some crazy stuff! :)

So yesterday Amma didnt turn up third time in this week and I had to take chhutti. Amma is usually careful not to take chhuttis over the week, but it was her daughter's shaadi that was getting fixed, so we couldn't even get upset! I hope things work out for them. The boy is 10th pass and earns 10k. And for this supreme achievement he wants a piece of land. Amma said she can give 5lakhs and 100gms of gold and the wedding expenses ofcos. WTF! No wonder we still think ladki is a boj.



And ofcos the boy wants the girl to stop working post wedding. I tried telling her why not wait some more, but between our broken hindi and kannada and her thinking Dowry is called Gauri (and i DON"T speak that badly!), all i knew was that she needed prayers and good will to be sent her way. Say a little prayer guys that all goes well for the family! :)




So since I was at home, I thought maybe I should do something "pativrataesque!" ;) According M, that means a hot cuppa tea and khaana should be ready when he is back from work - his argument being he keeps the subzi ready on most days! So I offered to make stuffed parathas instead.


Now our fridge was almost empty, but we did find some gobhi (cauliflower) and paneer. So, a combo of, what else - Gobhi - paneer was decided upon. M got to work with the grater, while I was kneading the dough and rolling it. Grating done, I added the standard hari mirch, dhaniya, salt etc to the stuffing.


Anyhoo, cut a long story short parathas were made and enjoyed and I found my place in Wife Heaven, am quite sure! ;)


Generally when I make stuffed parathas (which are not made as often as the word "generally" might make it seem!), I make two or three different ones. It might be paneer and spring onion, aloo and pyaaz, patta gobhi and cheese etc. So each paratha will have alag taste to it.


So this morning M was still dreamy eyed about last night's dinner. He said you should start naming your parathas. Like Spring Onion Surprise or something.

I retorted saying "Spring a Surprise" sounds nicer no?!


M made a face he makes everytime he knows I have bettered him and made me laugh like crazy!


Ofcos, then i started thinking for a while and from now on my Gobhi paratha will be called "Flower Power". Needless to say I got THE look again!! :P


Any other suggestions for Mooli, Alu and Paneer paratha? :)


Meanwhile Cubby is not far behind making us laugh with his verbal pyrotechnics! :)


The other day M said to me "Mummy, zara mere pair (legs) dabaado." Now cubby hates to see us close and will say "Utho! or Hato!" right away. If we don't oblige, he will physically wriggle himself between us! Hehe!


So just to not get him riled him M told him "aap bhi dabao aur Mummy ki help karo". So Cubby started his seva with as much gutso his little hands would let him manage.


Meanwhile I was started doing my bit too to which I heard Cubby's little voice saying "Mummy! Chhodo! Main kar raha hoon naah!"


WTH! :D


On that note Have a super weekend people! :)

I did it right this time!!!

What you ask?

Throw a surprise birthday party for M!

Remember that post I had written about my surprises end up becoming pseudo surprises?! Well Poppy remembered. Told me on chat "Don't forget your keys this time!"

Ofcourse this time there was no question of needing keys because I was throwing the party on Sunday, a day before his birthday, which falls on 25th May. It was a simple lunch do since there was IPL final in the evening and we have no cable TV at home for enthusiasts who didn't wanna miss it!

My way of surprise party isn't taking the surprisee out and bring him into a house screaming SSUURRPPRRIISSEE! WE stay at home and let people walk in surprising M over and over again! :)

I decided the whole thing on Monday and sent sms to my small guest list of around 15 and everyone confirmed by evening. Next tip was to figure out the food and drinks. Since it was meant to be a surprise party, I possibly couldn't have cooked anything or even bought too much of stuff and kept at home.

I did what I am best at without being a MBA, delegate and then delegate some more. BIL and SIL were given responsibility of getting biryani. Buddy S was to get beer and dahi (as odd as the combo sounds!) and Puja was to get juice and soft drinks.

I had to order the cake. My SIL was maha excited about getting some sorta naughty cake. But then I didn't find anything interesting enough. But i liked the other stuff on this website and opted for something called Edible Photo Printing which I had seen at a birthday just the previous weekend! M is a BIG Amitabh Bachchan fan. AB bhakt one can safely say. So i decided on that to be the theme.

I pulled in Puja to help me again and she did seriously good job with it once i sent her the raw material - the pictures! This was the first time I ordered cake ONLINE! I had no clue where the heck this baking institute was or how their cakes were. I followed my dictum of "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained!" and went ahead with it.

