the charisma of thoughts..

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. ~John Ed Pearce

I had returned to my college with exams on my mind and family at my heart. When you go away from your family for the first time in your life, you know that you are leaving everything behind- everything that made up your world until then. But you do not realize what it means. You realize it when you come home for the first time after college and then leave.

I had been home for my mid semester break around Dushehra for about 12 days, and those days were some of the most beautiful I had had in a while. It was because I knew what those days were worth. And so, when I went back to my college, I was in tatters and the immediate exams didn't help. Those days had had such an impact on me that they pretty much changed my strategy going in that semester. Uptil then, I had taken up that book-worm sort of role, attending all classes and bunking none at all. I had even attended two lectures where I was the only person present. But now, things were about to change.

Soon as the exams were over, I asked my parents to get me home for Diwali. Uptil then, I hadn't gotten any reservations or preparations made for being home in the festival because I was uncertain about the holidays I would be getting. But I no longer cared about that. I asked my father to look for reservations around the said dates and that I had to come home no matter what.

But there weren't any seats available and the waiting lists were so long I never stood a chance. We thought of Tatkal but that couldn't be trusted with something as serious as Diwali. Navigation to my way home posed a big question.

One day, I was in the college workshop when my phone vibrated. I sneaked a view at it and it was my father's call. I couldn't pick up then and so I avoided. He called again and I thought it must be something important. So I asked the teacher-in-charge's permission to go out and take a call, telling him it was my father and that it could be important. He allowed and I went out to take the call. My father told me about a single solitary bus seat still available but it was much before the date I had told him. I said it was Okay and I could manage. Then I asked what it cost and he asked me not to worry. I asked him to tell me anyway and he did. I asked him not to book it and that I would just catch a normal bus home when it comes down to it. But he knew better and told me he was gonna book it. "Besides", he said, "you have never seen normal buses in festivals".

I was finally ~~going~~ coming home.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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She was the rarest of the rare and I had been lucky to have found her. In life, you dream of so many things but you never really get them. At best, you get something close and have to settle for it. But when life gives you more than you could ask for and when it gives you better than your most perfect of dreams, it becomes a living paradise.

My idea of the perfect girl started with her being a sophisticated, smart, lively girl and ended at the idea of a beautiful partner. But she was more than all that.

She was an intellectual beast who could not be tamed unless she herself wanted to. She understood everything from art to music to fiction to movies to philosophy and could discuss them with you with the authority of a much more mature person.

She would get all the cultural references I would make to her and come back with an even better one. She could even know the reason for my smile before I could speak anything and would clear my doubts with something just by looking at my face. She would laugh at only the best of my jokes and so I knew what really pleases her.

She had straight-cut but difficult to see through philosophies in life. Once when we were walking past a cross-way, she saw a beggar sitting in shabby clothes with his bowl. She got so concerned for him that we crossed the road (although we didn’t need to as we were going straight) and went near him. She looked for some change in her purse but only found a ten rupee note. Her face filled with pity, she asked me for some change and I took out all my coins, one rupee, two rupee and 2 five rupee ones. She took the 2 five rupee coins, handling me her ten rupee note, and put them into his bowl. I asked her if she had to give him ten rupees only, why had she asked me for change. She said- “So that he could hear the coins”. He was blind.

Another such day, we were going through some shops and this kid walked to us saying things like “May the two of you always be together” and “God bless your match”. Then he began asking us for some money. Taking a lesson from the other day, I was about to go for my wallet when she held that kid and started giving him a piece of her mind. She said such mean things to him like “Why can’t you work for some money. I know, you kids get all the jobs in the world but you leave them so that you can just bless couples and ask for money”. All this time, I was laughing like anything, seeing the look at that kid’s face. He never knew what hit him. Even I was puzzled at her outburst.

I asked her after she had calmed down as to why she was so compassionate towards the other beggar and so fiery towards that kid. She said that it should be quite obvious to me. That beggar didn’t have a limb and was blind. There was nothing that was keeping him going in the world except his desire to live. That kid was a mean punk who chooses to live out of other people’s pity. She had a point and my hysterical laughter became a nervous one.

