The display window

This is for you...the person, just so instrumental in making me continuing with the blog, (always asking...have you written anything recently??? and bookmarking my blog) which would have faded out after a while. I never really dedicated anything for you. But today and for this memory I dedicate this to you. Thanks Umang :) hope you keep me encouraging as much as you have before. Even if you are only one who reads it and sends a lovely opinion. Thanks again, and pls pls pls keep reading:)

I am a libran and I love color. color and variety in every form. But what actually holds my interest are display windows.
I like to see clothes display so that I get a hint of current trend and colors. I see Saree display at some of the shops, and when I find a "piece" I can buy for my mother or MIL. I love to see shoe displays as even if I am not shoeholic...I do love to see different designs and trends in shoes. what really holds my interest are small display "dabbas" at the local biscuitwala or grocery store. it is from these shops that I got my first taste or kasuri methi and kalounji... supermarkets hold less appeal to me. I try to but they just seem so cold.
I remember now defunct shop in the market near my mother's place. it was a real "4by4" shop that sold biscuits and farsan of all kinds.I didn't insist my mother or grandmother (on Saturdays when we had weekly "chutti" from school and I tagged along with her to the nearby temple)anytime but yes when she asked it was always "AA sweets kaju wadi (again defunct)". There were tangy small spheres coated in red/maroon or black and insides was surprisingly tangy. there were "extra strong" big and small coins , then there were multicolored or peppermint pellets (insides of mint with a hole), there were ravalgaon toffees and milk "golis" and who can forget "zebra" golis which had black and white stripes all over, tasting pepperminty.
Coffee bites were rare and so were catburys eclairs (which came in gold,orange and brown cover then) they were that rare treat but yes these chocolates were at our disposal and always confused libran asked for all...a small bit of this and that. There was jeera goli and "badishep" which was fennel seeds/saunf encased in hard boiled colorful sugar, there were "goldcoins" of caramel and "cigarette boxes" with long sticks of peppermint with tops in pink, and which had some kind of cartoon photo as free gift (without that advertised, on the small rectangular carton or otherwise). there were long thin plastic packets which contained red, green and yellow sugar balls and "paan masala", the yellow and red transparent covered white lollipops of some nameless company..the "parle" rose mint and peppermint (incidentally most or all of these toffees or chocolates (we called all candy as chocolates whether they had chocolate flavour or not) are now extinct, except rose mint that I tasted recently, some of the biscuit types like "top" or "embassy cream" biscuits too are no longer existing). there were animal shape/ ramakada biscuits and those which had alphabets written on them, then there were small button biscuits ... there were long ribbons of red fiery spicy banana wafers, a bit milder miri wafers and tasty "kela" wafers. though all three were made of kela or raw banana...we had names to distinguish all three."miri" never held much interest but "kela" and "tikhat(spicy)" wafers still hold my sister's and my interest. next was farsaan and "bhavnagri" gathi which were fried snacks with lots of ajwain or "jaadi/fat" gathi, which I still love with spicy chilly garlic sauce. There was "tikhat/spicy" or "saada"potato sali and of course some unknown company's potato wafers, which then came only in classic salted flavour, and without the frill..."Lays" somehow didn't make an entry in the market and minds till then.
Display windows also take me to see punjabi ghasitaram "anarkali" and "chumchum" and all such decorated bangali sweets of punjabi ghasitaram...again I could never make a choice here. and though I took something very preety I could never bring my self to eat it, that delicate confection.
it was then. but now I see these and such display windows for sole reason...to find some such gems which are somehow lost in the history of time...just to give a hint of what a simple childhood it was then...minus demands, minus brands and minus a lot of cartoon network.

