Signs

I am a big believer in Signs. O well actually not. It just gives me the kicks to interpret things the way its convenient for me ;)

So here are a few of my interpretations:

Sign 1: Sonny knows his shapes
He says "Ma tummy is circle". Sure honey, you got some salt to rub that in with?

Sign 2: We're watching way too much TV
I caught sonny singing "ooo shanti ooo" in the bath last week.

Sign 3: Sonny is developing a taste in pretty women
Today while the "Aakhon mein teri" song from OSO was being played on TV he turned and told me "nice aunty ma".

Sign 4: Looks like we're watching a lot of IPL.
He recognised SRK in the abovementioned song and said "thats Shahrukh Khan".

Sign 5: Looks like Sony/Set Max are getting the Target Audience attention.
Sonny saw a song featuring Salman Khan and told me "Thats Dus Da Dum uncle". Good God, now he even recognises Salman Khan.

Sign 6: Sonny has high self-esteem.
I caught him playing with his blocks. He was asking himself "what color this?" and then replied 'lellow'. Next sentence "good job sonny".

Sign 7: Sonny really has a thing for girls.
Everytime he hears the Vodafone Happy to help song, he runs to the TV and stares non-stop. If we draw attention to him, he is hugely embarrassed and covers his face with his hands.
Same reactions with Paanchvi Pass girl 'Shreya'.

Sign 8: Sonny loves mommy more than daddy.
While we're taking a walk, sonny pulls me onto the sidewalk and says "ma, walk on sidewalk" (no credit for him - we've been drilling this into him for the past 6 months). So hubby says "and what about baba?". Sonny says, "baba walky". So dad you walk where you are - let me just get my mom safe on the sidewalk.

Sign 9: Sonny loves the car the most.
Me: "whats your name?"
Sonny: "sonny"
Me: "Whats your baba's name?"
Sonny: "My car is toyota prado"
He still cant pronounce either my name or hubby's name correctly - but the car's name - he has that mastered.

Words of Wisdom

From TV serials no less...

"A super-mom is the first to crack" - Desperate Housewives
Agree completely. More than agree, I hope they do crack - so lesser moms like me feel better.


"Being a mom is like being an ER doctor. There are no days off." - Desperate Housewives
Agree, agree, agree.


"As parents grow older, the roles get reversed. You being the child have to take them in, and care for them no matter how weird, obnoxious and unbearable they may seem." - Desperate Housewives
Didnt know this was true in the US as well.


"The problem men have with commitment is thus. Its like you're driving on an interstate, you see a sign for the Rest Area. The woman thinks - good this is all we need, food, lodging, fun, everything. Lets take this exit. The man is looking at the sign that says 'Next Rest Area 27 miles' and he's thinking ' I can make it' and continues driving." - Seinfeld
This one really really cracked me up.


O dear...hubby is right. I do need a life.

Ode to the Spud

For something that looks round, tubby, chubby - the potato has held an amazing sway over the world. From the Americas to Europe to Africa to Asia - this is one vegetable (ok food crop) that is common to all. In fact its the fourth largest cultivated food crop in the world - after wheat, rice and corn (Wikipedia).

And why not - its one of the safest, least harm causing food article - after perhaps rice. Most new moms introduce the potato (or the peas) as one of the first vegetables to a child beginning solids. And yet, its difficult to find someone allergic to the spud or having an intense dislike for it.

I remember, as a child, my mom added potatoes to almost every veggie she cooked. In the hope that the lure of the potato would draw us to taste the veggie. Sometimes she succeeded - sometimes not.Come to think of it - you can add potato to almost every thing you cook, to palak(spinach) makes palak-aloo, to gobhi(cauliflower or cabbage) makes gobhi-aloo. From capsicum, to beans to even brinjal - every veggie has succumbed to the influence of the starchy aloo. Except perhaps the bitter-hearted karela (bitter gourd).
Even non veg food is no exception. The biryani-ka-aloo (potatoes cooked with biryani) is a delight in itself. The coastal folks make a mean dish containing potatoes and fish.

And there are so many ways to cook the potato by itself - zeera aloo is a favourite dish served with puris for breakfast. You can make them with tomatoes, with sesame seeds (nice and crunchy), with a paste of coriander leaves, with red hot chillies, the masala dosa filling...... the list is endless.

French fries, roasted with its skin on, mashed potatoes, the western world has its own delightful ways of cooking this humble spud.

Versatile, congenial, adaptable, hardy, pest resistant, not expensive, likable, universal, this is one veggie that truly should be crowned 'King of Veggies'

Or Queen - given its shape ;)

Herbivore or Carnivore?

If there's one debate that stirs up as much passion in the desi community, as maybe the composition of the Indian cricket team - its this. Veggie or Non Veggie?

And I cant understand the reason why. You eat what you like, I eat what I like. Why is it up for public debate??

What peeves me even more is the subtle conversion that people attempt to make. Like this comment I often hear, "you must give your child chicken - how else will he get protein?" Errr sir - you obviously havent heard of soya bean and its protein content. Dal perhaps?. Or this one "veggies have no taste". What? Its chicken that has no taste - thats why you need to smother it with masalas.

Or the other way round, " you people eat meat - see whats happening around the world. Mad cow disease, avian flu.... you meat eaters deserve this!" Really? And do vegetarians deserve genetically modified veggies and pesticides?" No really nobody deserves that. Or "you people eat like animals - you will become like animals". Erm...growl!!! :)

I say, laissez faire!! Lets treat each other like adults - let each one decide what they want to eat. What they want their kids to eat. And let the kids decide for themselves what they want to eat. Like this couple I know come from a very strict veggie family. They have now started eating chicken. However, when their parents come over you're not even supposed to say the C word in their presence.

