Simple Pleasures...mmmm

Of eating a particularly simple to make but oh so comforting dish!!!

I am talking this time of pita bread filled with cheese of some kind (mozarella/cheddar) and with a very generous sprinkling of zatar; and baked for just about 7 minutes or so...mmmmmmm

Thanx to my neighbours from the second floor, I now possess original zatar powder with white sesame seeds which came all the way from Israel...and that's not the best part- I have been promised more , so I can afford to eat lots of my fav spice!

Citronella...and Perfume (the film)

Citronella- probably the only thing that can work against mosquitos!

Delhi has become this ugly place where dengue, malaria, typhoid and other horrendous diseases are creating a havoc right now. What do you if you have children? Forbid them from setting foot outside? from school?

I have started burning citronella oil night and day in the bedroom just to make sure the mosquitos stay away- or that's what I'm hoping. Who would've discovered the medicinal properties of this oil? Or other oils for that matter!

Reminds me of the film I saw the other night- a 2006 release " PERFUME" ). What a movie...or was it? Well it was quite gruesome as a theory/ storyline but quite different to see. If any of you has seen the movie, you would know the distorted connection to citronella!!

It does become a little predictable towards the end, with a film scene with maximum number of nude bodies but the absolute end is quite fitting.

So tired!

Isn't everyone else?

It's as if there is a race to be run from the time you open your eyes in the morning till the time you go to bed. Of course one could sleep when the babies sleep and catch up on that part of your life at least; but then you don't want to lose out on the couple of hours of kid free time and then before you know it's midnight and past...and then it starts all over again...phew!

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is not bad at all- no sir!

Well she conforms to what a pop star should look like, and I had my reservations about her talent quotient.

But she can sing, and she can write as well- not the grammy for most but not bad either!

And I got to know of her from my 12 year old niece!!!

Discover Flipkart

An online bookstore where books are even cheaper- yesss!

I got to know of flipkart when my husband's colleagues gifted him some stuff they had ordered from this website. For my part, the cynic that I am, it sounded too good to be true!

But I test bought a book and voila, I am hooked. And they reply nicely to feedback you post. So my fans, try it when you can- the collection of titles is truly fabulous!

Immobile and raving mad!!

Well it had to happen- all the stress had to make an appearance somewhere and it did! My neck has gone for a toss and has given me such a turn- actually many that I am totally burned out and disoriented.

I hate to feel this helpless- unable to perform daily chores; causing Anuj to stay at home, taking care of our children with no help from anybody.........I HATE IT!!!!!

And if there are many people who share the same predicament or have done so at some point of time- well as someone I know says- this too shall pass!!! (actually I am just rambling on- have no clue as to what I am saying or why)

Promise breaker!!!

Yes I am..even to myself and my millions of followers on this space !!!!!!
It was my promise to write a blog everyday no matter what, instead I get stuck in playing stupid, mind f#$%ing games like internet mahjong.
Well, to be fair I haven't really done a lot these past few months except perhaps wallow in my misery.
No that's not entirely true- my children were ill for a straight month. We finally made it to the school of our choice- the school- Vasant Valley. We had made it to to Junior Modern as well. And this without having paid a rupee as bribe or knowing the prime minister's butler's wife's maid's driver- phew, close call. And although we were waitlistd on VV, we had absolutely no hopes of making it- after all who withdraws from THE school...well, to our and Kabir's great luck someone or rather someones did and we got in!!! Yipeee! Thank you God for an amazing thing, which is why i am willing to forgive what He's doing to the rest of my life- after all, he put things right for my baby.

Terrible state

One would think that with two children to think and worry about, where would I get the time to be depressed...but I am...incredibly depressed. Today I even forced Anuj to come back home in the middle of the day.
What the hell is happening with our lives? With my life? Sometimes things are so lucid...and I really do think...'I don't care'...but then...am losing interest in most things including cooking

New househelp - ex already!