Another delight in my life

Seasonal delights. thinking of them bring smile n "raal" on my lips. my love shifts but I don't forget my old love. come the next season and I again fall in love with the same delight. my love affair with hapus aam is world famous. or at least family famous. come summers and I enjoy not only Alphonso mango, but also lovingly blushing juicy peaches, lychees giving their juice ...m simply delightful (that applies to all fruits...I love fruits that are naturally sweet n don't have that sick starchy taste that old apples get...I love apples that break with a "tac") rainy season and its time for vadapavs (whose daily indulgences continue anyways...monsoon to bas bahana hai) and of course bhutta and come winter its time for lovely nagpuri tangy sweet oranges (which got conveniently got replaced in the market with US stamped orange sweet limes...only they are worse...orange in color but taste overly sugary and smell not even remotely orange) and of course wet chana or solana or harbhara. come winter and some simple poor looking vendor at normal market (not nirmal life style) sit with these harbharas/chana/wet grams. at times with their foliage at times without. the foliage if fresh can be made into lovely liquidy green vegetable. but usually its fed to horses :)
these harbharas or solanes come with their outer waxy cover (of no use) or nicely peeled and ready. (nicely peeled are definitely more costly) my mother used to get these peeled ones at times in winters when I was small and used to make a lovely fried chana with it. but this time I tasted something extraordinaire...I had roasted wet grams.
It so happened that weary and exhausted I got down from the bus from office, and dragging already weary feet home. this person would have gone unnoticed but I saw him. nonchalant, he was roasting something which from far looked like peanuts. I am not fan of peanuts, though I like them as a snack...esp rajkot peanuts...(I am digressing from the topic again). something made me glance again as I neared the vendor. the smell was divine and what was roasting were not peanuts but wet gram, with skins on. the smell was wet and salty...the person was roasting them in salt...such a lethal combination that I came to understand later, after almost being addicted to the daily fix. for trial sake i had a packet of 5 bucks.small but felt sufficient for the amount, I paid and carrying the hot packet, trudged ahead. some grams could be eaten just like that...with skin and all. the skin and the green gram inside were just so young that a brushing of salt made them utterly delectable. roasted not till charcoal but just to cook the chana. somehow it was salt that brought more flavour to the chana. Freshly sweetish and salty, a bit warm having distinct roasted smell. The first bite had an oomph. caring a damn about what people though, I engrossed my self in eating chana and trudging ahead. The journey home never felt just so short. the last chana ended, the mouth still had the taste. a daily fix definitely till the last one is eaten :)

Currently listening…

“tera bimar mera dil”, “naam mera premkali (usne mera naam liya...taotaotaodio...maine jiya tham liya taodaio tio diao { ahem..tio dio is music})”, “na jane kahan se ayi hai”, “gadbad ho gayi” and “bhoot raja”.
You must actually be wondering what am I talking about. These are the songs from the yesteryear movie of absolutely gorgeous sridevi in double whammy, called “chaalbaaz”.
It starred some of the best comedian villans in form of shakti kapoor as balmaa and anupam kher.
The weird voices in “gadbad ho gayi” and the filming of “na jaane kahan se ayi hai”. Sridevi looks amazing fresh in the movie but rajnikaant, totally underutilized. Hearing “gadbad ho gayi…chutti mil gayi” still brings a smile on my face. A definitely worth hearing songs…

Esp.dedicated to you on valentine's day:)

The initial years I will always call my teething period as we fought and mostly never called a truce. battle of titans shall I say? both stubborn and sticking their guns when opportunities called for. but the three years tamed the wildest of animals. and yes attimes I actually wonder if I never really appreciate you bieng in my life...its for you my always misunderstood better(?) half...hope this conveys even the half of what I wanted to say.

kaise mujhe tum mil gayi, kismat pe aaye na yakin
utar aayi jheel mein, jaise chaand utarata hai kabhi

houle haule, dheere se

gunguni dhup ki tarah se tarnnum main tum
chhuke mujhe gujari ho yu
dekhu tumhe, ya main sunu
tum ho sukun, tum ho junun
kyun pehle na aayi tumkaise mujhe tum mil gayi, kismat pe aaye na yakin

main toh yeh sochata tha, ke aaj kal uparwale ko fursat nahi
phir bhi tumhe banaake woh, meri nazar mein chadh gaya

rutbe main woh aur badh gaya

badale raaste jharne aur nadi, badale dip ki tim tim
chhede zindagi dhun koi nayi, badali barkha ki rimjhim
badlengi rituye ada, par main rahungi sada

usi tarah teri baaho mein baahe daalake, har lamaha, har pal

jindagi sitaar ho gai, rim jhim malhaar ho gai
mujhe aata nahi kismat pe apani yakinkaise mujhko mil gayi tum

