From Maa's garden...

During a recent visit to my parents house, Maa collected these fresh produce from her garden.

Lemon :- fresh lemon juice for breakfast

Banana Flower - Known as thur in my native, it was cooked with raw papaya, a fistful of daal and dry fish

Curry Patta - used as a tempering in a few dishes cooked that day

Tender Banana Stem - sliced thinly, it was cooked with chicken skin

Raw Banana - was combined with other vegetables to make a medly

Henna Leaves - also known as Mehendi, I made a paste and applied on my hair

By the end of the day it was a happy me :)

Turning back

1st of January is not exactly the time to turn back, but I have decided to do it. Been ages since I dropped to my own page and now that I have finally done it, it feels terrific. I can come up with a long list of reasons why I have not been active on my page, but the fact is that I am solely responsible for this. I let those numerous reasons stop me but now I have decided to make a move. I don't know how long this love and hate relationship will continue but I am not giving up without a fight (try).

Also 2015 has been a cruel year, but I am still standing tall. Here is wishing to better and happier tidings for everyone in 2016. I am confident this turning back (co-incidentally) on 1st January to my page is leading towards something really big and great. I just have to stick around long enough to find out what it is. Cheers!!

His and her tale

The meeting had a purpose, so respective families accompanied both of them. She saw him for the first time and thought ‘Really?’ His first thought was ‘Oh, we were on the same flight yesterday’. Of course none of them had a clue that they were going to meet the next day. (Btw if you have not yet figured it out, this was their first filmy moment!!)

As it happens in numerous such first time gatherings, general talk took over followed by food (the venue was a restaurant). After sometime someone realized that he and she should be left alone. So, their time finally came and then they talked and talked (he did most of it). For whatever reasons it did not work out and they went their separate ways to different cities. In their busy lives, everything was forgotten.

But destiny clearly had other plans for them, so it meant that their days as single were numbered. Out of the blue an email lands up in her inbox and as they say ‘the rest is history’. Then began a incredibly beautiful phase – she phoned, he phoned, she emailed, he emailed, she pinged and they chatted like there was no tomorrow! And finally they decided this is it! Different cities meant no more face to face meetings before the D-Day.

She left everything in God’s hand, but that lingering doubt somehow found its place in her mind, sometimes. Finally it was that day and everything happened almost smoothly. Hey...what kinda big day would be without some glitches that people could narrate and laugh their heads off till eternity! So, they had their share of stories from this day.

She was going to his home which was about a couple of hours away by road. The heavy jewelery, clothes, customs, rituals, etc took their toll on her. She stopped the car and puked her guts out. Not an ominous sign, they all thought, scratching their chin!!

He came to aid her and then when she sat on the backseat and he on the front seat – he just looked at her and a silent message passed between them amidst the mini crowd. This was the moment she knew that she had taken the right decision; they were made for each other!

Sometimes all that is needed is a nod or a smile from the right person at the right moment! This can change lives forever :D

The day when (almost) everything went wrong!

Well some things went right towards the evening, so that (almost) bit. By the end of the day, I was thinking if I had this story, back in my school days when we had to write never ending essays on the topic ‘The day everything went wrong’, it would have been a real help.

It was a Sunday, my uncle and aunt (in-laws) were scheduled to come to our house (my first meeting with them) they are pretty aged, uncle above 90 and aunt definitely over 85. Since morning I and hubby were busy trying to finish all our works, including cooking, so that we would be free, when they come in the evening, their flight was scheduled to land at 5 in the evening.

I was cooking lunch, dinner and also something for lunch the next day, as I could not miss office that day. Now just as I finished cleaning and chopping all the vegetable and started to cook, the first disaster struck, I ran out of gas cylinder…..I swear there were no advance warnings, suddenly the flame just went off and not matter what I tried, it just stove refused to light up again!!!

Getting a filled-up cylinder on a Sunday afternoon, is something almost unheard of! It was then my neighbor came to our rescue (god bless her!!) She gave me an electric heater, to temporarily (till I got a cylinder) take care of the cooking, so first disaster taken care of.well at least somewhat!

The next disaster was just lurking in the corner, waiting for its turn to happen. I was washing some utensils, and suddenly I felt as if I was standing in ankle deep water (well almost), a glance downwards confirmed my worst fear…the sink drain was clogged, so water flooded the kitchen. Within minutes, hubby and I were down on our knees and hands, trying to soak up the dirty water and dry up the kitchen…..ugh, what a disaster.

After that things were strangely calm, but little did we realize that it was the lull before the storm, alas!!! We were sinking into a comfort zone now, thinking what else could go wrong now. We reached the airport 10 minutes before 5, bought 2 passes to get inside. The display board inside said, the flight from Silchar (that’s where they were coming from, on their way to Dhaka) had arrived. We waited for about 30 minutes, still no sign of them, anywhere. The luggage counter was right in front of us, so absolutely no chance that they are still collecting their luggage.