Well, I had kind of anticipated this....someone with no experience at all, asking for Rs 6000/- and a talker!!!
A story for everything and everything a tall one, it just wasn't fated to last. And maybe now I don't want then to last either. If it was my house, my rules, it would've been different. But now, in this setup, not possible.

Kabir's B'Day!

The preparations are in full swing...

When I started writing, it was still not Kabir's birthday, and now it's been 10 days up. It was a rocking party with mostly everyone turning up- some on time, some later, much later. I slogged to get the theme ready- spiderman. I slogged to get the food ready- mini pizzas, baby idlis, chicken kebab rolls, paneer rolls, chips, popcorn, french fries, cake. I slogged to get the return gifts, the guest list finalised. I didn't do anything for the decor, the entire credit for which goes to Anuj, who managed to make some fabulous spider webs as well.
There was a bouncy as opposed to all we believe, but which Kabir thoroughly enjoyed jumping on- after all it was in his house!!!
The gifts were fabulous- great books, some clothes and some cool Ben 10 glasses.

And if I wasn't so tired, I would write a little more but my mind is full of other things- more house crap. I am just happy that K had a swinging time!!!

Training new househelp!

Well what can I say...let's see how long this affair lasts!

A Lesson in Cooking!!!

Sitting at a cafe with my husband, I came across this advert in the Times of India asking people to text in if they wanted cooking lessons in popular restaurants. I did. I forgot I did. I got a call. My husband came back home early. I went. I came back, feeling quite disappointed. The weather had been great, just perfect i fact for a seance outdoors. The arrangements had been great, the chef quite 'pleasant' as my neighbour described him. Then why this feeling of having wasted my time?

The restaurant in question was Sevilla at the Claridges. The chef was the corporate chef, whatever that means and the audience was truly a melange of odd people. I never knew people actually went to these kind of do's, and that too old kind of people, people who look like my mother and people like the auntyji from amar colony. It was a classroom all over again, with a really eager student laughing at all jokes and one liners- her jokes and one liners; I am going to have nightmares about her!
They distributed the recipes for four 'tapas', tapas are starters as the chef took great care in pointing put for the umpteenth time. The chef started to speak and almost immediately was asked to shout- the noise from the street was drowning everything out. Then the long wait for the loudspeaker- 30 minutes, and then finally...oof. (I even had a serving person, sniff at my tea with lemon and milk- lemon and milk he asked? Is this your tea- I answered.)

So the chef started, he really answered everything good naturedly, and showed everyone how to make seafood paella and three other dishes- I forget their names. But it was disappointing on a number of counts-

• I didn't get to taste what he made
• I didn't get to make what he made
• He didn't give local substitutes- maybe there aren't any and he's not Sanjeev Kapoor ( I do believe this is Sanjeev K's forte)
• I don't like Tapas, Mashrabiya with its Moroccan/Lebanese cuisine would've been better.

But I loved it that my husband came back early and gave me this chance to get a hold on myself, on my sanity and do this just for me. He's a great one for insights I've realised- Mala, he said, think of it as a movie. At least you went. Next time don't sit on the side and watch others play tennis (that's his favourite sport), play yourself!!!

Grilled Veges with mozzarella and chicken loaf slices

That was for dinner yesterday- marinated all this with lots of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, oregano and some more (can't remember what), and then grilled it for about 30 minutes. Yummmmmmy!!!
Bunked this all in a ciabatta, along with mozzarella slices (anuj with chicken loaf slices) and the result was magical. The best compliment from Kabir- Ma you cook like the TV and then a magazine, he said pointing to a copy of the french cote sud!!!