The owner, Manish, was extremely helpful and quick on take. Mails and smses would be responded to promptly and he helped do the final photoshopping of the image too. I told him that they can deliver the cake by 1pm and kept my fingers crossed! :p

Meanwhile, M being the total people person that he is, kept wanting to know whom were we meeting on Sunday. I had to refuse to meet a distant relative with help of some more lying. Finally I told him Puja and family are coming for lunch.

Murphy would have loved the moment when Amma asked for chhutti on the very same Sunday! How does one have a party without help. But there was no way i was cancelling the plan. I knew we had some biodegradable (made with dried leaves) plates and katoris and those would be used for khaana. Apart from that there was no cooking to be done really! I did jhaadu pocha afta AGES and I still do a good job of it! ;) Ofcos it's not something I would like to prove time and again! :p My other worry was the cake getting delivered when I was in the bathroom or before guests had arrived. But the guy was delayed just enough.

Thankfully as per what M knew was our plan, Puja & A arrived minus Diya (grrr!) arrived first. I had told M they were getting biryani because he kept asking me "khaane ka kya karenge?" They had also got along juice and sprite as requested and M thought it was l'ilw eird but didn't suspect much.

Next his bro called on my phone and M picked it up! he made some bahaana and told him we are coming over. Even till now M was clueless. Then my office pal walked in and he STILL thought it was a happy co-incidence though he was getting worried about about food and drinks! :p

Then when Ooi Bua, her hubby Sunil and Isaiah walked in is when M realised ki daal mein kuch kaala hai and arrival of Dee and her DH assured him that poori dal hi kaali hai! :)

Buddy S walked in wifey G and their adorable son Vikrant whom we hadn't seen since his birth and by now M was totally kicked and genuinely surprised. S bua was the last guest to walk in and the party was well under way!

Chilled beer and juice was being served. I was so preoccupied with catching up that I forgot all about offering some starters and bites! :( By now I was also calling cake guy who said "bass aapke ghar ke paas hi hai medam!' I saw the cake being delivered on one of them TVS mopeds and shuddered wondering whether I had pushed my luck a bit too far. But this time I couldn't go wrong! :D

Here's the cake;

Best of Amitabh Bachchan on one cake! With Us added for the corny factor! ;)

M wondering whether to cut "Mard" or "Hum"! :p

Neither M nor me were dressed for a party. M was like "Puja log hi aa rahe hai" and was in PJs and tee and me, i couldn't get dressed either in fear of arousing suspicion! So the birthday boy and organiser were the only badly dressed of the lot! :p

Cubby actually refused the cake! Ofcos he made it up later by having many pieces! :)

Puja and G! Two pretty ladies and one adorable Vikrant sleeping peacefully in the mayhem!! :)

Newly married Ooi bua serving drinks while SiL & BiL cozy up!

The whole afternoon went off in such a blur that I really don't recollect any specific events. There was no time to click too many pictures either. I think i am putting ice in the glasses in the background!

While M hold on to his most precious gifts! :)

Genius Miggu bhaiyya doing a wooden puzzle at home and getting it right within no time! I was maha impressed! :)

While Cubby fooled around! :p


Cubby was in a bad mood thanks to lack of sleep and food, but was still manageable and had fun once some chocolate and sugar went into his body! ;) Miggu bhaiyya is a bundle of energy and lot of time was spent in just watching the kids in action!

A quickie family photo just for records!

What was left of the cake by the end of the party!

I could ask M if he wanted a piece of me in front of 15 people! ;)

I was not sure how the whole thing would go since i was mixing lot of different people together, but it was like everyone always knew everyone else.

Dee and her DH are among the sportiest couple I have known and Dee even made DH take off his shirt and show us his very cool tattoo on his back! :D

Puja and A are good friends now, as if we have known them foreva! And ofcos she did and redid the collage as and when I kept finding better posters of nicer movies! Thanks Girl! :)

Ooi Bua bought some seriously yummy kheer and nobody can say that her hubby Sunil is a new addition to the family!

Blog pals recognized Isaiah as the guy who straightened my hair and wished he had got the straightener with him! :p

S, G and Vikrant are people who are very close to our heart and M spend lot of time with em when they were in the US and he was visting. S helped me LOADS even at the last attempted surprise party! :)

M & Chits (Bil & Sil) took charge of the whole party and were more the hosts than we were!

S bua is always a calming and pleasant presence! :)

Thanks people for making this day so special and fun! :)

And M, my best pal, hubby, father of my child and an amazing human being, Happy Birthday yet again! May this year bring you everything you wanted and then some more! Love ya lots! :)

Hugs! :)

because i don't wanna forget it - part 2!