Courtesy: Film:Ghajini

Song 2

i' ll be all right, i' ll be all right

tu hai to tedhi medhi rahein, ulti pulti baatein seedhi lagti hai

tu hai to jhoothe muthe vaadein, dushman ke iraade sacche lagte

in hainjo dil mein taare vaare de jaga, woh tu hi hai, tu hi hai

jo roote roote de hasa tu hi hai wohi

jaane kyun dil jaanta hai, tu hai to i' ll be all right - (2)

saari duniya ek taraf hai, ek taraf hai hum

har khushi to door bhage, mil rahein hai gum

but when u smile for me, world seems all right

yeh meri zindagi pal mein khil jaaye, jaane kyun

jaane kyun dil jaanta hai, tu hai to i' ll be all right - (2)

yeah yeah yeah i' ll be all right, i' ll be all right....

chhote chhote kuch palon ka dostana yeah

jaane kyun abb lag raha hai jaana maana yeah

cos when smile for me, world seems all right

yeah saare pal yehi yuhi tham se jaaye, jaane kyun

jaane kyun dil jaanta hai tu hai to i' ll be all right - (2)

tu hai to tedhi medhi rahein, ulti pulti baatein seedhi lagti hai

tu hai to jhoothe muthe vaadein, dushman ke iraade sacche lagtein hain

jo dil mein taare vaare de jaga woh tu hi hai, tu hi hai

jo rote rote de hasa tu hi hai wohi

jaane kyun dil jaanta hai, tu hai to i' ll be all right - (2)

Courtesy: Film:Dostana

The ultimate nectar of summer.

I never liked fizz and fizz drinks...they never really quenched thirst, especially in the summers. To tell literally your body "mange more”. The thirst just does not end. This always makes me resort to nimbu paani or shikanji (ultimate and all time favorite) cold chaas/buttermilk, kokum sherbat and aam panna (the weakness) and of course "usacha raas" or sugarcane juice. Incidentally my better (?) half loves sugarcane juice and whenever we would venture out in sultry afternoons we would always stop for this “ganne ka juice”
It was this nectar that brought my mother and me to its solace after trudging a bit to get some weekdays preparations done on Sunday evening. After contemplating between half and full we had two full glasses. The first sip was honey, the next heaven. The natural coolness of the juice (minus the ice), the delectable sweetness of the greenish concoction and a remote tang of lemon. The glass got over just a bit too soon, and we trudged home, satiated and fully replenished with energy.

The rock of my life

This is for you my better(?) half...part anni, part valientine's day gift:) leaving aside the shattu n amavat by airmail parcel ofcourse :):)
I have always been a drifter,
drifting and floating in life,
some times here, sometimes there,
no aim, no direction,
just swimming with the tide.
And then I found an existence, the rock solid one.
It when I rested for the first time in my life,where I took breath ,
I shared my joys and my sorrows, my hurt and my emotions.
Your my dear rock, just stood by me, just so unmoving, strong and silent.
you made me laugh, you wiped my tears,
you shouted at my mistakes but showed me the right path.
its coz of u that I settled, its coz of you that I lived...
its coz of u, the anchor of my life

The taste of ambrosia…fresh baked bread

I love passing by the bakeries. Especially in the mornings. Enjoying the aroma that tantalizes the taste buds, for a bite into one of the warm gutlis or kadak pavs. Now on one of the Sunday evenings my mother and I strolled to one of these bakeries that sold lovely kadak pavs. Just like sourdough or French baguette in texture but shape like a gutli, these breads were ambrosia, with melted salty amul butter and creamy cheese. But these were made only in the morning. We understood a bit too late. So I kind of compromised on sesame decorated burger buns. From the feel they were cotton. Which meant fresh. The smell. good, the color, rosy brown.We came home. And I broke open the bread (I didn’t use knife) and slathered one side with some salty butter, cold from the fridge. Not in mood for cheese (for a change) I almost thought of eating them JLT. Till I remembered some of potato chips that my mother had got from the store for her fasting pet pooja. One thing layer of handful of wafers and my wafer sandwich was ready. The creaminess and light saltiness of the butter complimented the crunchiness of the plain salted potato wafters, cushioned in softness of the pavs. The minimal sesame added the required nuttiness. The first bite was heaven and the remaining the steps to paradise. Needless to say, the sandwiches got over just a bit too soon.

A trekker’s paradise: Matheran

I have been meaning to write on this trip since ages but some how found time and inclination to do that today.
Whenever I think of Matheran, I remember the long walks or treks…and scenic beauty.
When Muharram came joining Saturday and Sunday, it was a long weekend. A dream come true, for extra sleep and peace and relaxation, extra chores done, extra guitar practice, extra reading and extra studying. But who knew that these plans would go for a full toss.
Fully drained after dinner making and winding up chores, a brush to clean teeth and warm bath finally found way to the cool bed. “shall we go to matheran?” was the question my better (?) half asked. Disinterested and a bit irritated I almost said no. but then I saw his enthusiastic face and said a sleepy OK, sleeping catching the weary body a bit too soon.
Something rude woke me up. It was morning already. “What?” I barked sleepily. This was not the time for pleasantries. “We need to take the train to neral…from there we will go by car to matheran and we need to catch the train in ½ an hour” “what…” all the sleep left my eyes. “The packing is not done…and I need ½ hr to do puja and bath…I am not going without it” I said angrily. “We just need do jodi kapda and your bath and puja will be done within no time” he said calmly. Grumblingly I got out of the warm bed. No time for warm water, I hurriedly had bath and did puja…with mantras continuing as I packed do jodi kapda. I wore the tennis shoes and trudged behind him.
“I will punch the tickets and you proceed in the direction of the platform…else we may miss the train” and without waiting to hear my question on train timings he went in search of ticket punch box. I saw a train from the “fast” train platform leaving. Almost panicking I called him. “I guess we missed the train” I said. “no…the train still has ten minutes to go” he said calmly “OK you come here…I guess I have less amount of tickets” furious I climbed down the bridge. Anger slowly building in my head. “you didn’t even tell me the train time…how am I supposed to know” I said. After a bit of arguments, both of us proceeded in the direction of the platform. A chai was what I needed. But a few sips later some one pushed and the tea graced the floor. Trying to maintain calm we boarded the train. We reached Neral and searched for an ATM. A single one graced some distance ahead. Now the misfortune started. It didn’t accept my card nor my better(?) half’s. we tried and tried. For few others it did. But we were not so lucky. After a lecture of how we should have withdrawn money at thane etc and me insisting to go home. We took train back to badlapur where we finally could withdraw the money. Grumblingly we finally took train back to neral. After booking a medium priced ‘hotel’ and car to matheran, we set our journey. The “zup and zaaap” of the swift turns at the curves of the Ghats. My mind refused to dwell on what would happen if…
Getting down at “dasturi naka” (the start of matheran), we trekked our way to “railway station” (the main point of matheran), paying less heed to the insistence of horses and that the distance was huge. I enjoyed the feel of cool air on the body and how sun didn’t make me perspire or seek cover. We followed the rail tracks. And in some time reached the “railway station”. A quick lunch of strictly OK biryani, we met the escort who would take us to the hotel. Now hotel would be a misnomer. It was more like a lodge or a house, converted into something livable. “who is going to stay here…we just need it for the sleep” I said consoling my disappointed better(?) half. After taking our forty winks, we started our exploration on feet. Taking backside road parallel to the station, we walked ahead, clicking photos and chitchatting, the earlier big fight totally forgotten. The roads were red and dusty and uneven and definitely not tarred. But that was OK. the scene around was too gorgeous to pay attention to roads. Dense trees on both sides. We first went to charlotte lake, that provides water to whole of matheran, and where swimming and rafting and boating is not allowed. The expanse was beautiful, and so was the steep cliff at almost another end of the dame, which served its purpose mostly in the rainy season. We walked back and saw echo point where no echoes took place. The navigation was a bit tough since everywhere there was lack of signboards, but it was OK, since the localites where helpful enough. The walk was hectic for us city people and we dragged our selves back to the market place. A bit of rest and parcel of food and we slept like logs on that night, after having a whim of ice-cream. The bed bugs drinking to my blood with their natural straws.
The next day we got up early and refreshed, we started our trek again. This time to Alexander point (my favorite), rambaug point, onetril ( one tree hill) point, little chowk and chowk point. Alexander point was my favourite as roads were wider and better. There were ancient houses from British era that we saw as we passed the road. There was so much air that it made that it made that typical “ghu ghu” in the valley. The view was fantastic and I believe the best in whole of matheran. We took nimbu pani at little chowk point and after seeing onetrill (one tree hill) point which was actually a small shrub, we walked back in search of civilization. We had piping hot “kanda poha” and adrak chai (finally) which refreshed our senses and soul and headed back to our “thamba” or stop. Refreshed , we changed to our early afternoon trek. Before trek we took a “real” heavy gujrati meal at gujrat bhavan. After this, the trek resumed. This time we saw a so-so lousia point ,coronation point, lords point and lastly porcupine or sunset point. This place buzzed with activity and we saw the sun setting in absolute V. we saw a complete baby green peak amidst all dusty browns. And before the sun completely set, we trekked back to the market. Completely sapped out. After having an OK Chinese starter, soup and palak paneer at a joint we headed back, feasting on fudge. Sleep already on our eyes. The next day we took our sack and overnight case. I had a “kadak pav”, for my small hunger. We unexpectedly went to garbut point, and later took return car and after feasting on garmagaram vada pavs, we took return train back home. Totally refreshed to start the daily life again.

The book that impressed me.

I feel this has always been with me. Books that never seem to cease satisfy me and music that never seem to cease to elate me.
This is one of such books. A must keep of all sorts. I have read “Tuesdays with morrie” of Mitch Altbom and ofcourse “five people you meet in heaven”
I have always been a buyer of books. Something itches when there is an exhibition in the office (and there are many) and I don’t buy a single book. But yes. For me mostly its never read once and finish it off and never touch the book again (you should see the well worn volumes of the knitting circle and PS I love you). I love such books that I read again and again. (Madhur Jaffrey’s climbing mango trees).
Tuesdays with morrie never ceased to elate me. I was a bit doubtful about “five people you meet in heaven” I didn’t want preaching (the monk who sold his Ferrari has enough) nor very light reading.
It is this book that has it all. Small pieces of advices sewn together with a lovely story.
It recounts the life and death of an old maintenance man named Eddie. After dying in an accident, Eddie finds himself in 5 other heavens of the 5 people he will meet in heaven, where he encounters five people who have significantly affected his life, whether he realized at the time or not. A book that actually made me stick to it till I finished it. A keep definitely.

Another addition in my "sidey song" list

OK, now I downloaded a classic song along with this too (mere sang sang by kishor Kumar)
The first thing that puzzled me about the song. what exactly instruments are used except guitarisque use of harmonium.now this novel use of harmonium where I always viewed it as classic, for classical songs or practicing singing...honestly according to me a bit bland musical instrument, but it sure received a mindblowing makeover.
The lyrics have a perfect mélange of english and hindi lyrics. The songs starts with harmonium madness then english-hindi lyrics…a bit low…then a pause with “whats my name…whats my name” then some music and “my name is Sheila…”. The music is good , the foot tapping kind..and so are lyrics…so much that I mostly hear the same song again and again …I just saw trailors of the song on TV with Katrina kaif sizzling on the screen. I am almost scared of singing the “Sheila…sheila ki jawani” aloud. Not a classic definitely…but worth a mention

After a long hiatus

After a real long hiatus, I have managed to get some stuff for month of January,(which turned out to be february mid 2011) something to breathe on…One more year ended one more year started. Year 2010 brought heartbreaks and joys…I am hopeful that 2011 will be same “imli chutney” experience