Pinku-Enchanted Life

The partner has spent some time in Arab land and I am a sucker for anything that promises subtle flavors and a lot of meat ;) We had some chick peas soaked and that gave us the idea that perhaps rather than having a Punjabi chole yet again we could try making a sort of Lebanese dinner with labneh, hummus and some bread and meat. A simple meal we thought and yet that’s when the adventure began. We thought we could get some marinated malai tikka and grill it at home. Past experience had taught us that of all the ready made stuff available in the neighborhood shops, malai tikka or afghani chicken were the only ones which went well with the subtle tastes of hummus and labneh. A visit to the nearest meat shop brought a nasty surprise. The predominantly vegetarian neighborhood was fasting for the Mother Goddess and therefore the meat shop was closed. Whether in fear of the wrath of the goddess or her worshippers being anybody’s guess. We moved off a little further in search of the e

Reading has always been a passion. Something that both my parents supported wholeheartedly, so while as a child my friends were happy to gloat over their latest Barbies or video games I was happy in the world of books, some bought, others borrowed. Reading for pleasure continued through high school and college, greatly aided I must admit by Arts and later English as my subject of choice. This passion however took quite a beating post setting up my own home and climbing up of the corporate ladder. Having always lived in a meticulously clean home, the choice was between dusting and reading and I must admit for the past couple of years dusting had taken precedence. It has finally now changed thanks to a friend setting up a site bookmeabook which allows you to borrow books and have them home delivered at your convenience. The link to her site brought back many happy memories and also the means to getting my hands on books that I would love to read and just didn’t seem to find the time to

I thought of writing about so many things but the days seem to be just slipping past without giving me anytime to reflect. I just get swept along with things sane and insane. February 4th was the big fat Indian wedding of my adopted brother and a girl we shall call Bha. So the whole of January or rather all the weekends of Jan were spent in preparing for this grand event. Since he is adopted and that too not in the proper formal manner (he came to us when he was 18, decided to call my mom, mom and just stayed on) there were not too many relatives willing to help with the responsibilities. It was left to mom, me and parry to organize everything. Mom’s neighbours however behaved like complete sweethearts, coming in at all sorts of odd hours to help us with the various rituals. With a few hiccups here and there everything went well. Office was painful though and I was alternating between my laptop and preparations for the wedding through all three days that a bong wedding lasts. 5th eveni

In the caverns of my mind thoughts resonate all trying to be heard all trying to be supreme A hopeful word here, a spiteful one there, a warm smile, a foolish indulgence all jostling for space Which do I throw away? Which do I give credence as mine? Born of me they all are, yet not mine I fumble, I weep I tear at my hair in despair Which thought should I choose to lead me into darkness or sunshine? They have the power of destruction and creation too Like Kali and Parvati, both are mighty Which Goddess do I worship? I know you will tell me both are the same Sides of the same coin But me a mere mortal with numbered days growing shorter each moment has neither the depth nor inclination to choose between the two I think I shall just pull up the cover you call a shroud and let all the thoughts be at rest forever (picture coursey wikimedia)

Two more days and it will be a new year again... I was wondering what new year wishes I would like to make when it struck me that perhaps first I need to see how many of the wishes for 2009 actually came true. This is what I had posted last year as my wish list : And of these the biggest picture was of two people holding hands - I have been blessed with companionship and love and though we have occasionally fought, in our hearts we always knew that we are going to make up and be there for each other in any case. Chocolates: :) am happy to report that almost through the whole of the year my fridge has always been well stocked in this regard. There may not have been much else though at times. Perfume: have had some, will greedily say can always do with more Bag: I still havent found the one I can lose my heart to without losing my bank balance...so the search is on. Books: Did pick some this year.....though the list is nowhere close to the end. But that's a pleasure not pain. Jerusal

My grandma, Thakuma as we used to call her loved to travel. From her small distant village in Assam she managed to travel across the country, post the death of her husband. I am talking about someone who were she alive today would have been about a hundred years old. Her great regret in life wa s that she couldn’t manage to see the Andamans. Travel to the distant islands was not so easy in those days and by the time things got better her chil dren wouldn’t allow her to travel alone. So when I saw the islands for the first time I silently dedicated that moment to Thakuma. Deep blue seas running on for miles on end and then you suddenly spot the startling green in the midst. As the plane approaches the islands, one is startled by the contrast in the colours and the fact that the green seems to shoot straight out of the sea, so dense are the jungles. That is the first view of the cluster of about 572 islands which make up the distant Union territory we had read of in school books as Anda

Someone at work asked is this my second honeymoon or third? Would have loved to answer that my life is a honeymoon, in my typical witty way. But I paused before answering; life for the past few months has been anything but a honeymoon. Multiple responsibilities, lack of purpose and direction, unsure of where I will be the next day and unsure of even what I want to do with my life. We have been telling each other that we need a break nay deserve one but where is the time and lets not forget the money for that? We have been to the nearby mountains umpteenth times since those visits are light both on time and money but we wanted to do something a little different from those trips, we wanted to really be able to relax and yeah also perhaps rediscover each other. Discuss our needs, wants, desires and hopes too. Destinations like the North-east, Leh, Colombo, Malaysia were thought of and then discarded, they promised too much activity. Our criteria was peace, quiet and a chance to soak in so