I am late to do his 22month update, but do it I shall. I just didn't get time to get nice pictures and we all know how you people react to posts without photos! :p So, i will do it soon enough!





These days with Cubby talking incessantly we have almost a perma awestruck expression on our face. Ofcos, today's incident is more about action rather than words.





This is around 9am afta M has left for work. I asked Cubby whether he wants to have Doodh (Milk) or Omelet. Regular readers of the blog must know we share a mostly hate relationship when it comes to trying to get food in his tummy. I actually dread it and have happily outsourced the responsibility to Amma! But there is atleast one feed we have to battle with EVERYDAY.





Anyhoo this is what happened when the choice was offered;





Cubby - "Doodh Chahiye!"



Me - Chalo Doodh garam karte hai!



Cubby - Nahi. Omelet chahiye.



Me - Pucca Bolo!



Cubby - Pucca! Omelet.





As if to reassure me of his intentions, he runs into the kitchen and takes the small pan we use to make eggs and keeps it on the kitchen platform and pulls me by hand saying "Omelet banayenge!"





I tell him to give the egg-beater which he promptly located and tries to do the needful too. I allow him that for a few seconds as is the ritual before I take over.





The omelet is ready within few minutes. I ask him if he wants to sit inside and eat or stand in the balcony and he just points to the door.





We go out and within no time breakfast is done! (Touchwood and anti-jinx!). I know Boo's mom says one needs to bake a birthday cake to go to Mommy heaven, but I was there with a measly omelet. Even if for just those 10mins! :)





And people, my son likes being given choice even at this age!!! Is that the right conclusion to makes?! Gee!


And if you wondering what to watch over the weekend go for 99 (yes! its a movie)! A howlarious movie that will make you laugh till you fall outta the chair! Here's M's review of the movie! (did i tell you guys i fell for him thanks to his emails! still love his writing! :)




A completely unrelated, but cute photo of Cubby getting his daily dose of gyan from the "noosepepa"!

domestic goddess and me??!! You HAVE to be kidding! ;)

So the brilliantly creative and funny and recently discovered (my loss) Maid In Malaysia tagged me tell you about my domestic...errr... horrors! There is indeed no other word that can describe those situations which are a very literal as well as metaphorical black marks on this whole womanhood business! Least in my case it's too literal! ;)


The first one is really old... when i was reallly young! Yeah weird paradox! :p I used to spend my summer vacations at my mausi and mama's place in Kolhapur. I loved spending time with my cousin who is just 15 days elder to me. I was quite tall then. (No. I didnt shrink! Duh! but kinda stopped growing any taller and stayed at measly 5'6!). So, one day my mausi wanted to removed a packet of oil from the loft. Me, thinking, I am as tall as the next guy on stilts, said "Oh! Don't bother with chair and all, I can take it down with my... errr bare hands and toes arched!"


I cannot believe I actually did what I did next. I couldn't reach with my hand stretched (what with my haath not being kanoon ke) and toes arched. So I should have just given up and got a chair. Right? Right? Nooo, Wrong! I decided to jump and pull it off the loft! Yup my hand touched it, and my fingers closed in on the edge and before my feet touched the ground, the packet of oil had hit the ground AND split open! I had oil on my cousins smartest dress (we used to exchange clothes!) and oil all over the floor. I don't even remember by mausi's reaction. I am sure she would have whacked my sister or given least a looong lecture, but since it was me, we just got down to cleaning the floor. Rather she did, me thinks! Thats when I came to know that sprinkling lotsa aata on oil is the best and easiest way to clean it!


Though I do wish I had learnt this lesson in theory.


Cut to recent past... year 2005. Married for almost a year and still pretty much clueless and learning ropes in the kitchen. We had just shifted to this house we are currently living in. A pal had come to stay with us from Chennai. We didn't have a fridge and Mumbai common sense said you need to boil the dal or any other khaana well once, to let it survive to the leftovers stage! So, I put the kadhai with dal on gas and came and sat outside. We were almost set to sleep. Tired after long day of shifting and setting up stuff, we all slept off. M n me in the bedroom and friend in the hall. We slept like logs apparently because we woke up to a kadhaai with what used to be dal clinging to its edges yucky smelling and charred beyond recognition! The gas miraculously was still burning.


Buddy S, conveniently blamed us saying she had a cold and her nose was blocked no thanks to that. The funny thing is that the odour of burnt dal took like a week to completely go away inspite of brilliant ventilation of the ghar! We could smell it the moment we entered the house after day's work, but for life us we don't know how we slept through it WHILE it was burning to cinders! :P


This got repeated once again! This time it was milk left to boil. M was traveling and I just went off to sleep forgetting about it. Though it was lot more dangerous because the flame had gone off but the gas was leaking. Thank god I didn't have any switches to turn on as soon as I woke up. M keeps talking about how he could have returned to a blown up home! Brrrr!


