PANEER BLAH TEAR MASALA

So, here’s the thing…our lives have been largely consumed by technology. We are able to work, stay connected, and stay entertained – thanks to the internet and smartphones. Now, let’s assume, hypothetically, phones and internet seize to exist from tomorrow. Scary isn’t it? What could be the repercussions? Here are some of them from random angles:   Television Kids would watch whatever cartoon runs on TV, adults would watch either cricket or news, whatever comes on TV. There would be absolutely no preference or something like Netflix and Prime that used to exist -watch on your whims and fancies. Burn in hell!!   Food You would cook whatever you know, or learn (like not to burn the roti) eventually. No step by step recipes to read or watch and try out. No home delivery of food, get your ass to the restaurant and get takeaway, you would rather have your food there, right?   Parenting You would not be able to feed the kid by playing the SAME effing video that wo...

Although I'd like to believe that I'm an ambivert (none buy that. They can bet I'm an introvert at the first meeting), I can listen to people and empathize. I'm a person who always thinks "What will the other person think?" and with all the good organizational skills and decent EQ - I thought I'd make a good HR professional. A bubble of a dream. That bursts eventually. That's right - with every call for an interview I get, there is a bubble created in my mind. A momentary dream that takes me to a space where I work in that place and I mull over how it would be, and what I would like or dislike about the job. This happens every single time.  And thus became a tale of rejections....... Ever since I had decided to take up the one-year managerial executive program, PGDM weekend course, people advised me about the unlikeliness of higher pay - one is because it’s not a regular MBA degree, it’s a PG diploma, and two, it’s Human Resources of all th...

Okay. So, I gave an entry into this short-story writing contest (June 2014) at  http://ellefictionawards.in/ I know I shouldn't care about winning or losing. Anyway, sharing the story here..sit back and enjoy! PS: I have changed my cousins' names. It is 90% real story with a lil bit tweaking and garnishing here and there.  PS: It is supposed to be an attempt at writing a funny-but-heart-touching story. I'm really sorry if you didn't laugh or/and if it didn't touch your heart while reading it..I'm an amateur, you see?  So here it is.... Plan B ‘Duh!’ she exclaimed when I asked her if I should add tomatoes too to the experimental Biryani . It had turned out to be blah (I hadn’t added tomatoes). Sister and I had spent a fortnight managing the house all by ourselves while parents were holidaying in the US. And yes, she had to put up with my amateur cooking in spite of the fact that we could always do the prudent act of just climbing up the stairs an...

          For the longest time I've been wanting to write this post. I have been through such extreme emotions lately that I've become numb to criticisms. Anyway, I want to be less sad right now, among all the things happening around me and in my mind. Where do I start from, Um, okay! I'm a bride-to-be now with less than a fortnight away for the big day. No, I'm not gonna bore you with my wedding preparations ( or how much  tensed I am about how the tailor stitches my attire). No, I'm not gonna talk about the huge epic-sode that happened when I tried to elope and my parents agreed to marry me finally (or the pain of a Hindu Brahmin- Roman Catholic wedding issues). Fret not.                I have been living in one house (named Trupthi - meaning 'satisfaction') for two and a half decades and I'm a deep-rooted person, meaning I love this city and my world in the city - my house, my locality, my food, my people. Sin...