Karwa Chauth of a 5 year old

Bubu is all of 5. Totally cute, adorable and very innocent for a Mumbai boy. His passions are bikes and food. When my husband went to buy his Harley, Bubu looked dazed seeing the prized bikes, and shouted, "Ata Majha Satakli", the famous Ajay Devgn dialogue. 

A total filmy, Bubu apes his idol, Akshay Kumar and has named himself Khiladi Bhaiyya. You should see him do cartwheels with such aplomb. And like a true Khiladi, he can woo girls. Here we caught him kissing his cousin, my daughter, when they were 2 years old. 

But above all this, is Bubu's love for

food. 

And seeing his specy face with that gooey look, everyone pampers him with chocolate, ice cream, burgers. Now he is down with measles, and as prescribed by the doctor, he is on bland vegetarian food. While the world is feasting away on sweets and laddoos due to the festive season, his query after 5 such days, "Mama, when will your Karwa Chauth get over ?"

For Bubu, eating bland fare is as good as keeping a fast. So till he recovers, it's Karwa Chauth in his house. 

Tendulkar's Fishy Tales

I first met Sachin Tendulkar after the glorious win in Sharjah, in 1998. The only journalist who wrangled an interview out of him. Taking him through those glorious 6's hit over Shane Warne eased a faint smile from him. Since then, I have shot with him on more than a dozen occasions, and it has always been a very polite exchange. 

I kept hunting for the fierce Sachin off the ground, but never found it. Until, I started on the topic of food. It was at Zaheer Khan's restaurant in Pune, when we began discussing food. The Little Master came alive, all animated. 

Sachin spoke about his love for seafood, his mom's famous prawn curry with coconut. Honestly, very little registered. For the first time, I was seeing the famous Sachin smile, the full beaming types, twinkling eyes, animated hands as he went about the recipe. The passion for food was so clearly evident. 

Ok, I will try to remember the recipe. The prawns were marinated in salt water for a while. In the Kadhai, the oil was followed by green chillies, curry patta, mustard seeds, chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. After it was well done, red chilli powder, turmeric, salt, kokum soaked in water were added. Once the masala was well cooked, his mom would add the prawns, cook for a while letting the water dry out. Then lastly, the grated coconut. 

When I last met him, Sachin greeted me with a smile. He spoke to me about cooking baingan bharta for 40 odd friends of his. Finally, the enthusiast cook met the enthusiast cook. And the love for food created a bond that even two die hard cricket lovers, could not. Burrp to the Maestro of gastronomical delights !!!

The Chikki Make Over

Coming to Lonavla and not buying chikki is a sin. Every store boasts of the famous Maganlal Chikki. The chikki, which was originally made of groundnuts, sugar syrup and jaggery, today comes in different flavours, like coconut, dry fruits, crushed groundnut and the works including the sugar free variety. 

I am more than a tad confused.  Walking a few steps, I see they have diversified into fudges. Chocolate and chocolate walnut are passé. Meet the strawberry and mango additions. 

 

         I happily chose my sweets and learnt that the bill was a staggering 1200 bucks. How much could a couple of chikkis and fudges cost ? Apparently quite a big amount. 

When I sheepishly told my hubby, he laughed. Those born in the early 70's would remember a sweet called Sappy. These sweets, tasting exactly like the groundnut chikki, were available in the markets where a shady man would sell them from a wooden box with glass sides, costing all of one rupee. Our parents would have a royal fit seeing those men, while we kids would erupt with delirious joy. 

That same old Sappy has got a makeover, with a brand attached to it. And like the brand, so is the cost, with a 100 grams bar costing Rs 70. The pocket certainly pinches, but the calories hurt my waistline more. Actually my non existent ever expanding waistline. Ummm, so if it's not there, I guess I can indulge a little more. Slurrrp away. 

The School Tiffin Box

Zehn's class friend has been put on a diet by her mother. She is allowed to only have chicken kheema in her break. No carbohydrates, no aerated drinks and certainly no junk food. The girl is just 5 and her mom, let's call her Mad Max, is a health freak. 

One day, Mad Max thundered to school because her daughter was given a slice of Black Forest cake. A fellow classmate had celebrated her birthday and had offered the cake to all. The teachers were warned not to give her any cake, but seeing the child's woeful teary eyes, they gave her a slice. Oh man, hell hath no fury than her daughter eating cake for Mad Max. 

All the students sit in groups and eat their tiffins. Zen hates eating, so I have to cook yummy stuff to entice her. And when we check her tiffin, it's like a rat eating with bits and pieces of bread or paratha all over. One day, her tiffin box was polished clean. When I asked her, she said that Mad Max' little girl was sitting next to her and had eaten her loaded cheese paratha made with ghee and sprinkled with sugar. 

