Kathal achaar ( jack fruit pickle)

Heat Panch phoron in mustard oil
When it splutters add red chilly
Then vinegar
Let it boil
Add a bit hing
A little jaggery
Add in the kathal (jackfruit)
Keep it in a summer sun  in a ceramic jar ,as long as it is there
Eat it with lachcha or plain paratha!

My tribute to UP and Pragya Bharati from there!

The new ten!!!

The Ten Commandments of the Pastor

1. Thou shalt not be independent
2. Thou shalt not speak with anyone
3. Thou shalt inform every move to the Pastor
4. Thou shalt speaketh with a fake accent
5.Thou shalt mark every correspondence to the church
6. Thou shalt wear clothes that resemble a hijab or a nun"s habit
7. Thou should be servile
8. Thou should be fake
9. Thou are a woman . Behave like a slave
10. Thou , when you decide to work with me is doomed.

To mothers and mothers!

Today is Mother's day. And the electronic media and print media is buzz with wishes. Fake and false!  Nine months and a lifelong role is a mother is back breaking.

For all the mothers from me:

1) take care of yourself. Sons and daughters and husbands go. You are eternal . You stay on.

2)never lose your feminity. Color your eyes with kohl , experiment with a new shade of lipstick .

3) invest in a hobby

4) have a house of your own

5)be in a position to earn money, always!

6) have friends of your own who you can talk to.

7) keep yourself fit. Fat is not done. It's unhealthy.

8) wear clothes of your choice. Damn them who judge. It's your body.

9)Say no to sex if you are tired or unwell.  

10)you'r stretch marks are your tattoo . Get another one if you want to.

11) remember when they have children they will think of you. May call you to take care of their kids. Be strong if you have to say no!

12) do not clutter your mind with useless and negative information. Learn to move away from swamps.

13)Don't fret to be included everywhere. You are better off where you are.

14) Secure your phones and laptops with passwords that only you can open. You also need privacy.

15) say no when you have to. Don't break your back by making your yeses happen.

16) and lastly you are Shakti. Strength . You can create and you can destroy .

Happy mother"s day!

The anatomy of a burn.

Four years ago I suffered a burn. It was as early as five in the morning. It was a bad one. The burn left a scar all the way from my upper leg to my forelimb. The brown discolouration on my skin is my Tatooo . What  I learned from my burn:
1)The pain of women who are burned for dowry or any such gender crimes
2)when hot water falls on your track pants, your burned skin sticks to the track. The brand was Reebok
3)your face turn ashen white when you see the epidermis on your track and your skin pink white
4)When the hot water fell I Instinctively crossed my legs and protected my private parts. Natures way of protection
5) I poured cold water on my burns and tears streamed down in pain. But I did not make a sound. So as not to disturb the others who were sleeping.
6) I dropped the kids to school with a straight face . By then bubbles with a thin sheath had formed on my legs.
7)I returned and waited for Dr Shenoy to show my burns. I had finished making breakfast and lunch.
8) I called up my work place to inform about my state feeling the sneer at the other end that this must a tiny scald.
9)My father hauled me into the car to take me to the good doctor. She gasped when she saw my legs.
10) I will never forget her kindness as she cleaned the wound with her own hands and my body responded to her kindness.
11) my younger twin placed a podgy little finger on one of the bubbles and it burst. A liquid streamed out. That was the last patch to heal
12) so that my legs rest, an old lady opened the doors of her home to me and cooked a meal. She is Pramilla Ben .
13) I wore long skirts and t shirts . Everyone wanted to see the burn on my leg and gasp and sympathise with me.
14) I realised burn is also a class issue. Women from my strata of society do not get burned.
15) the leg healed slowly but surely. The doctor burst every bubble ant neosprin powder was my best friend.
16) I also learned to limp to the kitchen and cut upon a packet of MTR bissi belle bath and cooked it for myself thus getting over the fear of fire. This curtesy was someone extremely close
17) picking up the scabs is an interesting hobby. And if you pull the scabs hard then a little blood oozes out
18) the resistance of your body and soul is put to test when you are burned.
19) while living you get a feel of how your body feels when your dead body is burned. Especially the Hindus.
20)Fire sustains and also kills.
21) my father who held me when I was born a pink baby was tears stricken when he saw my pink burned legs. Parents turn old .
22) lastly , caution in the kitchen is numero uno.

Umrao Jaan

न आँखों की मस्ती के मस्ताने हज़ारों हैं
इन आँखों से वाबस्ता अफ़साने हज़ारों हैं 

इक तुम ही नहीं तन्हाँ, उल्फ़त में मेरी रुसवा 
इस शहर में तुम जैसे दीवाने हज़ारों हैं 
इन आँखों की...

इक सिर्फ़ हम ही मय को, आँखों से पिलाते हैं 
कहने को तो दुनिया में मयख़ाने हज़ारों हैं 
इन आँखों की...

इस शम्म-ए-फ़रोज़ाँ को, आँधी से डराते हो 
इस शम्म-ए-फ़रोज़ाँ के परवाने हज़ारों हैं
इन आँखों की...

Hide or leather?

A silly ode

Leather Leather stuck on the chair
no amount of shampoo or soap can take your smell away
You are what shoes are made of
and you cannot roughshod people away,

On the day of judgment
when asked by GOD
of your affairs in your realm
there will be more cries from human
than the animals from which you were made of

Bootlicking takes one a long way
a lesson we can learn at the end of the day
but when the angels come to take you,
the devil has already taken you away,

leather try to be a nice belt or a bag
not a piece of gag
you are a thing of beauty
don't make it look like the bull you came from.