Feeling at home

Stranger in the strange land! 

That's what I always feel like when I move places, and this time was no different. The cold grey weather had added to my woes.

And then, one sad evening, while walking down the street, I smelled a familiar smell. The world just stopped existing for me! The time stood still! And all that mattered was that smell. The walk to that small eatery was just 5 minutes from where I was standing. And in those five minutes I remembered all the good times spent with my friends...especially when low on cash; the times when I was drenched to bone on my way home from a long day,  and this smell-- how it revived my spirits! And now again. Despite the biting cold I was sure that I was going to have a big smile on my face. I started walking towards the place sniffing in the air like a starved puppy!

As I reached the place that was the source...all I could see was happy, smiling, contented people leaving the place. From the big window, I saw friends chatting with each other over cutting chai [half a cup filled with strong tea], couples in their own dreamy land, sharing their wada-pavs and dabelis.

Jai Shree Krishna! Thats what I really felt!

It was the smell of hot, spicy and fresh batata wadas [deep fired blobs of mashed potato mixed with spices and dipped in batter]. The next hour was complete food heaven. My husband joined me at the place and we relished all those platefuls of our life back in Mumbai--wada pav with spicy lasoon chutney and green chilly, dabeli, spicy misal, gulachi poli [chapati bread made with jaggery filling] and cutting chai!

This eatery, Shree Krishna Wada Pav, is located on the Highstreet in Hounslow [close to ASDA] and dishes out authentic Mumbai food. Reasonably priced and modest in ambience, Shree Krishna Wada Pav will surely impress you with its service, friendly staff and quality of fare.

Whats more! For those from Mumbai...the place will surely make you nostalgic and you are sure to go back home thinking about the good ol' days....and a big smile on your face that says "Wow!!!!! Authentic wada pav in UK??!!"

Bon Appetit Folks!

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Name of the eatery- Shree Krishna Vada Pav, Location- Hounslow High Street TW31QT, 

Cuisine Served- Maharashtrian

Would I go back? Again and again...in fact I was there a few days back

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Note: Pictures taken from a google search

Hidden here and hidden there

The other day, I was playing a Hidden Objects PC game-Samantha Swift Trilogy. I am a big fan of all the  hidden object games and can spend hours playing them without getting bored.

But then, that got me thinking....isn't our life a big, real time hidden object game?

Like the computer game...in life, we too get a set of hints...we call intution; like the game...we have different modes-- our childhood, the casual/novice mode; our youth like the adventure mode and our relatively older selves playing the expert mode.

And it just doesn't get dull for even a second. Helping us succeed in each level are various tools that we unearth.....there might be a pick axe or pliers or crowbars in virtual games. But in this life's game, we have education, we have hobbies, we have friends, family and enemies too! Our energy meters get charged with love and dis-charged with hate or frustration.

And like all the games, there are the between-level puzzles. So while virtually, you might have to join sets of three similar colours or crack codes to open locks, in life, you may just have to clear exams or interviews or pass that driving test...the more difficult the puzzle, the really simple solution will it have.

And then, the most important aspect of these games--time!

Puzzles are timed!Levels may be timed....this means that all that you do, is relevant in a particular time period. so very true! And our actions give us brownie points or deflate our scores too. for instance, if we manage to solve the puzzles or help characters, it adds to our hints or scores or energies...meaning, we get benefitted all through the game in a manner that might not be so apparent. So it is in life! Good deeds and bad deed, or as they fashionable say, our Karma impacts our game.

Step-by-step, at paces we are comfortable with, we go on playing these games, go on moving ahead in our lives...till we get a proper conclusion or a prize or till we solve the mystery of the same.

Guess thats where Grantland Rice came up with the line:
For when the One Great Scorer comes
To write against your name,
He marks-not that you won or lost-
But how you played the game.
 
See you in the next level!!!! Till then, enjoy your play!!

This is a poetic version of a Varsha Usgaonkar-Ashok Saraf movie.

Any resemblances with living or dead is purely co-incidental.

  

गजर वाजला,

चटुक उठला,

चटकन दात घासायला गेला.

अंघोळ केली, दाढी झाली,

कामाची ही घटिका आली.

संध्या येता चटुक येई,

नाश्ता करून पाय पसरी.

रात्रौ होता पोटोबा बोले,

भरपूर जेवून मिटुया डोळे.

चटुक ची होती एक बायको,

म्हणायचे तिला आय्गो-बाय्गो.

गजर वाजे,

आय्गो उठे,

सकाळपासून धांदल उडे.

