Be Thankful???

For my motherland being raged by terror????? I don't know what I am full of at the moment.... sadness? anger? helplessness? frustration... but I am certainly not feeling thankful for being a part of the world today.

Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell)

Each and every visit to India is special not just because of the family we get to meet but also the services we get from house help. Though it means much more work for them the maids also look forward to seeing us each year. And we appreciate every single day they make us feel pampered. Our parents provide for their kids education so they can take up better professions and also take care of their medical costs. Every month when my mother in law pays them the salary the two women do not want to take home a single penny. You wonder why? For everyone looks forward to salary day! But these two women ask us to just deposit it for them because the salary, if reaches home, will be snatched away by the husband and if her voices is raised, his hand will not spare her. Once she really needed the money to spend on necessities so she took it along and hid it in her blouse. The husband searched high and low and then resorted to beating her! Next day, she came to work and told no one about it. I saw her limping and asked if she is sick ,tears rolled down her cheek. Why didn't she stay home? Because she felt safer with us. This is a very common story in India, you can hear it at every corner of the street. Domestic violence, where outsiders are mere witnesses and can't do anything because it's none of our business. It's a matter between husband and wife, they have to resolve it among themselves. Really? can anything be resolved when one party is being physically abused?? In her novel "Second Sex", Simone de Beauvoir very rightly portrays our society by saying "Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female - whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male" Is it not weakening us as a society?? Should we not raise a voice against it?? Breakthrough.TV has launched a campaign Bell Bajao which means Ring the bell. It’s time to remove those earplugs. The campaign asks you to take a stand. Kill the “it’s not my business” mentality.
This video shows a changed attitude's simple act that can help put the message across that we are listening and the abuse has to stop. Now. Please share and help spread the campaign. It is your business.

The queen ditched the potato

Aloo Gobhi , potato cauliflower dish is one of the popular dished from India. It works well as a side dish or by itself. The king likes it a lot. So this is a regular dish in the kingdom, made once every week. The queen likes it for the ease and how quick it is to make. Now that's all good for regular days but when the kingdom is all noisy with anniversary fanfare, this everyday dish doesn't suffice. So for tonight's dinner queen picked only the cauliflower and abandoned the potato. This dish is aptly called Shahi Gobhi, where Shahi means fit for the king!!

Ingredients

Cauliflower, cut into florets - 1 Head
Potato - None! Gotcha!
Yogurt - 1 cup
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

In a large bowl mix yogurt with turmeric, cumin powder and coriander powder. Put cauliflower florets and toss around to coat well. leave it aside for at least 20 minutes. If you have time, you can leave it for up to 4 hours to let the cauliflower absorb all the flavors well. I did it for 20 minutes.
Cook this marinated cauliflower in microwave on high for about 6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.

Ingredients for Gravy
Tomatoes - 2
Onion - One
Green Chillies - 2
Ginger - about half inch
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 heap tsp (This is to cut the tang from yogurt and tomatoes)
Heavy Creme - 2 tbsp
Cardamom Power - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste

While your Gobhi marinates, blend the tomatoes with onion, green chillies and ginger
into a smooth paste. You can make it richer by adding a handful of cashews and blending them with the tomato onion paste.


Heat Oil in a pan and add the above paste to it.
Let it cook over medium flame for 15-20 minutes, stirring in between.
Leaving aside heavy creme,add the rest of the gravy ingredients and stir and cook for few more minutes.



Add the cooked cauliflower to this gravy.
Mix it with a light hand while taking care not to break the florets. the gravy should coat the cauliflower well. Now add heavy creme, cardamom powder and salt and cook it for another 5-7 minutes.

And your Shahi Gobhi is ready. Serve it with your choice of Indian Bread.