Grilled chicken salad

That's what I gave Anuj for lunch today. I am truly very proud of this recipe that's mine.
Marinate a chicken breast with herbs easily available in the house- rosemary, oregano, lemon zest, olive oil and bunk some veges like thin strips of coloured peppers, olives, red onions, stalks of the green onions, mushrooms if u want to!
Grill the same- all carefully wrapped in aluminium foil, in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes.
In a bowl, break off some lettuce leaves, some iceberg leaves and mix with some cherry tomatoes (if not regular ones will do as well), some chunks of cucumber. When the grilled treasure is cool, mix it all together, tearing off the chicken breast into small pieces. Be sure to pour all the juices in- they are excellent to dip your bread in to eat. You can also put in a dash of balsamic vinegar or some light soy sauce. Mix it all together- this will keep for a day. Ideally make it the day before to let the juices permeate everything :-)

K's admission- FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

Well...WE ARE IN...THANK YOU GOD...out of the nine schools we had applied for, we made it to one and a half. One- Junior Modern, half- wait listed with Vasant Valley.

The lists were due to be out on the first of Feb and Vasant Valley duly released its list midnight, throwing me into a paroxysm of grief and fear. Grief, as we were wait listed, and fear, that we wouldn't make it anywhere else like last year. And it would've been the case, had we not made it to Junior Modern. I sympathise and empathise from the bottom of my heart with parents who still have to think about admissions next year as it could very easily have been us. We have been saved, but many haven't.

And we all have this completely idiotic system of school entry to blame. With every thing that happens in this country, we collectively prove that we are a nation of morons. The current system of school admissions was introduced to spare the poor toddlers the trauma of going through 'interviews'. So far, so very good. Now the moronic bit- how do u decide that this lot of parents make it and the other set does not? You introduce the point system and give the schools a free hand in deciding their own criteria for awarding points. So one school will give points for multi-cultural marriages of parents (we proudly fill in our details- still not even a call for interaction :-( ), the other school will be asking for your religious beliefs. And of course, as nothing in Delhi happens without contacts, you have to know the right people to make it anywhere- we are the freaks who along with some other freaks made it without knowing the 'right' ones!!

After having put a neighbourhood policy for schools, all it lacks for the government is to enforce it. And if the good schools all happen to be in one locality, we have parents giving in forged certificates for residence, forged certificates proving they belong to the economically weaker section (so what if the women are all Gucci toting dyed auburn haired Toyota driving babes), their children will make it to the right schools. And you can't blame the poor fathers for suddenly making it big from the supposed 60000 a year income that they have sworn to!

The Sriram school had a huge group discussion for parents- we flunked it- we must have! This school which promotes a no pressure policy and has a great feel about it, has the biggest quota for management that I've seen so far. So 5 parents I know made it to the school through this quota- two know someone in the management, the other two are expat couples who I seriously doubt know anyone anywhere. And they are on a short stay here. So on what basis have they been awarded seats for two years which could have gone to deserving Indian children, for whom it's a matter of the next twelve years.


So let me also talk a bit about the school we wanted Kabir to get into- Sardar Patel Vidyalaya. Anuj and I love the philosophy promoted by the school- of making well rounded individuals rather than machines. So when we weren't even called for an interview, even though we stay 1.8 kms precisely from the school, we went and met the principal. A very jovial lady, who I now firmly believe got totally pissed off that her school also has a price tag (me and my big mouth- mentioned that I had just the previous day seen a rate card for schools and her school also was on it and that we weren't the kind of parents who would pay up even if we had the money or know how to...long story short- I do believe now she thought I was bribing her !!!!!! I wouldn't even know how to..) everyone who knows me thinks I am too direct, and now I think I have the proof. Please forgive me Kabir if you weren't offered a fair chance for this school.

So we wanted her to know how sincere we were- we are not running scared of the first five years of hindi medium education, and we loved what they seem to be promoting with their method. But in our effort to prove our sincerity- my husband and I tried to meet her many times, we called- many times, we sent mails and couriers- all detailing the ways in which we as parents could contribute to the school, how much we loved it etc etc etc. All of it , contrary to popular belief, came to naught. The haughty lady, I do think believes those in 'rich' residential areas are just not worth the effort! Talk about inverse snobbery.

Well, I have been going on and on, still crossing my fingers that my son makes it to Vasant Valley.

p.s..a big well done to the website www.nurseryadmissions.com ..check it out