Ok, parents I still get. You dont want to hurt their feelings. And parents can really guilt trip you all the way to the moon and back. You dont want that.
But your own wife? Hubby and his friend have spent many bachelor evenings together chomping down on KFC. Both bachelors, both had nothing to do in the evenings. Now this guy's wife comes over for dinner (100% veg - cooked by moi) and gives hubby and me the biggest bhashan ever about the merits of veg food. I put on my most innocent expression and say "wow you really are into veg food". She replies, "yes me and my husband truly believe in it. He knows I dont like it - and he wont eat it because it will hurt me". Noble intentions my love. Though hubby still swears that the husband joins him regularly for lunch over a mean piece of lamp chops.

All jokes aside, I have to say this. Being a veggie in the US of A (or any other country) is tough. The food options you have outside are really limited. Only recently has McDonaldds added salads to its menu - though most of them come with chicken additives. I keep hearing about the fries having animal fat content. Even fruit yogurt is not safe - it has gelatin (which is made from animal hooves - yuck!! I know). You really have to plan for food - or carry your own food around. Not all cities have reasonable Indian restaurants serving reasonable Indian food. So its tough. Hats off to you for being so strong!


Edited to add: This one I would regularly hear amongst the desi folks. Our Indian team looses because we cant keep up, strength-wise with these other meat eating teams. You see our bowlers are vegetarian - how will they get the strength?
And I would be itching to add - Srinath and Kumble were the last vestiges of vegetarianism in the Indian team. Dont blame food habits for their losses.

Buffet Rules

I’m not a very large eater and yet I love the concept of a buffet. SO many dishes, one flat price – who wouldn’t like to eat at one. And yet to fully enjoy a buffet, one needs to have a strategy – to do – poora paisa vasool (full value for money).

Here’s my strategy:

1. Never go to a buffet if you are in a rush. A buffet for a working lunch just doesn’t work. You need at least 2-3 hours to do justice to a buffet.

2. Wear a comfort fit trousers. One that can stretch with the tummy. A la Joey in Friends (who wears Phoebe’s pregnant trousers to attend Monica’s Thanksgiving dinner). Better still wear a salwar khameez. The drawstring in the salwar can be loosened at will.

3. Skip the soup. Soups typically are meant to line up your stomach. But they also fill up the stomach pretty fast, leaving little space for the rest of the stuff.

4. Go easy on the salads. Although very wholesome and healthy, they too fill you up pretty fast. And as my aunt-in-law admonished me at my wedding reception, “ghaas poos ghar pe khaana. This is no time to chew a piece of cucumber.”

5. Before you fill your plate, do a quick scan of the items on the table. Just so you know what all there is on offer. SO you know what to pounce on.

6. Skip the breads (naan, parathas, rotis) and rice: Why bother trying to fill your tummy with these when there are other things on offer. Of course the strategy might not work, if there are curries and dals on offer and you skip the rice.

7. Choose what you eat with care. Why bother with the potato bhaji when there is avial on offer?

8. Take a look at the desserts. Rock hard gulab jamuns and down in the dumps kheer are not worth leaving valuable tummy space.

9. A lot of buffets include free beverages. We all know that gassy drinks take up more tummy space. Skip them. Stick with water – tiny lil sips of water.

10. Learn from the veterans. The ones who are taking second servings. They’ve already tasted the stuff and are going for the stuff they’ve liked in round 2.

Whatever happened to...

Anu Agarwal – Remember her? The Aashiqui girl? She did a series of forgettable movies like Khalnayika and just vanished. I hear she had a really bad accident and has since retired from public view.

Rahul Roy – And where is he? He too hung onto the coat tails of the Bhatt camp and did a few movies like Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi. I heard he was turning director. But I guess out of sight is out of mind.

Ayesha Dharker – She last did Terrorist and hasn’t been seen since. I miss her on the silver screen.

Antara Mali – Her I do not miss. Last seen in a forgettable movie called Naanch with Abhishek Bachchan. The only thing I remember about this movie – is that he boob size changed with every shot.

Mamik – Aamir Khan’s bhaiyya(big bro) in Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar and Preity Zinta’s bhaiyya in Kya Kehna. Looks like no one wants a good looking bhaiyya anymore.

Aziz Mirza – He’s made some really good films like Yes Boss. He was a partner with SRK and Juhi Chawla to form Dreamz Unlimited – they made Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. I wonder whats happened to him.

Minu, Sonia Singh, Rini Khanna nee Simon – Does anyone remember these English newsreaders for Doordarshan? They were so good. Sometimes I think I watched the news just to see and hear them read government propaganda.

Siddharth Basu – How can you forget the quiz master of Quiz Time? Charming, such good diction, always in control…..o I could go on. I saw him do a few Quiz Time spin-offs, but with the advent of satellite TV, e just faded away somewhere.

Ayesha Jhulka – She was such a fine actress. Hopes of marriage with Armaan Kohli led her to give up her film career – and he never married her. I last saw her do 2 bit bhabhi roles in movies.

Meenakshi Sheshadri – Do you remember this icemaiden of the 80s. Such a fine actress. I’m told she got married and wants to have nothing to do with the public eye now.

Madhu – Or Roja as we knew her – another fine actress. I don’t know if she’s still doing anything down South.

Jugal Hansraj – This Masoom kid was last seen in family friend Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein. Wonder what he’s up to now?

Mamta Kulkarni, Sonu Walia, Somy Ali – and scores of other bimbettes blown in by the wind…..now scattered who knows where.

Farooque Shaikh – O I had such a huge crush on this guy – in all those funnies with Deepti Naval. Last seen doing ‘Jeena Isi ka Naam hai’ on Zee TV – and that was last year, I think. Where is he now?

If anyone has more public/media personalities to add – feel free…. These are all I could think of.