Apparently, the child eats the tiffin of her fellow classmates and whenever Zehn takes chocos, parathas or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, she shares it with her. 

Mummies, help me here. I am so tempted to send an extra lunch box for the little girl. All of 5, and kept on a tight leash where food is concerned. I wish I could just explain that children need to play, run around, have fun, enjoy life and not worry about a few extra pounds, at least not in kindergarten !!!!

The Compulsary Vegetarian Meal

Tell me honestly, how many of us, the hard core carnivorous variety fear a mandatory vegetarian meal. I do. 

Today being Lakshmi puja, we decided to have vegetarian food all day long. The first crisis hit us in the morning, as we could not have eggs. 

Come lunch. I asked the cook to make dal, rice and aloo bhendi. To add to the meal, I also asked her to make masala aloo stuffed green peppers. 

As we sat for lunch, hubby asked if we can we have some papad. To further enhance the meal, I got some masala chana. Pickle and lemons and salad were all laid out. Honestly, this was far more than what we eat for an everyday working  lunch. 

It was just the thought of being forced to eat a meal that did not have fish or chicken made me realise that we non veg eaters panic at the thought. Most days we eat the same without the add ons, but when it becomes mandatory, we go overboard. 

Now that I have eaten twice the amount of food, a good long afternoon siesta beckons. After all, I need the energy to plan the veg dinner menu. 

Zehn's Puja

Being away from our roots and hometown, it's very important for me and my hubby, Bobby to educate our 5 year old daughter about our culture. So, I took her to the Durga puja pandal to introduce her to the 5 deities. 

As i explained the gods and goddesses and their history, she asked me why is Lord Ganesha always present. To indulge her, I told her that in case you don't want to study or do your homework, or if you don't want to eat, ask Ganesh ji and he will help you. 

After our Darshan that night, and of course, devouring a whole lot of snacks like fish chops and chicken cutlets at the various food stalls, we decided to skip dinner. As is the routine, I sit with Zehn for an hour teaching her, before hitting the sack. Since it was a festive occasion, I decided to forego the studies. 

At night, we said our prayers to God and when we were just about to sleep, Zehn whispered, "Mama, Jai Ganeshi listened to my prayers. I told him I don't want to eat dinner nor study tonight and I did neither." Very soberly I asked her what do we pray for, to the other deities, and she cooly replied, "woh mujhe yaad nahin hai." 

Trust a child to know what she wants from her God, even if she is still in kindergarten. 

The Maha Navami Bhog

Having been born and brought up in Assam and educated in Kolkata, Durga Puja is always celebrated with a lot of fervour. So on the 9th day,Navami, when Maa Durga is worshipped as Mahisasur Mardini, with asthabhuja, carrying the Shaktis of all the Devis n Devtas to kill all the rakhasas including Mahisasura, our small family proceeded to pay our respects to the various puja pandals. 

Nestled in between several shops was a pandal organised by the Maitree Cultural Association Malad West .And looking magnificent were the five deities, powerful in their avatars. As we finished our prayers, we bumped into old friends, Ram and Sarbani Mukherjee. 

As they were part of the organising committee, they asked us to stay for the bhog. Bhog is a vegetarian meal offered to the deities everyday. Unlike most places in Mumbai, due to shortage of space, it is a served buffet. But here, there were rows and rows of chairs and tables and we were going for a sit down lunch, served by the members. 

Like one would be cosseted as a Barati at a bride's house, we were served a four course meal of rice and shukto, then jeera rice, fried cauliflower with bhoja moong dal, crisply fried brinjal flavoured with chaat masala and alu potol dalna. There was a tomato chutney and payesh that followed. 

The organisers served more than a 1000 people today and each person eating the bhog was given food as many times they wanted. The smiling and gracious organisers had not only displayed a never seen menu, but also a generous warmth that filled all with happiness. 

The spirit of Durga puja is to eat, meet and pray. And that's what we did. Happy Durga Puja to all and may Maa Durga bless us all.

On set with Alia Bhatt

My profession is to shoot content for ad films. Today I am with Alia Bhatt. And most often defending upon the actor and the budget, the service differs.

Today I have booked myself in the executive level, nothing short of first class. First, it's cheers with a Virgin mojito to Alia and her director, Gauri Shinde. 

Spread over 2 days, the catering team laid out a full spread of chaknas, wafers, biscuits for munching. For the calories conscious, there were nuts and chanas, for the kind who favoured savouries, they were actually spoilt for choice. 

This was after we had consumed a King's breakfast of Kheema, omelet and sausages. I actually felt that they thought we were a malnutrioned lot, who needed sustenance..

As the day sped by, we were kept on our toes. Too short a time, so much to shoot. Plus there was the photoshoot and my interview. Stress made another team work double shift, the Kraft Services, who kept our adrenaline in check with tea, coffee, nimboo pani, juices...

The Sindhi cuisine had this cordoned off area choking, but with a deadline looming large, everybody vacated fast. The shoot after all, was primary. 

Towards evening as the energy began dropping, fresh fruits and salads were being distributed..

At the end of the shoot, I was not sure whether I was tired keeping the long hours or just exhausted, munching and filling my stomach. But honestly, no complaints. After all, we work for our bread!!!!

Anika's birthday party

Today's kids, specially Mumbai kids, have a lot of demands when it comes to celebrating their birthday party. And lo behold the hapless mom. Gifts, games, food, location, time... all these factors need a lot of management skills.  Today, I salute Vrushali Telang, who pulled off a great party for her 5 year old daughter, Anika.

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The spacious room welcomed us with an accessory counter. From hair braids to bracelets, from rings to hair bands. The colourful display of yarns and flowered objects, made all of us forget our age and we all queued up to get our personalised jewellery. 

There were several counters for games. The kiddies began running around, trying to win some prizes while hitting the bull's eye with the gun or hitting the runaway balls. 

 

An event organiser soon announced games for the kids, as well as the mamas and papas. A jugglery act had the kids in awe. 

Planning a kid friendly menu that can appease adults too, is a mean task. But rising to the occasion, Vrushali laid out a Chinese spread which also had pasta salad. So from noodles to pasta, from chicken to paneer, there was something for all...

 

Return gifts are actually a mama's nightmare. From simple pencils, erasers and pencil box during our time, to finding a suitable gift that suits all, is a serious time consuming, brain wracking ordeal. 

We had a fabulous time. A birthday party on a Sunday afternoon is a grand way to spend a relaxed day. And now I need to take my friend to the spa. After organising such a lovely party, she needs some serious R and R.

The Monsoon Fish Thali

Come monsoons and Mumbai suddenly faces a fish crisis. Due to high tides and the birthing season for fish, there is suddenly a dearth or the prices sky rocket. 

But the maaza of having a Malwani or Konkani fish thali as the rain pounds outside, is something else. 

So Bobby and I trooped into a small joint with 10 odd tables in Bandra east for one such meal. The presentation can take a hike as everything is coarse. The crockery is stainless steel and it is advisable to have bottled water.

The fish thali was served with roti, steamed rice, surmai fish in a coconut gravy. On the side was golden fried Bombay Duck or Bombil and clams or teesriya in a hot pepper sauce...all to be washed down by a pink juice called sol kadi, made with kokum, a local sour fruit and the milk of the coconut..

The food is piping hot and the taste buds are tickled with the perfect blend of spices. This cuisine is very simple. The fish curry is actually a mash of coconut, onion, ginger, garlic and red chillies, all cooked together in some oil. Once the rawness of the onion fades, add the raw fish and water. Once it is bubbling away, add the salt and serve it.

Don't try cooking this dish thinking the recipe is simple. I have never mastered it in two decades of living in Maharashtra. The gravy always stinks when I attempt it.

It is not cheap either... a meal for two can put you down by a grand. But it's worth it, a simple meal with the perfectly cooked curry made with the freshest of catches, and a darling hubby to keep you company on a working day. It's called a good day!!!

The Vistara Way of Life

New airlines make for great travel companions. They have spanking new aeroplanes, spiffy and smart air hostesses and great service. Vistara recently started its Delhi Mumbai services and I promptly booked myself on the premium dinner flight from Delhi. 

Check in was smooth at the T3 Terminal in Delhi and so was the timely take off. I waited patiently for the dinner service. 

Taj Sats is the best on air caterer and all leading airlines get their on board meals catered by them, including Jet Airways, which is a competitor of Vistara. 

Now here is the interesting twist. Taj Sats is a part of Tata's and so is Vistara in partnership with Singapore Airlines. So, there was no doubt that the food would be a Taj Sats meal. And with Indians, the better meal served is always a winner.

The meal was served on an envelope styled box with neat compartments for the hot meal. So, literally, no stirring the pot or the meal in the wake of air turbulence. As for the contents, the non veg meal with its anjeer pulao and labradar chicken was on a scale of 9 on 10. And they happily served seconds for people with more robust appetites, including your's truly. 

The exquisite food served, blankets and pillows were distributed by the thoughtful and alert crew. This reminded me of the good ole’ days when flying indeed was luxurious and one was pampered by the pretty and smiling air hostesses. A thoroughly satiating experience. Trust the Tata's to do it in style.