What happened to the bartans you ask?! Well the kadhai got back to its original colour with serious scrubbing ministrations for a week least and the doodh ka pateela had to be thrown because it's bottom gave away and the colour won't get better either. The burnt taste just refused to go!


As MinM says it's domestic horrors in 80 clicks! So time to tag fellow bloggers! Suma, Swati, Puja, JLT, Anu, Monika, Avanti, Homecooked (kitchen goddess, do you have any?) and Deepa. Tell us ladies! :D


Have a great weekend you all! :)

the reception and the jazz!

So, here I am with Lucknow patrt 2! Ofcos there are eally no glimpses of lucknow in either post. It's basically Ooi Bua's shaadi and related stuff. There was no time to do any sightseeing. We did manage to sneak out day after the wedding for some Chikan shopping and had some yummy chana bhatura and lassi at a thela while at it. That did not stop us from going home and feasting on a full lunch either! When in Lucknow, eat everything you can seemed to be the diktat! :D

The reception was a grand affair and the DJ was brilliant. There was a bit of confusion with live music playing inside and the dance floor making noise on the open lawn. But we were too busy dancing or eating (the raisons d'etre for attending the wedding in the first place!) to notice the overlap. The older people called it disturbance! ;)

Oh! I must to tell you about Ooi Bua's buddy Isaiah (all relatives had different pronounciation for the poor guy's name!) who had come for the shaadi from Bangalore. Now we have met this cool dude a coupla times before. Really like him. He is regular rockstar variety. Tall, dark with long hair which is tied in a neat pony tail and all. He was so enthu and participated in all the shaadi related jazz and all as if he has always known what it entails. I was even more impressed. And then I completely fell for him when he pulled out a hair straightener to straighten his hair and promised to do it for me for the reception! I mean, can a man get more perfect! "Bhabhi, it will take 10mins only. Reception ke liye karte hai!" Thanks I! You made the evening rock for me! :)

Also worth mentioning is that I wore Ma-in-law ki wedding saree! A gorgeous piece from 35 years ago. I was quite happy till the pin ripped the pallu AT the reception. I was obviosuly upset but M was mortified about me having to face to the music. I just went ahead and told her its torn and please adjust so that it's not obvious. I got away with just one rejoinder stating she knew I couldn't take care of such delicate saree! ;) I scooted away post adjustment and hit the dance floor yet again! :p Tension nahi lene ka, kya?! ;)

Cubby was a l'il upset and tired thanks to all the fun that was being had all the time. You won't find too many smiling photos, but he looked dapper in dadi's shopping nonethless! A lovely shimmery kurta with a l'il stole to boot! :D

Here are some pictures from the evening;

Thats "I" doing the hair straightening while I sat there completely clueless and trusting my head in his hands! :p




That's the result! Me was quite happy! :D

A family photu with the owner of my saree! MIL, M, Cubby et moi!

Thats fav Anta didi! :) Didn't I tell ya no smiling Cubby pics! :(




Cubby in Chehek didi's arms with the whole bunch of kids we were meeting for the first time!

Cubby was the first one to hit the dance floor! :)




Showing off his moves! :)

With P mamu, S bua and Papa. Vedu bhaiyaa and Cubby trying to run away and be the blurs they are always were! ;)

Finally managed to catch em. With papa.

With M Bua. The next in line. Know any eligible bachelors?! :)

Cubby finally happy to be out of the Kurta and get his daily dose of masti with his dad! :D

ps:part 3 of post shaadi chilling to follow soon! :D

pps: Laughed a LOT reading THIS. There's a reason why I love this man so much! :D

becuase I didnt wanna forget it! :D

This is the conversation I had with Cubby this morning! And i HAD to put it down here because am sure to forget it sooner than later! Old woman and all that jazz!

Setting is at 9 in the morning. We have woken up really late and have just finished breakfast and all and M is getting ready for work. Cubby jain is rolling on the gaddas with his favourite "bon" (ball). The gaddas inciedentally get moved outta the hall and into the bedroom only when Amma makes an appearance and moves them where they are supposed to be.

Me: Cubby yahan aao. Pajama utaar ke diaper nikal denge

Cubby: Baadmein utaenge!

Huh!!! WTH!

Me: Nahi! Abhi utarenge. Phir bathroom mein jaake susu kaun karega?!

Cubby: "Bon" (ball) susu karega!

