Yesterday, for the first time, I greeted her with a smile and ...and she responded with the liveliest grin I had ever seen. In this age of ruthless competition, skewed human relationships, waning sense of belonging, when life has become precarious, more than ever before, if at all one must live, one must continue to consume resources and one must do his bit to push the race towards extinction, then he should do so for the sake of that smile. It compels me to forget the count of my years, it begs me to drop the cynicism with which the injustice around us, so easily, adulterates our thoughts and prejudices our actions, it asks me to shrug off the pragmatism for some time and act foolishly. It reminds me of those days when one had the ability to have a hearty laugh at anything, no matter how trivial, how churlish!! It reminds me of those innumerable bits of joy which I have conveniently forgotten in the quest of that 'something big'. It compels me to recall those moments and smile to myself. It urges me to revive my desire to enjoy life, it pleads me not to be afraid of being happy, it assures me that, though such moments will not last longer, they will never cease to find me. It asks me to wait for them and when they arrive, to greet them with the brightest of my grins, with the purest of my intentions. Then, it promises me, they will last forever.
The innocence of that smile has triumphed over my selfishness.
PS: Guys, this is total madness. I wrote this some time ago. Of course, for a gal. However, since this piece ,now, is reduced to just a juxtaposition of Roman letters grouped together in packets named 'words', I guess there is no harm in sharing it with you.So long.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
One for Holi
A lofty dollop of the 'sweeter-than-honey' chana-dal paste slid slyly between two innocuous, thin wheat flour rolls, like the mischief of a naughty kid comes veiled under the guise of innocence, and bathed under a liberal shower of home-made ghee...that's Puranpoli for the gourmand and the gourmet alike.
Puranpoli is a Maharashtrian-special delicacy, often prepared on the occasion of Holi. The whole process of preparing Puranpoli is quite tedious, requires a lot of time, skill and patience. But the whole exercise, when finished, bears a very sweet and delightful fruit.However there is a caveat attached. If you are planning to rush to the office or college, after indulging yourself with few hefty helpings of Puranpoli, then boss, you are in for a shock. Even the most energetic of men, I have seen them turning into sloth bears after such an heavy intake. It is extremely high on calorie and fat content and with ample of sleep-inducing agents, like a handsome sprinkle of Nutmeg powder, added to it, only a hearty siesta can do justice to the treat. Needless to say,it is the ultimate torture for the abstemious. For exactly these reasons, first it being heavy on digestion and secondly, time consuming, it is only prepared on select occasions during the year,like Holi in March and the Mahalaxmi Puja in September.So it is an eagerly awaited prospect. These days,you can find it in few restaurants,as well. But then none of them can match Aai's impeccable mixture off ingredients, her mastery over packing the paste in those wafer thin layers, its smooth texture, the silky-soft morsel that simply melts in your mouth without
making a fuss. You know what, year after year,season after season Aai's Puranpoli has transcended the realm of reality and has garbed around itself, the aura of a legend.
Puranpoli is a Maharashtrian-special delicacy, often prepared on the occasion of Holi. The whole process of preparing Puranpoli is quite tedious, requires a lot of time, skill and patience. But the whole exercise, when finished, bears a very sweet and delightful fruit.However there is a caveat attached. If you are planning to rush to the office or college, after indulging yourself with few hefty helpings of Puranpoli, then boss, you are in for a shock. Even the most energetic of men, I have seen them turning into sloth bears after such an heavy intake. It is extremely high on calorie and fat content and with ample of sleep-inducing agents, like a handsome sprinkle of Nutmeg powder, added to it, only a hearty siesta can do justice to the treat. Needless to say,it is the ultimate torture for the abstemious. For exactly these reasons, first it being heavy on digestion and secondly, time consuming, it is only prepared on select occasions during the year,like Holi in March and the Mahalaxmi Puja in September.So it is an eagerly awaited prospect. These days,you can find it in few restaurants,as well. But then none of them can match Aai's impeccable mixture off ingredients, her mastery over packing the paste in those wafer thin layers, its smooth texture, the silky-soft morsel that simply melts in your mouth without
making a fuss. You know what, year after year,season after season Aai's Puranpoli has transcended the realm of reality and has garbed around itself, the aura of a legend.
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