Now, we were seriously worried…..there was absolutely no sign of them and the board continued to flash that the flight has arrived. So, we decided I would go out and look for them, while hubby will try to find them inside (they did not have a phone with them). I was made at least 5 rounds to and from the domestic airport to international, which took at least 5-7 minutes, every time. We kept calling each other over the phone repeatedly, but so signs of them. Just then my father-in-law called, but I did not have the nerve to take his call. I mean what do, I tell him...hello, we can’t find your brother and sis-in-law; well I simply did not have the nerve to do so.

After another half an hour, hubby came out and we made some other rounds again, domestic-international-domestic-international….it was almost never ending. We thought they must be nearby, but…!!!!

Finally I spotted them coming out of the airport, grinning widely…..after about an hour! Apparently the flight was late, but those idiots at the airport never bothered to correct the display messages….uffffffff!!! Thankfully we brought them back home and things were pretty much ok after that, but we had more than our share for the day!!!

Money Trouble……..When I fell short by a mere rupee!!!

When I first read a Mills & Boons novel, I was simply blown over like any other starry eyed teenager. I had seen many novels and heard many a stories from friends, but I never actually bought one for a long time. The cover pictures that I saw warned me in advance that my folks are definitely not going to like me reading one of those books…..but the lure of the forbidden was just too much to resist, so I decided to buy my first Mills & Boons, I was perhaps in class 7 or 8….. :-))
Now arranging for money was the tough part, surreptitious inquiries revealed I needed 50 bucks for this! Back in those days, getting hold of 50 rupees was kind of impossible! So my partner-in-crime, my younger sister decided to pool all the savings we had. We searched all our secret hiding places, all the piggy banks were emptied and all we could manage was 29 Rs….sigh!

We then sat down and began scratching our heads, splitting our hair to find a solution to THE biggest problem of our lives at that point of time…..we just needed 31 bucks more and we could lay hand on that DREAM BOOK….ohhhh so near yet so far!!!! BINGO….suddenly I remembered about twenty rupees that I had inside one of my long forgotten books. Wow…..I finally had the money to buy the novel….well that was what I thought before I counted the total money…!!!!

It was exactly 49 Rs…..unbelievable and total filmy, but I swear this is exactly how it had happened! And finding that 1re took eternity…..in fact I remember we could manage the one rupee only on the next day. Whenever I muse about this incident, it never fails to bring a smile to my face and give a tug at all my heartstrings! We all have our personal filmy moments in our lives I guess…..Finally we did manage the fifty bucks and the excuse to go out of the house to buy the book was an innovative (according to me) ‘I want to go to a friend house in the neighborhood, her family is moving out of Kohima’....hehehe!!!

I remember the protagonists of the story were named Mel and Jade…….and probably the name of the novel was Man Trouble….well in my case it was no man trouble at all, it was plain and simple money trouble….:P

Awri's Story.....at last!

The first blow hit her just as she was bending down to pick up the broom! Stunned, she whirled around to see what or who had hit her and her sight rested on Awri! He was a good for nothing drunkard, did small works during the day and with the little money that he earned; he drank his day’s share of daru in the evening. She did not know how to react…..Awri regularly used to beat up his wife, but this was certainly the first time he had hit her!

Before she could fully stand erect…more blows landed all over her fragile body. “What the hell is wrong with you, why are you hitting me”, she shouted! But there was no relief….he now picked up the broom and started hitting her and abusing her! Her screams brought out the others of the family and they were stunned by the sight….“what the hell are you doing, have you gone mad?” shouted his mother!

He was taken aback.....no body had ever dared to shout at him, but today everybody were shouting at him, even his meek wife......what was happening?? He tried to focus on the people around him and figure out what the fuss was all about! After a few moments it hit him and hit him really hard, he almost reeled with the affect.....he was hitting his elder brother's wife instead of his wife...huh so much for trying to tame his wife while he was drunk!!!

Btw this is based on a real incident, the names have of course been changed!

Still reeling with disbelief!!

I was in the midst of one of those moments when words magically flow in your mind! I was in the middle of writing an incident about Awri that had cropped up in mind just a few moments ago, I was typing furiously…….did not want out to miss out on a single thought! And then the most unlikely thing happened to me…!!!

Suddenly I heard a sound ‘Plop!!’…..something accompanied with a foul smell (ughhhh) fell on the floor just next to me. Actually it has brushed my arm on its journey to the ground. Automatically my sight traveled towards the floor….initially I could not make out what it was. After sometime realized it was some kind of shit…….still I was not very sure. I mean what kind of shit hits you inside your room??!!!

