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 !!!