Life is easy kya karein

In the Lockdown, some men have their hair grown long and some have gone bald. Women have started cutting their hair on their own at home. Some of them have cut hair for their family members . For Hair Colour, people usually used to go to the Salon or get the 'Parlour Waali' home. Now those things will be avoided for some time. My nails are cut short and then chipped. The finger tips have lot of cuts from the knives and other sharp kitchen equipment. Kitchen is all about mindfulness. A moment of your attention going else where and you can mess up with the hands or the food.My hands are totally dry and raw with the innumerable times washing with soap. I used to have very soft hands for years. Mom used to say it is because you never had to do any hard work. Hard work according to Mom is doing dishes, cleaning the house and cooking. My Nutribullet which is my sole source of Nutrition, is not working now. The machine works well and the jar is fine.  It is just a small little piece...

I am oscillating between should I make my Will or should I teach my children to cook? Do I keep a bag ready, as I did during pregnancy with all baby clothes washed a couple of times? I remember not buying Baby clothes in advance, as we consider that inauspicious. Where was the time to do all that? I was working as the Director of Sales for a Five Star Hotel. We were in the pre launch stages and there was tons of work to be done. I used to come home, cook dinner and get ready for the next day. There was no time to go shopping for clothes, mine or for the Baby who was yet to be born. We believe better not to put new clothes for the baby. The New Born should have soft fabrics which are well worn. I remember going to Matunga Central with a dear friend from the hostel. Inside the vegetable market, there was a shop which sold baby clothes. The shopkeeper knew what all I will need and kept showing stuff. We both with no experience of a New born played safe and bought very little. Mom was go...

There is a pressure on time even in the Lockdown. Actually, the timings have gone all haphazard at home plus my efficiency levels are not at the optimum. New levels of patience with timings are needed. We have all gone into the slow zone mode. Mood swings are a norm now. I am not able to multi task. I am not even in Yoga zone. Slow life is where I am but not consciously. Not enjoying it as I become harsh on myself. My friend told me, you have to let somethings go. I am letting a lot go in terms of how I want my house to be. But I guess, there is more I need to let go. Here, when I am meditating with Sri Sri everyday and he keeps saying Let go. Even letting go of my breath is not easy. I am thinking of some clothes which I had kept to be given for dry-cleaning. There is a bag full of Sarees for fall and beeding and Saree blouses to be stitched . I am concerned about do I stitch them and wear them for Ganpati. How will Ganpati be this year in Maharashtra? How will we have Bappa at home...

I was thinking that by October 2020, things would have settled down. I will be able to take a small holiday someplace in the hills or a wildlife sanctuary. With all the apprehension about the second phase of the virus, I am not so sure. Now if I manage to go and eat something nice in a restaurant, I would be grateful. I cannot believe that here I am complaining about all the insane chatter around food at home and in all the WhatsApp groups, and then the first thing I want to do when the Lockdown opens, is eat at a restaurant. What a glutton I am! Is food something with which I nourish my body or is it what my life revolves around? I knew someone who was a very good cook, and she would keep talking about all the fancy food she made. I remember sniggering with other friends and saying food is to fill your stomach and to be enjoyed socially, how can someone only talk about it. My working friends would also look down upon people who talked only about their cooking and HouseKeeping prowes...

Personal space is such an important thing amongst people these days. Parents are bending backwards to provide space to their kids, physical and emotional. No one wants to be disturbed. No one wants to be questioned. No one wants to be responsible or answerable for anything. It is all about 'letting them be' and 'let me be'. Family closeness is reducing in the name of 'providing space'. One is not to talk about troubled relationships to anyone and one cannot ask family or friends about their relationships. Friends' spouses having extra marital affairs but all pretending that it is hunky-dory.  No one asks anyone any personal question, lest you step into their private space. Growing up in a joint family and living in a hostel, this concept of personal space was weird. Post marriage, I saw how new people in my life, were so secretive. Husband said, it is their personal space. I was like " Huh, what is that?" I grew up in a family, where even a littl...

In most of the hostels that I lived in, water was precious. The water cooler was only on one floor, usually in the dining area on the ground floor. Our rooms were always from the first to fourth floor. One had to come down all the way, to fill their bottles and in my case, the Copper Matka. Water was scarce in the bathrooms too. In the Nariman Point hostel, surrounded by residences of Ministers, the rich, the High court judges and IAS officers, there were timings for toilet water . Hot water was available only two hours in the morning and one hour in the evening. There was one geyser per floor in the common bathroom area. When we woke up, even before brushing our teeth, we ran to keep our bucket in the hot water queue. There were certain girls, who would steal your hot water. Some would go and put your bucket behind and their bucket in the front of the queue. Some girls were smarter, they just stole 2 mugs of hot water from each filled bucket and ran for a bath. The bathrooms also ha...

I want a dishwasher now. I never wanted it earlier because I liked my vessels being washed by hand. My daily vessels gave employment to three ladies in the vicinity who came at different times during the day to do the dishes. We do not cook elaborate meals but we do make four fresh meals in a day. Breakfast is hardly ever toast and muesli at home. In fact, I had stopped buying artificial packaged salt n sugar overdosed Kellogs wheat flakes for a longest time ever. I found a friend who made fresh muesli at her home in Pune. She always manages to send me a packet whenever I want through a friend. It is for the times when the Man is done with Poha, Upma, Idli, Sabudaana Khichdi, Chilla, Thepla of 3 varieties, Dhokla, Dosa, Uthappam, Khari Puri and Parathas. The variety in Indian cuisine is mind boggling. We really need to thank our ancestors for being so creative with our food and to all our Grandmothers for keeping this tradition alive. Paneer recipe was mentioned in a 12th century tex...

Lockdown is making me do crazy things. I am making simple foods with simple recipes. Naah, that is the sane part. The crazy part is  that I am making videos  of me cooking and sharing amongst friends. Me, who can barely cook decent food, is sharing recipes. I surprise myself and a few friends are even responding and wanting to try out the food. Promptly I have thought, I should stop writing and start  making food videos. I thought of all the apps which I need to edit these videos. Should I post the video with the written recipe or with subtitles? I told you I was not ambitious. My goal post keeps changing. Thank God, the phone s memory has called it a day. It refuses to take anything new however delicious. I get excited about so many things, so fast. But there is a hitch, it has to call me. The menu has to call me to make it in a jiffy. So I keep waiting till I finish my meditation with Sri Sri at 8 pm and then plan my meal. My mother calls me post her lunch at 12.45pm....

There was a message doing round when the Lockdown started which said Buy a house, the size which you can clean.  I am already worrying that I am not able to keep this house clean and organised the way I would like it, then how will I keep a Bungalow. An aunt has already told me how much hard work it involves. I can see my dream already slipping out of my hands. I have never been much of a dreamer . I never dreamt as a child about my future. My Mom would create a future with me that I will be happily married in Mumbai in a nice family to a very nice guy. I should wear only ironed and starched Kota Sarees with matching blouses and wear diamonds my ears. Ironed and starched clothes were worn when people went out for an occasion. Other wise, all women in Jharia Dhanbad wore  washed but un ironed cotton Sarees. They had three sarees and blouses which were worn regularly till they tore. The synthetic Sarees were worn when people went out for a party. For regular home wear, it was ...