Can I Borrow Rs.25/-?

A friend mailed me the trailing story that made me ask myself whether the lives we are leading are really worth it? Read and answer that question for yourself...

A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her at the door.

SON: 'Mummy, may I ask you a question?'

MUM: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the woman.

SON: 'Mummy, how much do you make an hour?'

MUM: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the woman said angrily.

SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'

MUM: 'If you must know, I make Rs. 50 an hour.'

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: 'Mummy, may I please borrow Rs. 25?'

The mother was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities. '

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door..

The woman sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the woman had calmed down, and started to think:  Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that Rs. 25.00 and she really didn't ask for money very often.The woman went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

'Are you asleep, son?' She asked.

'No Mummy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the woman. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the Rs. 25 you asked for.'

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you Mummy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The woman saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his mother.

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the mother grumbled.

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.

'Mummy, I have Rs. 50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.'

The mother was crushed. She put his arms around her little son, and she begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that Rs. 50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their Lives.

The Taste of the Sea at Sadichha

Today, we went the traditional way and headed out to Bandra's leafy and quaint Kala Nagar locality which is home to a Maharashtrian and Konkani community. Sadichha, an unpretentious, hole in the wall eatery, was our  pit stop.

Sadichha is located on a lane behind its more famous cousin, Highway Gomantak, but its offerings are pretty decent and taste very fresh.

We started the bing with a glass of sol kadi - a concoction of coconut milk and kokum! That built up quite an appetite!

As we waited for the meal to arrive, I enjoyed the quips, quotes and tips that they had displayed. Some of them were so true!

That was the chicken thali with some extra gravy!

And the surmai thali, made from the freshest king fish available!

Now that's a plate of bombil fry or Bombay Duck fried in semolina batter. It was simply the "melt in the mouth" kind of variety.... And if you thought it was a duck, my friend, it was a fish, a species called harpadon nehereus native to these waters. Notorius for being extremely stinky when fresh, it remains a hot favourite for sea-food lovers!

And then came the stuffed pomfret - the filling was made of shrimp, coconut, onions and a spicy masala!

We were served by a gregarious waiter who had a very strong resemblance to our deceased driver, Santosh! As we ended the meal, I prayed for the peace of his soul and well-being of his loved ones!

A Delectable Afternoon In "Town"

That was an afternoon well spent in "town" - that's what Mumbaikars call South Mumbai. We kicked off the afternoon at Ballard Estate, with a delectable lunch at Britannia & Co. I have taken the liberty of reproducing some of the photos from my Dad's blog on Britannia - No Love Greater Than The Love Of Eating!

Ahhh! Britannia's rooster!

Yes, the raspberry does go well with the Irani meal!

What a magnificent Banyan!

Oh! They have the Gaz  too! That's the Persian version of nougat!

Weathered, but still not out! That's the magic of Britannia!

Just could not take my eyes off the Banyan!

It was already 2.30PM and there were at least 30 very hungry people waiting to hog on their Berry Pulaos!

An alley by the side - surely it had seen better days!

No Love Greater Than The Love Of Eating!

That's my plateful! 

Britannia's list of awards seems endless!

The Banyan again, in the golden afternoon sun!

A violation - parked right under the no parking sign! Right at the Customs House

The glory of the past!

Ballard Estate is seeped in heritage!

Another regal banyan!

The view across the Maidan!

Rajabai Tower! The heritage makes me love Town even more!

A Pleasant Surprise!

Joyous occasions in life are few and rare to come and when they come as a surprise, those moments become the real moments to cherish.

Something of that sort happened with us today. It was the first anniversary of our new home, and while we had it in our mind all along, the stress of the daily routine made us forget about the momentous occasion this very morning.

The whole day passed with one thought - is all this stress worth it?

After a grueling 1 hour struggle to get through the traffic, I reached home.

That's when I got a real surprise. My folks who are visiting had made us a treat to celebrate the first anniversary. My Mom had spent a couple of hours concocting a delectable Pahari meal, that comes from the serene hills of Himachal Pradesh. Pahari food is something that I had grown up with. This was the food that my grandmother used to painstakingly and lovingly cook to perfection every weekend.

A Pahari meal is generally had with rice. The meal is kicked off with Maddra - vegetables cooked in a thick curd based spicy gravy, with some rice.

Then comes the daal alongwith a khatta. The khatta is a sour gravy, which is based on either mango or tamarind. The daal, the khatta and the rice are all mixed together into something that tastes absolutely divine. The sourness of the khatta gives a different dimension to the daal chawal.

This time around Mom had made maa ki daal, aloo ka maddra and amchur aur pakodi ka khatta.

While the digestive juices were in a free flow, I diverted my attention from the lovely meal and we waited for Neeti to return and enjoy the surprise that folks had "plotted".

On her return, we had a small pooja, a thanksgiving of sorts. Our prayers were of the silent type - I recited the Gayatri Mantra to myself - this is a prayer for all occasions, which is said to have existed since times immemorial.

The prasad that followed the pooja was sooji halwa. And then came the time to dig in!

What a celebration!

Thank God for giving us a shelter and also the opportunity to enjoy surprises like these!

Plane Spotting at MAA

On my return from Chennai recently, I was amazed to see an Air-India Boeing 747-400 parked on a remote bay. This was "Khajuraho", VT-ESO, which is one of the five jumbos on the Maharaja's fleet. Khajuraho is now mostly used for VIP flights, ferrying the President and the Prime Minister across the globe.

Every time I see an Air-India Boeing 747-400, I feel a sudden exhilaration as though I had seen my crush! Indeed it is, I have been in love with the beautiful red livery on this sexy beast for over 20 years now!

As we were getting on to the taxiway, an IndiGo A320 was taking off from Runway 07-25. This livery pales in comparison to Air-India's!

Good bye to a bright and sunny Chennai!