Again Huh??!! WTH! And laughing! :D

When do they learn to talk so much? Here I was few months ago waiting for him to say Mummy and now he starts a whole SENTENCE with Mummy or even Mumma sometimes. There are times when he calls me "AAabbhhaa" and if I don't pay attention he changes it to AabbhaaJI! :p

From yesterday he has started calling himself "Hum". "Humko omelette chahiye! Humko doodh dedo!" It's too cute and funny!

Anyhoo! That's that. Wanted to pen it down before I forget till the monthly update comes up!

Here's a picture (albiet grainy) of the l'il guy trying to hold on to his "lungi". We have to tie it around him every time his butt get wiped post clean up! :p

sInCe YoU cAnT go NaKeD!

My dad used it till he couldn’t any longer.


My brother in law used it for special occasions where first impressions mattered.


My husband loves the feel of it.


Kabir still doesn’t have a clue about it!


I love it too! It’s actually my favourite thing to do!


Wearing clothes from Cotton World that is!! Gotcha! :D

Last year they had a Flat 50% sale at one of their outlets. I was so kicked at reading the ad that we reached the said Cosmos Mall in Bangalore (the store there has shut down) at an unearthly hour of 10am. (Hey that’s when the ad said they would open! Plus my pa-in-law’s flight was on time, so we reached kinda early after dropping him at the airport). They bhagaoed us saying it will open only by 1030. So after having a nice Masala Dosa and by 2 kaapi (shared with Kabir) we went again and this time the doors were indeed open!


After looking around in other shops we finally reached Cotton World Corp – CWC for all future references. This particular store is pretty small but well stocked with all the goodies that CWC has to offer. Their flagship store at Barton Centre, MG Road, Bangalore is bigger and the first ever one at Colaba, Mumbai is the best! : )


My relationship with CWC goes back a long way when one of my pals took me with her on her shopping expedition. I simply fell in love with their lovely soft fabric and the clean cuts which make their clothes look subtle and very classy. My first purchase of long sleeved formal blouse in a light blue became my standard dress code for interviews and fairly formal occasions. Soon, I picked up a shirt for my dad and then would be bro in law. Both of them really liked it and from then on it became a “can’t go wrong with it” gift! Of course you need to know the right size!


CWC as the name suggests makes mostly 100% cotton clothes and sometimes with a mix of linen or lycra. They have a range of western wear for men and women (no kids stuff introduced as yet least!).


Find really pretty and feminine blouses in flattering cuts with sizes going up to XL. There is also essential office western wear with full sleeves and stripes and smart no nonsense look without making it look like you are wearing your hubby’s shirt! Casually flirty skirts to the beige fitted ones in varying lengths that go with your office wear. Fresh coloured capris, shorts and hot pants in bright shades and formal trousers help you complete your wardrobe. The tees are quite nice too!


The men need not feel bad. Formal shirts with half and full sleeves in standard blue to if you dare mauve and peach colours find a place on their racks. Not all their shirts have pockets. So if you the kind who feels helpless without that shirt pocket check before you buy. (M still cant get over the lack of pockets on some of his CWC shirts!) It’s something you won’t notice when you really like a shirt! You will also find some kurtas in cotton and linen which are really nice to wear for your lazy weekend outing or a brunch or something. There are t-shirts as well but I haven’t been too happy with their quality. You can easily give them a miss.


The clothes are definitely not too expensive by today’s standards. A shirt will cost anywhere between 600 to 900 bucks and kurtas between 400 – 800rs. The ladies tops cost between 500 to 1000bucks and trousers go up to around 1k.


The material is just perfect and I have never had problems with colours running or fading. The cloth stays taut and you don’t lose the fit unless you shrink (lucky!) or stretch (me!). They are clothes for every occasion and you are sure to make great impression.


CWC has loyalty membership card which gives you 5% discount on your every purchase which I think is way better than getting some silly 1 point for every 100bucks spent! This discount is not valid during sale.


CWC today has 11 stores spread across Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkatta, Delhi, Gurgaon and Pune. And like their website says “Still doing what it's always done: crafting simple, classic garments from natural, comfortable, wonderful cotton.”


To find where the shop in you city is log on to www.cottonworldcorp.com


When you wish to beat the summer that’s turning on its heat, it’s obviously not an easy feat!

So slip into something natural, something comfortable and something fresh!

Step in to Cotton World.

It’s just another reason to revamp your wardrobe, this whole change of season! : )

Ps: excuse the bad rhymes!

pps: no they didnt pay for this! It's an old time write up for a product review site! So am just rehashing the old stuff!

ppps: Next set of Lucknow photos in next post! :D