She always knew that smiles and laughter made a relationship grow and would miss no chance at that. Be it bugging me for being a vegetarian while she ate kebabs saying, “So you only eat ghaas-phoos?” or teasing me by that teacher I once admitted having a crush on.

But the best of our laughs, if not the biggest, stemmed out of one quirky little flaw in our relationship. She was my school senior and I actually was younger to her. This used to be her best defense whenever it looked like I was getting the best of her.

Whenever it seemed to her that I was getting too flirtatious, she would say, “Careful Okay, is that how you regard your seniors? ‘’ and we would laugh our way out of it.

Whenever we were having a disagreement on some subject and the other person seemed to be getting a tad angry or upset, the first one would come up with a coy remark like, “Okay as you wish Senior Mam” or “Huh, okay I give up Junior” and we were all smiles again.

There were other times when we wouldn’t get certain whims of one another and the other person would go “It’s a kid thing, you wouldn’t understand” or “It’s something you will understand when you get to my age”. And this was how every disagreement, every potential conflict and every possible clash of titans would be resolved within seconds by the 'Mam-Junior' connection.

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This is what true laughter is meant to bring about in a relationship. Laughter and love don’t go on so good unless one can solve problems for the other. We might share hysterical laughs together at some slapstick comedy or on each other’s blunders. But the best laughter moments are those that keep our love going, glowing and growing.

Note: “This post is a part of #LoveAndLaughter activity at BlogAdda in association with Caratlane.”

Taken from giphy.com

"Dude you got a hair gel! You otherwise miser!", shouted my roommate as he discovered my secret stash of self-care items.

"I am not going there and I reckon you not too", I told him as I tried to snatch away my things.

"I don't understand why you despise such shows so much. It's such an exhilarating, adrenaline pumping experience. If not that, come along to hang around with us friends", demanded he.

"I hang around with you folks all the time. Besides, I hate the irony of how you people dance along to the tunes of Honey Singh and call it a cultural night. "- I pressed my point.

"Oh come on, this one isn't going to be like that. The college people have really spent some money this time. You surely don't want to miss that, do you?"

I took a moment back for myself. "Finally a college fest worth the hullabaloo that surrounds it", I thought. Besides, I was leaving for home at 1 in the night for our mid semester break. "It wouldn't really hurt to go there, would it", I wondered.

"Only one doubt remains", I thought as I turned to Abhishek again, " Would there be old Bollywood?".

"Not if you don't lend me your hair gel", he chuckled as I finally tossed 'my precious' to him.

So there we were, on the big venue, trying to make our way into the crowd. There were some seats at the back but who actually cares to watch a concert sitting with nothing but other people's raised hands visible. At 7 did it start, with the DJ playing a mix of good and bad songs..typical cultural night material. All along, at every 10 minutes or so, some fair guy, someone who has specially shaved for the evening even though he never gets a hair on his face, would come on the stage with a girl, someone who has finally got that chance to drape a saree and speak the word 'mesmerizing' in each sentence she speaks in the evening. They would tell us how we are enjoying it so terribly good and how the night is still young. Finally, they would speak of the one thing that has brought me to that place and they would repeat it just so we know that the concert wouldn't totally suck. Ohh..how the USP has become the OSP (Only Selling Point) these days.

At about 9, when my ears were finally tired of listening to the 'neembuda' song, awe and applause hit the crowd as Neeti Mohan finally arrived on the stage. She talked about how she was happy to be received by such a 'lively' crowd and later asked if we had any song requests? "Song request?", wondered a puzzled me. "Surely I have many song requests but isn't the song she sings a part of the script or something. Something that is predecided.", I thought. Before I could think something out of this, a lady teacher of our college who had recently joined became the lady of the moment as she wanted to express her choice of song. With a thumping heart I wished to hear some Bollywood classic title come out of her mouth. She held the microphone close to her and spoke " I would really like if Neeti could sing 'In aankhon ki masti ke' for us all. "Ahaaa" my heart went as I became an instant fan of Neeti as well as of the teacher who had uttered that title in a tone as mellifluous as any. And so began the song and so began the better part of the night. She sang with just the right tinge of sultryness you would expect from a song for such an audience. She sung it her way, not trying to replicate the original singer in anyway, neither the voice nor the rhythm. Yet, It was perfect, just perfect.

