateela with a cover.
Dry the water of the kheema
Grind to a paste
Add Egg, coriander, pudina, green chillies, garam masal, finely chopped onion (and a lime if desired) to form a soft dough
Make flat small cutlets and shallow fry on a slow flame

MOVIE REVIEW - Taare Zameen Par *****

Aamir Khan' latest contribution to Indian cinema -- Taare Zameen Par, in one word -- EXCELLENT. Every aspect of the film including the fascinating clay animated titles done by Dhimant Vyas was treated in a no nonsense beautiful way.

The film is the journey of an 8 year old, Ishaan Awasthi, called Inu by his family; from a life filled with escapism due to his inability to keep pace with the society' high expectations to a distraught state in hostel and finally to a hand holding phase that transforms him and the society around him.

Little Inu' life revolves around colors and nature and happiness in his imaginative world ... where the morning rush hour is unnecessary - he sleeps on the pot, takes forever to brush and plays with the soap while having a bath, wears his uniform in a dream and has yet not figured out how to knot his tie or his laces; cleanliness is not a concern and hence he is invariably punished during assembly; homework is a bore and hence never done; test papers are never shown to his mum and are instead given to street dogs to play with; his room and things are always in a mess; and above all his interest in studies is as much as his interest in his morning routine so his handwriting is as if like a baby learning to write, his spelling of the simplest of words are wrong again and again and again, his test papers always have marks like 2/25, 3/25 and FAIL written in bold acroos, he has already repeated a year, he says the letters and numbers keep dancing in front of him; and because of his inability to read or understand the complex instructions in class he is always bearing the brunt of his teacher' anger, insults and punishment ... SIGH life is soooooo tiresome .... that he choses to live life on his own terms and in what gives him happiness ... Art is amazing and he thrives on his own imagination while painting and creates some fantastic pieces of work when he is allowed to do so ... nature is fun and interesting to him and hence bunking school is so much better than dealing with a teacher who will yell at him yet again for not completing his math homework and not getting his test papers signed! Litlle Inu finds each of his routines to be a dicomfort to him and hence gives little importance to them and yet finds the time to love and de-tick street dogs, fish with a net in the school gutter and collect fish in his water bottle for his fish bowl at home.

In contrast is his hardworking and successful older brother Yohaan who he calls Dada -- they have a great relationship and love each other loads but his brother' accomplishments make his inadequacies seem even more starkly unaccepable. His super efficient top executive dad too is a stickler for perfection and success and will accept nothing less ... so he has little patience with Inu and is always letting go of his temper with violence or insults or worse still comparisons with Yohaan "how can my son be such a duffer... why are there so many complaints against him???". In the middle of all this is Inus sensitive yet confused mother who loves him dearly but is playing the balancing act between trying to get Inu to live up to his Dads high expectations, taking Yohaans help to convince Inu to get stuff done, help him thru his daily routines and above all cover up for him when he gets into trouble -- she keeps believing that it cant get worse than what it is and when Inu slips yet again she is torn between anger and "kya baat hai Inu... please beta hum padh lete hain na nahin to aaapke friends phir se aagey nikal jayengey"

The problem is that Inu is dyslexic and nobody in his family or school knows so and believe that he is the way he is because he is lazy and over time has become defiant and indisciplined. After getting a warning from the principal about Inu being probably kept back yet again and getting a hint that maybe he has a problem his father decides that he needs to be sent to hostel. Here is where his life becomes and ordeal, as he is away from his family, his street dogs and his fish; his freedom to do as he pleases has come to an end and above all he is not allowed to paint the way he wishes and gets scaled by his art teacher on his closed knuckles several times ... to the effect that he completely loses interest in the only thing that he loved doing ... i.e. Painting! He shuns all except a paralysed classmate, he stops communicating and is punished all the time, continues to do poorly in class, does not talk when his family calls him, has no reaction when they come to meet him on the weekend and slowly but surely becomes a lifeless recluse ...

The movie takes on a new pace after the interval as that is when Aamir (Ram) comes into the film as a temporary ART teacher at his school -- he notices Inu' blank art sheet and gets curious as to why he is so quiet and non-communicative, and unaffected by the fantastic display of dance and music that Ram brings into the class with "Bum bum bole..." Ram, goes thru his class books and dicovers the pattern of his errors, he visits Inu' parents to find that they are clueless and undenying of Inu' problem and discovers during his visit what a fantastic artist Inu is -- this entire sequence of his visit to his parents is delivered to Unbelievable Aamir Perfection and brought buckets of tears to my eyes ... he takes it upon him to bring about the much needed change into Inus life by harshly and assertively sensitising Inu' parents and the school principal about Inus problem, coaching Inu privately on his studies and handwriting and above all holding an art competition ... because he is so sure that Inu will excel and believes that this success will be the turning point in his life ... and he is right!! Inu wins and his painting becomes the cover page of the school annual book giving Inu a reason to smile and look at life anew :)

The casting of each of the characters, the screenplay, the interspersed animation, the music and the cinematography are all superb! My description and review of the film cannot match the excellence of the film and hence to get the complete impact of Inu's journey from darkenss to light watching the film is a MUST TO DO ... The film has some of the most amazing scenes that each of us can identify with in our own lives. This film has acquired a special place in my heart ... like Robin Sharma has said that good books are to be read again and again ... Taare Zameen Par is a film that needs to be watched again and again and again... Kudos to Aamir and his team for creating a film that will create a fresher outlook from parents, elders and teachers towards a new world so that each child from now is nothing less than a STAR or TAARA on this zameen :)