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The chutney in the house is a job that has been solely assigned to the husbandman. And for the twelve years that we have been married, he hasnât disappointed us even once. By us, I mean me, my friends and our respective families. Friends at dinner parties, look forward to his chutneys. I might have slogged on the snacks for hours together, but the chutney (and its maker) in the house steals the show.
If you are the child of the 80s and if you can hum Doordarshanâs signature tune and recall the colours of the montage; if you remember the Ek chidiya song and sing it too (to probably your kids now!); if you can recall the yellow saree of the Maggi mummy and Lalita ji of Surf fame then you most definitely remember the Buland Bharat ki Buland Tasveer. Yes! Hamara Bajaj. Bajaj Chetak, the two-wheeler that was a defining characteristic of our childhood and an imminent part of our teen years. Many of us have fond memories of riding the scooter…
Last month I went home for a slightly longish vacation and I came back with four kilos of excess baggage on my already expanding girth. Points to note 1. I did not go crazy eating out on the pretext of âI-am-on-holidayâ. In fact, most of my meals were home cooked 2. I didnât eat the forbidden stuff, the not so good stuff you know (Okay, I am lying I did cheat a bit but hey I was on a holiday).
You know what is great about being from a middle-class family – the fact that you learn to reuse resources, thereby becoming a silent yet hugely contributing eco-warrior.
The room is filled with hysterical laughter, fast chitchat and meandering commentary. Weâre at a social âcatch upâ gathering hosted by a family friend, where we hear: âItâs been a long time since weâve seen you.â Over and over again, like a scratched record.
There is an archaeological proof that 1,000 of centuries ago the Greeks, Romans, Japanese, Indians and the Chinese used fans, both as cooling and ceremonial device. I am not surprised. With our humid climate, one cannot imagine life without it. On quiet evenings, lying on the bed and staring endlessly at the ceiling, I nonchalantly notice the swift set of spinning shadows left by the rotating blades. There isnât a day it remains still. Even on cooler days. Except maybe when the maid is sweeping. Those two-unbearable minutes in this sweltering heat are brutal and even before she finishes sweeping the…
Being the only son in the family is enough reason to have to clean all the fans in the house, time and again, especially when Diwaliâs round the corner. There are other duties that sons donât really mind, like fetching stuff from the market, but theyâre always going to be less willing to do anything that involves standing on rickety chairs and cleaning unstable machinery.
The blissful, lazy Sunday sleep had just been disturbed. I was feeling distinctly warm. The room was quiet and I instantly knew that the fan had been switched off. The soft, comforting whirring of the fan had stopped and with my eyes still closed, the hearing sense took over. Diagonally across my bed to the left, I could hear the slow jingling of the maidâs bangles as she swept the floor. A decision had to be made: should I just keep my eyes closed and fall asleep again? Or should I open my eyes and investigate? Sensing that she just…
I am sitting in the dining room, back home (Having been married for more than a decade, home is and will always be my parentâs house; one where I grew up with my little sister and one where my little girl spends her summer vacations each year). My little chefling is enjoying the makhane ki kheer her nani made for her to try and I am looking at both of them enjoying each otherâs company with a cup of coffee in my hand. My parents donât drink coffee but always make sure they have a jar ready for me when…
Especially those in dusty, not pretty, one in a few thousand towns across the nation? Where living is a simple business, governing is almost nonexistent. Intricacies of administration are less and extended conversations on daily predictable mishaps are more the norm. âWhy is the chai less sweet today?â âThere was more cow dung to avoid on the road today, too much of a nuisance, I tell you!ââ
