The No Nonsense Blogger

Suman was very excited since morning. It was her tenth birthday and there was a grand party arranged by her parents that evening. They had moved to Delhi from Mumbai recently and she was looking forward to celebrating her birthday that evening with her new friends from school and her housing society. "Mummy, we are getting late. We have to go to the market to buy my birthday dress. What is taking you so long?" Suman called out to her mother anxiously. Sakshi was at the kitchen preparing lunch and replied back to her daughter, "Suman, don't worry. We have enough time with us. All arrangements for the evening party are complete and the only thing pending is your dress. I am just waiting for your Papa to send over the car after he reaches office. We can then leave for the market to get your dress. So, don't be impatient and just inform me when Ramdin uncle comes back." Ramdin was their driver. He had been working for them for last eight months since ...

Ingredients Pre-Marinade 1 whole chicken - Dressed Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp Lemon Juice - 1&1/2 tbsp Salt to taste Marinade Hung Curd - 1/2 Cup Ginger-garlic paste  1& 1/2 tbsp Red Chilly paste -1/2 tbsp Kasuri Methi Powder - 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder - 1&1/2 tsp Red Chilly Powder - 2 tbsp Lemon Juice - 1/2 tbsp Mustard Oil - 1&1/2 tbsp Salt to taste Preparation Method Take the dressed whole chicken and with a meat knife make incisions on the chicken to allow the marinade to seep in. Over the chicken sprinkle two teaspoon red chilly powder, one and a half table spoon lemon juice and salt to taste. Rub the chicken well with the above ingredients covering the whole chicken and set aside. In a large bowl add half a cup hung curd, one and a half table spoon ginger garlic paste, half table spoon red chilly paste, one tea spoon kasuri methi powder, one and a half tea spoon garam masala powder, two tablespoons red chilly po...

यादें बीते हुए यादों से कोई दस्तक देता है  कुछ पुराने पन्ने फिर कोई खोल देता है  वो पल जिन्हें हम छोड़ आए थे कहीं दूर  आज फिर कोई उन्ही पलों को समेट लेता है    ज़िंदगी का सफ़र ज़िंदगी के इस सफ़र में कुछ फ़साने जोड़ता चला कुछ यादें, कुछ किस्से और कुछ कहानियाँ जोड़ता चला कभी जो थक के बैठेंगें किसी शाम तो खोलेंगें इन किस्से-कहानियों का पिटारा हम यारों के नाम बरसात  नभ बादलों से जब भर आए  मन खुशियों से तब तर जाए जो बरस पड़े बूँदें छम-छम उन्मत्त होके बस नाचे हम आंसू   आज फिर आंसू बेवफ़ाई कर गए तेरी याद आई और ये फिर बह चले आफ़ताब आफ़ताब की  रोशनी में ये इश्क़ हमारा यूँ कैद हुआ  न हम होश मे रहे न उन्हें होश मे आने दिया दर्दे-दिल  दर्दे-दिल की दवा माँगी थी उससे  उसने मुस्करा कर देखा और दर्द बढ़ाकर चले गए आँखों की  ज़ुबान हर बात ज़ुबान से कही नही जाती, कुछ काम आँखों पर भी छोड़ा करते हैं  खामोंशियों की भी अपनी आवाज़ हो...

Ashwin looked at the clock hanging on the wall of his classroom. "Five more minutes to lunch" he thought even as Ranjan Sir who was wrapping up his class called out to him, "Ashwin, can you please do me a small favour? Can you please take these notebooks and keep them in the staff-room? You can then come and have your lunch. It will take you only five minutes." Ashwin readily agreed and collecting the notebooks from the desk proceeded towards the staff-room. Unlike other children, Ashwin didn't wait for the lunch break eagerly. He knew his lunch would be the staple combination of four pieces of plain bread with some sugar sprinkled over them. He didn't like eating the same and simple lunch everyday but he knew that this was the best his parents could manage. They were anyways going out of their way to get him educated in an English medium school. Ashwin was very well aware of their financial constraints. He never made a fuss or complained about this to hi...

7th July 2005 Rohan was very excited. The long summer holidays were ending and school would be reopening the next day. He never liked these summer holidays and always wondered why these needed to be so long. He just couldn't wait for the school to reopen so that he could meet all his friends again. But this year there was one more reason for his excitement. Rohan never liked the fact that they were made to stand height-wise during the school morning assembly with the shortest student taking up the first spot in the line. And as luck would have it, Rohan had to occupy that much hated position! He despised the fact that even his friends would make fun of him for his short height. But Rohan knew that this year it was going to different. He had miraculously gained height during the two month long summer break and he just couldn't wait to see how far back in the line he would be standing now. 8th July 2005 It was the first day of the school after the summer holidays and R...

It was still dawn when I stepped out of the cab and walked towards the entry gate of the Delhi airport. The early morning February air was pleasantly cold. I was travelling to Bengaluru to attend a college friend's wedding. It had been four years since we graduated from the same college. This wedding was also going to be a reunion of our batch-mates. But what I didn't know was that the reunion would begin much ahead of time; right in the queue in front of the airline counter. I  was sure it was her. Same height! Same long hair! Same complexion! Curiosity had my eyes glued to her. And then about 60-odd seconds later, when she turned, she proved me right. My ex-girlfriend stood two places ahead of me in that queue. We had never met after the college farewell. There was that familiar beating of my heart which I had felt the first time I saw her. I couldn’t explain the reason then & I couldn’t explain it now. What was it about her that made my heart skip a beat or two?...

"Mom, can you please stop pestering me with these questions?" Rajesh could hear Mehak say to Nirmala even as he was catching up on his Sunday reading list. It was not uncommon to hear squabbles between mother and daughter and Rajesh more often than not preferred to keep out of it. But today was a bit different. Mehak's tone made him look up and take notice. She seemed a bit agitated and though she did have differences in opinion with Nirmala, it was unlike her to speak rudely. Rajesh walked up to the bedroom to find Mehak gesticulating and trying to put across her point to Nirmala. As soon as she saw him come in, Mehak fell silent and both the ladies turned to look at Rajesh. "Can you please tell me what's happening here Mehak beta? Why are you so agitated and surprisingly rude to your mom?" Rajesh asked Mehak. She looked at him sheepishly but did not say anything. Seeing her silence, Nirmala spoke out, "You know, she has blown away five thousand ...

"I know for sure that you don't love me anymore." she had started her barrage of complaints again, "How could you do this to me?" she demanded an answer even as she munched on a bowl of her favourite chocolate flavoured corn-flakes dipped in low fat milk. I was a bit ruffled. Oft late she had been acting pretty strange and I couldn't understand the reason for her mood swings. There was not a single day that I didn't have to spend convincing her of my love for her. I started to speak out when she cut me off and said in a melancholic tone, "Is it only because I have gained a little weight recently that you have stopped loving me and are running after that slim and stylish Shweta or is it because I am unable to take as much care of you now as I did earlier?" Now, that was the reason! So Shweta was the reason behind her change in behaviour over the last couple of days. I kept down the book I was reading, looked at her smilingly and gave ...