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Showing posts from 2024

Laali - 12th Aug'24

  Laali In the suburbs of Udaipur, at the foot of Aravali mountain range, on banks of river Gomati, there was small well-planned mines colony – Zawar . In the center of the town, there is a long-cemented bridge connecting the New Market to Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) hospital. The largest one in the vicinity of Zawar to Udaipur. The straight road had the company guest house in the middle which ended at Naka Bazaar – the end of the town. Up straight on the road from the guest house lead to the officer’s colony on the top of a small hill which was almost cut off from rest of the town with few officer’s families residing in an array. Here everyone knew everyone from end to end. All the kids went to school together and played cricket or 7 stones in the evening. Mummies made papad (dried crisps), achar (pickle), sweaters, quilts together depending on the season in continuum. Dads worked in same places and played badminton together in the guest house on most of the evenings. There were

Happy in the Land of Emotions :)

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  This short story is based on the imagination of my son - Harshil. He was toying with idea of owning a country named Happy and being the King of Happy. He devised his own language Happiti by assigning symbols for English alphabets. The country has its own number symbols and currency Happiri. 1 Happiri = 500 Kuwaiti Dinar. The country has national emblem, flag and the Bank of Happy. Fun Fact - A person can own a country if it has defined boundary with a stagnant population acknowledged by an existing country in our world. Now here goes our story - Happy in the Land of Emotions 😊 Once Upon a time in a faraway land – The Land of Emotions, there were small kingdoms who were based on different emotions. The kingdom which was always happy was called as Happy. The others were Sady, Angry and Jealousy.   The kingdom of Happy was ruled by the great king Harshil. Udas, Raudra and Irsha ruled Sady, Angry and Jealousy respectively. In Happy, people were cared about each other’s happiness

Delhi

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  Delhi is a fun place to visit. It is full of a variety of old trees and plants. There are many monuments and museums in New Delhi. It is situated in Northern part of India and renown as our country ‘s capital city. It is unique as it is a union territory as well as a state. Being one of the oldest cities in the world, this heart of India is famous for rich diverse culture and heritage. Centuries ago, Indraprastha, now known as Delhi, was built by Pandava Kings on the bank of river Yamuna. Since then, many have ruled bringing their own flavors and arts. It is ever growing with a huge population of roughly 15 million people. All these monuments, political buildings, lush gardens, science centers, temples, mix of cuisines and diversity attract millions of visitors every year. I am in awe and love with Delhi. It is one of the best cities in India. Everybody should visit Delhi.

The Hair-loom

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 The Hair-loom My grandpa Ramakrishnan had a floor mill. The mill had a Shikakai (seeka) grinder as well. Dried Shikakai, Amla, Ritha, hibiscus etc. were ground together for washing our hair.   Those days people seldom used shampoos. This powder was part of every household in the KGF town. Every Sunday morning was a hair bath day. Panjamani Atthai* or Panjattey worked in our floor mill and washed our hair every Sunday with seeka. Being the youngest, I was the first in queue followed by Rohini akka* (Chittappa’s daughter), Madhangi akka (Gowri Atthai’s daughter) and Selvi akka (Mathi Atthai’s daughter). After a long hair wash with sneezes and burning eyes, the hair was rolled up in bun with thin towel. Next, it got fumed with Sambrani smoke. Then, I drank kashayam* as shikakai cools the body and I caught cold easily. All of us sat in a row to get a small plait on our head crown leaving the rest of the hair free called as thenneer jada*. It resembled the flow of a water streak fro

Duped on the name of Patanjali

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Duped on the name of Patanjali Once Shubha’s father was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), she had plans to get her father Ayurvedic treatment. She didn’t want him to go through tedious dialysis process for life. Shubha left an enquiry on https://patanjaliwellness.com for her father’s treatment in Dec’23. In no time, she got a call from 6261568491 .  It's a mystery, how someone could get her number if she has dropped an online enquiry in Patanjali's website. The person identified himself as Dr. Vijay Pratap Singh. As directed, she submitted her father’s medical reports to him. He discussed the case pretending to be a real doctor. He confirmed that the treatment is possible and mentioned that the yoga center has dialysis facility as well. He kept on following her on the phone. In Truecaller App, the number appears to be Patanjali's. See the picture below, it shows as Patanjali Ayurved Pvt. Ltd. or Patanjali Haridwar booking center These fraudsters have saved all

Sneaky Snake

Sneaky Snake Somewhere in the lap of mountains, in the rural village of Vellari, there lived closely knit families in huts with thatched roofs. In one of these huts, Swami and Shreya lived with their farmer parents – Asha and Nagraj. To have additional income, sometimes their father drove trucks. The family dearly missed him whenever he went for driving truck for weeks together. As their hut was surrounded by Uncles-Aunts and grandparents, they helped each other in daily life. One night, when Nagraj went out on driving expeditions, a slimy Indian king cobra sneaked in their hut. Asha was quick to spot it. She screamed aloud with all her might and hurried the kids outside the hut. Two of Nagraj’s brothers – Krishna and Mani, ran to their rescue. Both Krishna and Mani were opposite each other. One wanted to kill the cobra and the other feared it to be God send. He believed that if we show lit camphor to it and pray, it will go. Krishna didn’t agree, he opined what if it hid nearby

Mini Gobhi (Cauliflower) Paranthas

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  Mini Gobhi (Cauliflower) paranthas   Ingredients: 1)        For Dough Wheat flour - 2 Cups Carrom seeds – 1 Teaspoon Turmeric - 1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder - 1 Teaspoon Salt - 1 Teaspoon Kasuri Methi    (Dried Fenugreek leaves) – 1 Tablespoon Oil – 1 Tablespoon Water - 1 Cup 2)        For Stuffing Cauliflower – 100 g finely grated. Turmeric - 1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder - 1 Teaspoon Salt - 1 Teaspoon Cumin - 1 Teaspoon Corriander Powder - 1 Teaspoon Optional – Add any other grated or finely chopped vegetable, coriander, chat masala, ginger-garlic paste, soya sauce, any masala, tomato sauce, Ajinomoto etc. Method: 1)        Knead a soft dough by mixing all the ingredients. Cover it and keep it aside. 2)        In a pan, heat oil. Let the cumin seeds crackle. Add all the rest of the stuffing ingredients. Roast them well for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Allow it to cool down. 3)        Knead the dough again for 1-2 minutes. Make small marble size balls. Roll out small rotis.