This goes to the Vegetarian Thanksgiving Event hosted by Mansi

And the king found his queen

Love is in the air. Braving the chill , fingers woven into each other's hand, lending just the right warmth, with a gleam in the eyes they are trying to find the perfect gift. He has given her everything she could ever dream of but this is the time of the year when his heart overflows with love and he wants to find just the thing to express and to see her eyes widened with a smile that says "oh I love it". To see her at ease , he can do anything for her. He cracks silly jokes to make her smile, he will happily eat popcorn for dinner so she can relax, he would brave the cold if she forgets her jacket, he slips out of the room quietly if she is sleeping, he gladly watches chic flicks for her, he goes for aimless shopping for hours where she doesn't know what she wants but she really wants something nice, when she comes back after dropping off their daughter to school he welcomes her with a hot cup of tea, he  always lets her have the window seat in the airplane, he tells her every single day that she is the most beautiful girl, he always holds the door for her. He loves her cooking but there are times when she creates a disaster in the kitchen while trying something new, he pats her back for giving it a try and then brings dinner and by being what he is, he  just keeps her in awe all the time. He is her king, as she lovingly addresses him many times.
They got married eight years ago but have been together since eighteen years. He is the best thing that has happened to her, looking back, she would not change anything. 
As we celebrate our anniversary this week, I wanted to thank my man for being who he is.  I know he also has a lot to say about me and but to do that, he will have to start his own blog! I wish us many more years to enjoy the beautiful relationship we have nurtured together.
A Happy Anniversary to Us.

image courtesy : www.activerain.com

India Uncut

India this is for you. I never thought I would ever miss you, my homeland, in this manner with an omnipresent thought that would just not let me focus anywhere. India the land of water shortage, the land of power cuts, the land of pollution, the land of traffic jams, the land of zero security, the land of stray animals. I never thought I would crave for your negativities, for your imperfections, for your inabilities. I was so glad to be out of you but it seems you never got out of me! After spending 8 years of my dream life, my soul wants to wake up, it wants to be stirred up again, to appreciate the happy cocoon it wants to again experience the rough heat. India, my love, in our relationship, you turned out to be the selfless lover who could let go and me, the self indulgent one who just keeps running back to you to re-energize and run away again. India, you were my home, with all its inadequacies and helped me stay grounded with reality and this foreign land acted like a gracious host, who provided me with every comfort I could dream of. But as one poet says, However, humble, and however poor, Still Home is Home, when comes the trying hour, Still Home is Home, to those who know its worth, Still Home is Home
I miss my home but where is it now? After spending a decade away from home, in a place where we realized our dreams, we are not sure where exactly is home. Is it India? The land of lip-smacking delicious array of food, the land of bollywood, the land of spices, the land of sadhus, the land of bindi the red dot on foreheads, the land of namastey, the land of bangles, the land of sarees, the land of Diwali, the land of "take it easy", the land of passionate cricket, the land of ironies. This one was for you India, mine or not.

UN Day

Maria Montessori witnessed two world wars which made her a proponent of world peace and she is often described as "citizen of the world". Peace education is an important part of Montessori curriculum that is imparted right from the preschool stage when the mind is still absorbent and has no preconceived notions about other cultures. Children learn about continents and countries of the world and also about the lifestyles of people living there. Festivals throughout the world are celebrated int he classroom with the help of parents participation. Keeping up with the same spirit of global education, Our daughter's school celebrated United Nations Day yesterday. It was a family event with potluck dinner where every family brought a dish representing their homeland, then there was Parade of Nations where everyone dressed up in their traditional clothes and went down the aisle and then on the stage to greet the crowd in their native language. This was followed by cultural performances from India, China, Taiwan, France and Iran. The head of the school concluded the evening beautifully with the song "This land is your land, this land is my land" while playing along the guitar.
PARADE OF NATIONS












DANCE FROM INDIA



DANCE FROM CHINA


DANCE FROM TAIWAN


FENCING REPRESENTING FRANCE



DANCE FROM IRAN


HEAD OF SCHOOL PLAYING GUITAR

I can read!