When the music ended, we felt slightly down as all that anticipation was finally over although we loved every part of it. Then suddenly, the same two anchors re-emerged on the scene and announced the final performance of the night. The live orchestra hit the band as Neeti's voice once again reverberated in the atmosphere as she went 'Tune Maari Entriyaan' one final time. The dance crew went absolutely electrifying on the stage and the crowd erupted. Abhishek pulled me into where they were dancing. It didn't really matter now if we could see those stars or not. We just went with the flow. We might not be anything at dancing but we are all wedding dancers and have attended many 'baraats'. Some of our screws fell and we went nuts dancing all the while even when the singing was over. At that moment, that 'mesmerising ' moment, we could have danced to the sound of a Royal Enfield. Thankfully, we had some music on. It was then I knew, why they went to such concerts.

Taken from giphy.com

At last, we got back at about a quarter to 11. I had imagined I would be drained when I come back but I was so pumped I could do it all over again and then too catch my train.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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I am one of those criminal people who live to eat. And so, I have made it a point to learn to cook all the things that I like. Whenever I am home, there are lists on the agenda as to how the food cravings are going to unfold on a daily basis. Mostly around dinnertime, after a raunchy and munchy spiceful dinner, there comes always the need of a good desert. Be it to change the taste from spicy to sweet so as to welcome sweet dreams towards the end of the day or to help soothe the tongue to milder tones. And for that purpose, there are two go-to dishes that we resort to- Gajar ka halwa and Lauki ka halwa. Now, I am going to share the recipe of Lauki Halwa here ~~because Gajar Halwa is too mainstream~~ because it’s cheaper this time of the year. Also, I am going to make the Halwa not using sugar but Sugar Free Natura. So this one is going to be a good one for anyone who avoids sugar due to their reasons.

Here is the recipe. Feel free to cook your own and share the feedback in the comments section-

Ingredients-

We are going to need-

One gourd ( lauki) : 0.75 kg [Preferably the one that is not round but long for the purpose of better grating]

Pure Ghee

Khoya/Cream : 100 grams

Almonds and Resins

Sugar Free Natura

Here are the simple steps you would need to follow-

Cut the gourd into two halves if it is the long gourd and into four for the round one.

Next, grate the gourd on a grater and collect the grated gourd into a plate. Take care that the grated gourd isn’t allowed to stand for too long or else it turns yellowish and doesn’t remain fresh enough.

Take some ghee in a wok and allow it to heat. Transfer the grated contents of the plate into the wok. Let the contents heat for some time and keep mixing for a minute to soak the ghee into the gourd. After mixing, put a lid on the contents and allow them get cooked at medium heat.

Wait for about 15 minutes for the gourd to cook enough and concentrate.

Unlid the contents and then cook them at full heat. Make sure that no water of the gourd is left and the contents get well concentrated.

Add four small spoons of Sugar Free Natura to the contents. Although the sweetness required may vary as per taste but for the quantity as mentioned here, four small spoons are optimum.

Again mix the contents with the Sugar Free Powder. Again cook for a few minutes to dry off any moisture that would have come up.

Next, add the khoya/cream into the contents and mix them. Cook for a few minutes again.

After this, add a little ghee into the center of the wok after emptying the contents there. Then fry the dry fruits in the ghee.

Just after frying, mix the dry fruits with the rest of the contents.

Serve into a glass dish and nosh upon it after the dinner and Yes, Have a cheerful meal.

Note: This post is a part of a contest hosted on Indiblogger by Sugar Free India

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"The smile that flickers on baby’s lips when he sleeps

does anyone know where it was born?

