Bell-Puri

I had this incredible craving to eat bhel puri during lunch time yesterday. I just can’t explain it – I love my food but I rarely get food cravings for anything except chaat. Considering that I work in the city and there are hardly any places which do such food, I had to contend with Tiffin Bites.

I went in all excited and keen to sample their ware. I went up to the counter and asked for a bhel. I probably should have got an inkling of things to come when the girl at the till did not quite follow me. I pronounced it with an emphasis on the “B” as anyone who knows Hindi, will follow what I am saying. She, of course, did not understand and called her colleague at an adjacent till. He did not have a clue either and looked at me rather blankly. They then went and got the chef (well, chef is rather a fancy title because his culinary skills on the job are limited to re-heating the naan bread) and he did not have a clue either. This during peak lunch time and I can sense the growing irritation of the suit-clad city types behind me. But neither in a mood to give up nor in a mood to see sense, I persevere with my pronunciation of bhel. Finally, till-lady gets me the menu and asks me to point to the item I want and when I do, her sense of relief is visible. She then says ‘oh you want bell’, as in the very English-sounding word BELL, with no emphasis whatsoever on the B…..I know I know, warning bells should have gone loud and clear now, but well, you know the rest..

I then gave her instructions to make it spicier than normal and paid. The Bhel looked attractive enough and I couldn’t wait to try it. A spoonful and I have to say I was so so disappointed. It was a crunchy concoction of various atypical ingredients thrown together (not even all of it kurmura and sev, standard bhel ingredients but more poha than kurmura) topped with green chutney !!!!! The tamarind chutney they used was authentic, no doubt but the whole dish was far far below normal. Even the Haldiram’s readymade bhel pack is far superior to the trash they dished out there. So my quest for a good chaat place still continues.

N – please don’t say ‘I told you so’.

Riddle-me-Ree, Who can she be?

Greetings wonderful MTBs!!!
and good work to all of you!
For having solved the riddle before
I give you all this clue.

The letter " W "

Write it down, add it on...
. And let’s move on to the next little song

“A tattoo she does don
Momos in chilli sauce she feasts upon
Symmetry is harmony
Brownies are right on the money
It takes but a good eye
To spot a well dressed guy
Who is she?”


Solve it and you get your lead
Misguess, and you lose your speed
Solve it slow but solve it now
And before you go, take a little bow

Go to 'Comments' and leave me a clue
Tell me which blog you are off to.
Good luck! Good luck! Be on your way.
You have your work, cut out for the day!

British Rani

The little one woke up at 3.00 AM this morning, crying in discomfort. Patting her back to sleep did not help at all. So I took her out of her crib, held her in my arms and tried to rock her to sleep. No luck. I tried putting her to sleep between calculus and me, which normally settles her down, but no luck today. Thankfully, by this stage calculus had got up and gallantly took charge. I have to say that I love my beauty sleep far too much – so night duties have mostly been Calculus’s domain.

Calculus then took her to the living room so that I could sleep. Of course I did not, keeping an ear to see what he would do to calm her. He played her favourite songs, her DVD footage but she was still uncomfortable. He then thought that maybe her nappy was too wet and so went to change her. In the process, he took off her sleeping bag and lo and behold the little madam was fine. She was just HOT !! After her nappy change, she had a drink of water and then went back to sleep like a good little girl.

The temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius last night – so warm by London standards but nowhere near hot. We had even kept our balcony French window in our bedroom open, but apparently the little one needs lower temperatures. I dread to think what will happen if we visit India in the summer !! British rani is what my parents now call her, after this episode.

Why's of guilt

• Why is it that each time I go out for dinner or lunch on a weekend without my little one, I feel terribly guilty?
• Why is it that I weigh up every plan of going out a thousand times and more if it means leaving the little one at home?
• Why is that my nap times on weekends ALWAYS coincide with the little one’s?
• Why is it that it gets noticed so much more if I as a mother go out leaving the little one at home?
• Why is it that I feel terribly guilty if someone else feeds her while I sit by watching?
• Why is it that I feel awful for not taking her out as much?
• Why is it that the thought of going away even for a single day no longer sounds inviting? (I used to be crazy about travelling).
• Why is it that I fret endlessly over some of the choices we make which impact her life the most?
• Why is it that I feel guilty even for speaking on the phone with friends at home?
• Why is it that I postpone any non-essential errands for my own self endlessly till there is no other way out than to fix it? (for instance changing my watch strap and battery)