Saumya, the life in our life,  the girl who will turn 4 next month, the girl who was inside me less than four years ago, a life form which we saw through the ultrasound monitor, trusting the words of the doctor that the little blob on the screen is actually our baby, a life who was sucking her thumb in the next ultrasound visit and we came to know the thumb sucker is a girl (yay!), the girl who came into the world 10 days earlier than expected, a girl whose face melted me to the core and changed me forever, a girl who didn't know how to sleep, how to eat, how to talk and walk, who couldn't make any sense of this world, I am so proud to tell everyone, this little gem of ours has started reading!! Ms. C, her Montessori teacher, is helping her realize this capability and has been sending books home so Saumya can read those to us. Last night when she finished reading an 8 page reader, I was so full of awe, "Mamma what's the matter with you, why are you smiling so much, what are you happy about?" Clearly, I couldn't hide my emotions and tears rolled down.  Saumya, the individual she is, hugged me so tight and I told her that I am just so very happy that she can read. It's one of those things that hold a special place in my heart. I remember a day in my childhood when the lady who used to deliver milk bottles to us at 5 in the morning, she came with her 10 year old daughter. I was six years old and was enjoying my summer vacation, sitting outside early in the morning and reading newspaper to my mother. The milk lady saw me reading and gave so many blessings while her 10 year old looked at me with an alien expression. Reading, for her, was a far fetched thought, for they couldn't afford school. That expression pierced me and I felt as if I have an undue advantage, a privilege which could easily have not been!! 6 is a young age but the contrast right in your face, makes you mature faster I guess. I felt like sharing my treat with her, to let her taste the delicacy I am enjoying and I requested my mother and the milk lady to let me help Manju, the milk lady's daughter. And there began mine and Manju's journey into the world where letters were not just a lifeless mass of ink rather they had the power to make us laugh or for that matter, cry! Seeing Manju's journey to literacy and then onto later getting admitted in a school and then taking a job later in life was such an exhilarating experience. Manju, helped me understand my self, she kindled the desire in me to become a teacher, a kindergarten teacher, so I can help sow the literacy skills right when the soil is ripe.

Now, seeing my own daughter reading , who is not yet 4, who doesn't yet know the paramount significance of literacy skill, fills me with pride and joy. You go girl!

image courtsey : www.atimetostitch.com

Good God Bad God

I was a part of a group today, a group which was responsible for introducing our culture to another group and to do that we read a book. One person was the designated reader, chosen for no particular reason but just because of the middle position of her chair which was conveniently placed to face the receiving group. So the story started, the reader was doing a good job explaining the unwritten, in between the lines facts to make the story come clear to the crowd and just then my ears started ringing with words "good God and bad God", and no matter what I tried I just couldn't participate anymore, mentally that is. The reader added her own description "The bad God was trying to hurt people so the good God beat him"

I am sure later when she thinks about it, the thought is going to poke her a lot. I have been there  many times! Sometimes while speaking publicly we just say things that we never would have imagined ourselves saying and later we bang our head with "what was I thinking? Or Was I thinking at all?"

I just hope the listeners forgot about it and aren't going to preach this anywhere else!

I went to a party

I went to a party Mom,

I remembered what you said.

You told me not to drink, Mom,

So I drank soda instead.

I really felt proud inside, Mom,

The way you said I would.

I didn’t drink and drive, Mom,

Even though the others said I should.

I know I did the right thing, Mom,

I know you are always right.

Now the party is finally ending, Mom,

As everyone is driving out of sight.

As I got into my car, Mom,

I knew I’d get home in one piece.

Because of the way you raised me,

So responsible and sweet.

I started to drive away, Mom,

But as I pulled out into the road,

The other car didn’t see me, Mom,

And hit me like a load.

As I lay there on the pavement, Mom,

I hear the policeman say,

“The other guy is drunk,” Mom,

And now I’m the one who will pay.

I’m lying here dying, Mom….

I wish you’d get here soon.

How could this happen to me, Mom?

My life just burst like a balloon.

There is blood all around me, Mom,

And most of it is mine.

I hear the medic say, Mom,

I’ll die in a short time.

I just wanted to tell you, Mom,

I swear I didn’t drink.

It was the others, Mom.

The others didn’t think.

Why do people drink, Mom?

It can ruin your whole life.

I’m feeling sharp pains now.

Pains just like a knife.

The guy who hit me is walking, Mom,

And I don’t think it’s fair.

I’m lying here dying

And all he can do is stare.

Tell my brother not to cry, Mom.

Tell Daddy to be brave.

And when I go to heaven, Mom,

Put “GOOD BOY ” on my grave.

Someone should have told him, Mom,

Not to drink and drive.

If only they had told him, Mom,

I would still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter, Mom.

I’m becoming very scared.

Please don’t cry for me, Mom.

When I needed you, you were always there.

I have one last question, Mom.

Before I say good bye.

I didn’t drink and drive,

So why am I the one to die?

—————————————————————

Please… NEVER Drink and Drive.

This piece came to me in one of those forwarded emails and couldn't resist sharing.