Yes, there is a rumor that a young pale beam

Of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud,

and there the smile was first born in the dream of a dew-washed morning."

The best of my life's memories are from the months of June and the dreamiest ones too. It was a year that doesn't look so far gone and it was the 13th day of the month as the clock hit 07:20 in the morning. The whole family rejoiced and I knew very well why. It was my little sister who had just arrived into our lives, into our world.

I distinctly remember, after all these years the whole map of the room my mother and my newborn sister were shifted to just after that. It was quite a large one with a large bed at the right corner of the room and a cradle sort of bed just aside it. As I entered there with my father, I saw my mother resting on her bed and my aunt sitting beside her. And she, sitting on that chair near my mother, was holding the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. As I went near my mother, my aunt called me to see how lovely the baby was and asked me if I wanted to hold her. Just as I was about to, I stopped to remember something. A few months earlier, I had gone to a relative's home to see a newborn cousin of mine. There, I had learnt that I should not touch or hold a baby with dirty hands. As my mind shifted back to that room with my little sister after me, I excused myself for a minute from my aunt. I went into the washroom and looked at my hands. They didn't look any bad but dirty or not, I knew what I needed to do. A certain amount of responsibility seemed to have dawned upon me with my sister. I opened the tap, took some soap and washed my hands for about a minute. And then, I hastily returned to my sister and cautiously took her into my arms. It was a feeling like nothing can bring you and all I could say at that moment was- " She is so soft. And she is so tiny."

I learnt quite some things after that as the whole family seemed to provide their expertise in taking care of the baby. GrandMaa pitched in her supercool ideas that looked pretty inventive to me while aunt bought new and new baby-care items for my sister. They told me how a baby is a tender little creature and taught me how her skin is to be especially taken care of. Some of those that I remember are here-

1- Bathing the baby-

Source: Giphy

The family knew that babies aren't specially keen on bathing everyday and even with the hot months going on, they despise it. So the baby needs to be bathed only few times a week and the rest of the days, they just need to cleaned with a sponge and a cleanser. Many times, they just need to be washed with a soft cloth with water without anything soapy on it. At other times, to clean the rashy areas of the body, a mild cleanser may accompany the water. This, however should be regular.

2- Her clothes-

The baby's clothing, including her bedding and the clothes of the mother need to be of such a soft fabric that there MUST NOT be chances of causing rashes on her body. Also, the clothes should be washed in a mild detergent that does not harden up the clothes nor soften them. It's best to use a mild detergent for all those clothes, one that just does some light cleansing.

3- Moisturizing her skin-

Source: Giphy

A baby's skin may turn bad pretty soon after her birth and you would keep wondering why, especially if it's a chilly winter. Like our skins, a baby's skin tends to become dry even when she has reached a daily bathing age. To avoid that, she needs to be gently moisturized multiple times a day with baby specific moisturizing creams. And if you have a grandmaa around who knows her way with oils and ointments, it's even better.

4- Keeping the sun away-

Source: Giphy

If it's winter, then a little time in the sun while the baby is oiled up is fine but in any other season, it is best to protect the baby's soft soft skin from the harsh sun. To do so, the baby's room should be a cool place and when she is taken out, she should be properly clothed. Using baby specific sunscreen lotions to protect body parts more exposed to the sun, like face and hands would serve the purpose.

5- The Pants-

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What most irritates a baby's skin is a sensitive tush. For all such purposes, diaper pants of a premium quality, like Pampers should be used along with disposable wipes. These days, such carefully designed and soft pants are available in the market that the baby wouldn't even notice wearing them.

Also, care must be taken for friction and rubbing when changing the diapers. That said, the diapers should be changed at quick regular intervals.

Pampers brings you the softest ever Pampers Premium Care Pants. Its cotton-like softness is #SoftestForBabySkin and allows it to breathe, thus keeping baby’s skin soft and healthy, and your baby happy.

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the charisma of thoughts..