Automatically I looked up and saw a lizard looking down at me with a grin and seemed to say ‘awrite it was me’. Instantly all thoughts flew out of my mind……actually for the next few minutes, not even a single thought or legible sentence about Awri came to my mind.

So, now here I am writing about lizard shit instead of the drunkard Awri about whom I had sat down to write in the first place! The so called “writer’s block” (not sure if it applies to lesser mortals like me…sigh!) had hit me many times….but lizard shit bringing about the proverbial writer’s block was certainly a first for me….huh! I still can’t believe it….done in by LIZARD SHIT!!!

PS……I guess Awri’s story will take some more time!!!

The Rickshaw Van!

At first sight I was not very sure how people could comfortably sit on it.....but as soon as I sat on one I fell in love with it! The 'Rickshaw Van' is such a delight to ride on when you are surrounded by beautiful greenery all around! The ride through Bakkhal village on a rickshaw van is a completely out of the world experience! I was wondering what is so different about this ride....I mean the landscapes are pretty similar to the ones I see back home in Assam? About 2 minutes into the ride I got the answer.....its the ride coupled with the gentle evening breeze in a distant land, with beautiful low roof huts, greenery all around, the pollution free air topped with of course great company!!

Just tuck in you legs or spread it out if you wish (there is more than enough space) or better still you can lie down if you wish and see the sky......it is a beautiful sight! The conversation with the Rickshaw Van wala about his livelihood, family, village, food and everything made it even more memorable. The people in Bakkhal are a hardworking lot....they are either out with their fishing trawlers catching fishes...or driving rickshaw van taking tourist on a sight seeing spree of the village.....during winter they collect dates (Khejur) and make gur (jagerry)...then they have the land to cultivate...build or repair their huts whenever needed.....they are busy throughout the year!

Bakkhal is such a pleasant and lovely place, that you will immediately fall in love with it. So if anyone happens to go there in their own vehicle.....I recommend they take a rickshaw van for seeing the village.....it is such a joy and you do not know what you are missing.....that is if you do not try it out! Watching the sunset from the beach is simply amazing.....you can just laze around in the beach or go and get completely drenched in the waters......it is such a stress buster, nothing like it!

Caught in a downpour

Angry strong winds lased out as if to say 'enough of the heat'......and the rains followed soon after! The drops came down heavily, furiously and non - stop. Those who were caught off guard thought might as well get drenched and enjoy the downpour.....some were more mindful, didn't want to catch a cold in this festive season, the swine flu scare was also working on their mind!

The chaiwala and chatwala were surrounded.....some wanted a hot cup in the rain, some wanted a spicy plate of chat, others just needed temporary shelter from the angrily lashing rains. We ran out in the rain, got completely drenched and by the time we resembled wet crows......we went to the chatwala's temporary shed.

We hailed one taxi after the other....but none was willing to take us home. All our gadgets was secure inside a plastic bag.......running out in the rain after every couple of minutes was so much fun! A girl decided this is the best time to sell her book....she was constantly running after people trying to show her book, but no one seemed interested!

Rains should soak you to the skin.......to me an umbrella has always been a useless accessory!!!

Drawing dread

As a kid I used to dread that I will fall behind a year just because I could not draw, I was terrible at it! Erratic heartbeats, sweaty palms, palpitations, butterflies in my stomach, feeling like going to the loo every five minutes….I can compile an entire list of things I used to feel in my body as the drawing exams approached. I was always an average student, not a very big fan of either mathematics or science, but I used to score pretty decent marks there which were usually about 50 or 60, but drawing was a sheer terror!

Stick figures were my saving grace if at all I had to draw any human figure. I remember the assignments of the drawing exams that year required us to draw the scene in our school playground during the lunch break. Now what on earth could a poor soul like me draw, my hands used to shiver even when I attempted to draw a straight line! Stick figures were clearly not going to work here…

I can imagine a thousand things in my mind, but to translate them into pictures by drawing is beyond me, I just cannot do it! I remember frantically looking around, trying to peep into my friend’s paper to see how to go about doing it. After about 1 hour, my paper was practically blank! I was sure that I would be detained in that class (I was in class 5) and I was sweating profusely!

Suddenly a classmate who was sitting nearby took pity on me and offered to draw for me. But then I did not know how to react, Moral Science classes always taught me cheating in exams was a bad thing to do. After giving a lot of thought to the biggest dilemma in my life at that point of time, I decided to pass on the paper to my friend. I reasoned I will pray to god a thousand times ask for his forgiveness, god understands everything and he is all forgiving after all.

Undoubtedly one of the happiest moments in my life as a kid was when I learnt that there would be no more drawing exams for me to pass! Sometimes I just sit and think of all the things that we dread as a kid and all the innocence that goes with it. The more I think about it, the more I miss being a child and my childhood!!