चहा, जेवण, नाश्ता करी,

पण संपे ना काही चटुकची यादी.

चटुक म्हणे, "काय असते घरी काम?

थोडासा स्वयंपाक, मग तर आराम."

दिसे ना त्याला घर टाप-टीप,

इस्त्रीचे कपडे पण घडी केलेले नीट.

आय्गो बाय्गो त्याला सांगे,

"जो गावभर फिरतो तो काय समजे?"

"कामाच्या नावाखालि काय बाई करतो,

ना घाम, ना त्रास तुझ्या चेहऱ्यावर दिसतो".

हैराण होऊन आय्गो म्हणाली,

कळूदे चटुकला घरातली कहाणी.

स्वप्नातल्या परीने काडी फिरवली,

चटुक झाला आय्गो, न बाय्गो चटुक झाली.

सकाळ झाली, गजरानेही हाक मारली,

अन चटुकच्या आधी आय्गो उठली.

स्वप्नं आठवून खुदकन हसली,

बाहेर जायची संधी मिळाली.

अंघोळ केली दाढी झाली,

कामाची ही घटिका आली.

काम नव्हते सोपे ते,

शेतावरती नंगारायचे.

दम लागे , त्रास होई,

दुपारला तर घामहि येई.

संध्या होता चटुक आली,

आल्या-आल्या झोपून गेली.

ही तर बाजू आय्गो-ची,

अशीच कशी गोष्ट चटुकची.

आय्गो म्हणून चटुक उठला,

चहा करताना चटका लागला.

जेवण न्याहरी,

आवरा आवरी,

बझार हाट अन धुणी भांडी.

सारं काही जमेना,

सारं काही उमजेना,

पण दिवस सरता दमला बाई.

न आय्गो येता झोपला बाई.

स्वप्नात दोघांच्या परी आली...

दोघांनी ही क्षमा मागितली.

परी ने फीरवली जादू ची काडी,

अन झटकन-पटकन सकाळ झाली.

गजर वाजला,

चाटुक उठला,

आय्गो ने ही डोळा उघडला.

एक मेकास मदत केली,

अन दिवस चटकन निघून गेला.

आता थोडे बदल्ले होते,

दुसर्यांचे कष्ट समजत होते.

अशी ही छोटीशी गोष्ट,

सांगा सर्वांना स्पष्ट.

Mommie come back

Hello,

I am back again. I have got an internet connection in place and that means I can blog more frequently now.

Since I had nothing much to do, I did what I like the best--watch Indian mythological movies on youtube. This time, it was the story of Satyawan-Savitri. And it got me thinking....How far can one go for the one he-she loves??

It can be for partners/spouses or even parents-children or siblings or even friends!

The following poem is inspired from this eternal love story of Satyawan-Savitri....here the protagonists are a toddler (baby girl) and her mother.

Please do leave comments (than email) if you like this one or if it touches your heart :)

A strange l’il girl with her strange parents,
Walking on a road that doesn’t seem to end.
Hand in hand they go on walking,
Talking to each other, happy and laughing.

And strangely then, the road does split,
One going left and other going right.
And soon enough the sweet kid knows,
Mom isn’t there, but Dad all alone.

"Mommiee! Mommiee!" cries our honeybun,
Tears in her eyes and ready to run.
Daddy stops baby with all his might,
But nothing can hold his cherub tight.

Run, she does, on and on,
"Mommiee-Mommiee!" singing the song.
And even though so much time has passed,
She hasn’t found Mommie in this world so vast.

And then she hears  a booming voice,
"Look in your heart my dear child!"
As she remembers the good times spent,
Mommie's presence fills like a mystic scent.

And cries baby boo, tears lining her cheeks,
"Mommie come back to me for I can’t sleep.
And if you cannot come back to me,
Then please, just hear my plea."

"Don’t say no, but hold me to your bosom,
For I love you and with you I come.
Every moment without you is numbing pain,
Without you, its not sunshine but rain."

Mommie stands there as still as the silent night.
Though many daggers rip her with all their might.
A wide chasm of life and death makes sure,
Neither of them can cross over.

Both of them stand there in pain,
And suddenly things get clear again.
 Back on the road that had split,
They find themselves holding each other tight.

And the happy family is one again,
Looking at sunshine after all the rains.

Ads I like

This is the anti-discrimination campaign, Should you have to hide the real you to be accepted?, that was on in the Netherlands some time back. The Ad is simple to understand and makes its point, no need to even understand the language of the country.

Check out: