Huang Sha

She is 22 months old. May be two and half feet in height, cheeks touching her shoulders, with ten teeth, and big eyes. She ties her hair like little fountain on the head. She sings - big time -than talking, like her mother.
When her grandpa asks her, “How many sparrows are in Grandpa’s house?” She covers her eyes with one hand and with another hand; she shows ‘TWO’….One day on the phone I heard ‘Hissss…’, ‘Hissss…’. I was wondering is it my breath echoing? Anything wrong with the connection? And I heard that It was her, making a snake out of her tiny hand giving me the snake bites over the phone…
If I sing the first stanza of the rhyme, she completes the second half. When her uncle lifts her, she loves punching his face, with special sound effects – POM POM POM
I call her Huang Sha (to her Chinese looks) – she tries to repeat her name, and her father justifies her flat nose “Because for honeymoon, we had gone to Darjeeling” :-D
A living little dolly – my niece.

To eat is heaven

Phone rings.
Me: Hello…
Home: Did you eat? We had $%&)!#$^&%*^)_+...
(It’s called, food lover’s style of saying ‘Hello’) :-)

My family ….They talk about lunch at breakfast, dinner at lunch and breakfast at dinner again. My family spends more on good food then on diamonds; my mother can cook 85 items from the discarded fruit stones and peeled skin of the vegetables and fruits. That too with half of the choices available, being vegetarians…I wonder What if we were non-vegetarians?!?!
A thief can look into fridge than in locker for a better bet…in our fridge there will be rarest herbs, expensive fruits, precious nuts and diligently made uncommon seasonal dishes. People in my house can tell the drinkable smell in the milk, required viscousness in oil, Amount of kneading for Roti to melt in your mouth, Degree of the boiling water to retain the flavor in Basmati….and the size of each diameter with number of layers in ‘layered Puris’. My mother’s mother used to call me on the carpet, if I had misplaced an item in the plate, there is a precise location for Srikhand, pickle, Puran-poli or Sabzi on the serving plate. DAMN!! After his meals, my cousin says, “Refrain from the Lion who is hungry and a Brahmin who has just eaten”… :-D
Sometimes it sweeps me over …being myself, and being surrounded by the intense food lovers. For many of us…Food binds, Food combines, Food has the history, Food has the future, Food has the stories, Food is emotion, Food is mood, Food reminds, Food has a size, shape, smell and sense… Food attracts, Food distracts. Food satisfies, Food is comfort, Food is discomfort, Food is creative, Food is reactive, Food is secretive, Morale Equals the Food, Good taste in society defines the personality, there is a Good luck food and a bad luck Food too, food can substitute, Food is fun, Food is life, and Food is death…Huh.

Me, a complete contrary, I have my own lazy versions of my mother’s elaborate preparations, and eat only when hungry, cook only when someone else is to eat…But I always want to have the enthusiasm for cooking and feeding and the excitement to eat and to explore.

A ‘Woman’ I would appreciate....

It was a short trip to home last month. I happened to meet few relative ladies. Oh My God !! Are they same bunch of sisters who’s style I followed in my adolescents. Sad to say that Now they have difficulty walking and I remember them tripping the light fantastic toe…They were 25 Kg+ than their required weight and I remember their Levis pencil skirt…kind of shabby in their looks now but The shade and the fragrance of their latest lipstick is still there in my retention. What had they done to them selves….I wonder “ being married and keeping a house can be so consuming that we cant spare half an hour for the self?”
I don’t really know how and why but majority of the married woman say they are overly occupied looking after family & house hold chores that keeps them from a good facial, funky haircut, a relaxing body message, a wonderful book reading, or refreshing 20 minutes with an old friend over a coffee….?!? That made me think my checklist, which I would like to circulate :-) among us. We should …
-Be Sought-after companion & family member.
-Have an opinion.
-Appreciate the rewards of maturity, reason, and constraint.
-Create own definitions, Experiments with the concept of self.
-Convey the intentions prudently.
-Be truly interested in other people.
-Be able to converse with anyone.
-Respect younger’s boundaries & Elder’s age.
-Mostly make time for good lunch and an hour at Gym.
-Take enough intakes of iron, protein and Calcium.
-Try to be lively and cordial always.
-Rarely seek advice but is susceptible to worthy influence.
-Keep a little something back.
-Not be afraid to upset the balance sometimes. Experience new things.
-Know how to keep a secret.
-Not be defined by profession.
-Learn to turn around a bad situation.
-Have an instinct for humor.
-Accept that some things are best left to chance.
-Actively encourage others to author their own lives.
-Be curious and knowledgeable about art and politics.
-Celebrate your age and diverse network of relationships.
-Be always prepared for anything.
-Be the ultimate liaison.
-Believe everyone is responsible for his or her own happiness. (Including self)
-Know the mind and be decisive in action. Don’t be afraid to say NO.

Well, I can’t speak about the life I have not experienced but I will definitely apprize a woman who is fantastic in her physical & mental health and looks fabulous. A capable equipped happy woman for the amend family or society.

First of all.

For me the most estimable endowment is my family & all the family relationships are the very integral part of me. The outpouring information and the surrounding environment had nurtured me in the way I am today…
As a youngster, I found the comfort in the way I was pampered and loved. As a teenager I was disciplined, was left free to find my identity. Now as an adult since I am self-reliant, I appreciate them so much more. I look forward to become the same origin of help, support and love they provided to me in my young age, to them whenever they need me by any means.I can never eliminate myself from my family; Farer you go, closer they come…
My mother says, “By striking the stick on the Water, you can never separate it.”

This branch of my writing, making up of all the childhood stories to little ditzy hoo-hahs to big mattering hullabaloos, is dedicated to my family.