VeganTales: #PuccaPunjabitoVeganPunjabi

 "And why exactly are you doing this?" quizzed my senior citizen ,originally hailing from Amritsar, Passionate Punjabi,"Food is magic" believer cook aunty in utter disbelief..😒😒

Before I could reply,aunty retorts her point again"Makki di roti and sarson daa saag without white butter,no gajar ka halwa in winters,no lassi ,no paneer and dal tadka without gheau(ghee in punjabi).Bacche agar khaana enjoy nahin kitaa te kee haasil kitta.(If you didnt enjoy food then what did you gain)...😧 As long as health allows eat and make merry.💃" She closes her arguments and gets back to making butter chicken 🐔 for the rest of my non vegan family..

Yayy Its my first veganniversary today🎂 and my Mom's Birthday too!! And to answer my Maa's rhetorical question "ek spoon gajar halwa se kyaa farak padegaa(what difference will a  spoon make)" It wouldn't Maa but it just helps maintain the vegan status quo that began by denying the Pucca Punjabi me,the sinful pleasures of lassi,makhan,ghee and dahi ... #veganhappy  😊😊

Another Birthday 🎂🎂

An Ode to all the wonderful people in my life today!! People who have inspired me and made me a better person..

With a twinkle in my eye... I look back at the year go So many people inspiring me Something, they wouldn't know

Just a drop in the ocean, Am I A drop that turns into dew.. The world, my ceaseless Canvas My People, it's radiant hue..

Wait "Its my birthday again" Another year to be crazy.... With A Dash of Laughter & Some Dreams, a tad bit lazy...

Mother's Day 2023

Hmm, staying true to my talent of hamesha being late, here I am again a day late with my mother's day post..Talking about always being late toh, main michael schumacher toh hoon nahin that I can zip zap my way through the single lanes of edison and crowded 287 in peak hour..To which maa would always say in her cool nonchalant style "10 minute jaldee nikla karo naa.."

You to me epitomize cool n composure!! You haven't changed a bit though I have grown from a tantrum throwing 4-5 year old to a tantrum dodging 45 year old.. From my schooling years,to college,to starting work,to my pregnancies,to moving from one place to another,to getting back to work you have seen the worst and best of me(which everyone says is my kids..whatever!!! )

So,here's to another roller coaster ride with your kids,your grandkids,your granddogs and their forever maa/Nani can you do this even when you are saat samundar paar...

The greys in our hair

Have a story to say....

I see a Me in You Maa..

Rejoicing along the way.....

Fear of The Fury

 " And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Shivers ran down my spine as I glanced at my TV.

As the news of the devastating earthquake in Turkey started flashing on screen I stood there motionless, my heart skipping a thousand beats..As I immersed myself in the household chores my mind kept racing back to 2001 when I was in Ahmedabad and we were at the receiving end of nature’s fury then…

The sudden rumblings awoke us from sleep on a Friday morning. It was 26th Jan, My sister's birthday. My mom grabbed my sister and I and rushed out of our eighth floor high rise apartment. We were left with no option but to stand outside the house with our neighbors and cry and pray to the God aloud. We cried and hugged as the building shook and shook and shook!!!!!There was fear written on our faces. Fear of the untamed fury !!!!!!!!!!

We rushed down the building as it ceased to shake. For the next 3 months we stayed at a rented house as there were cracks in the building that required repairs. Our neighbors had become an extended family sharing the same fear, the same feeling of homelessness and the same gratitude to have survived this disaster.

It has been more than 2 decades since this brush with catastrophe but the memories of the day are still vivid. I still reckon the jitters, the fear and the uncertainty of life….

How often do we forget
In our materialistic quest

Some sorrows to share
Laughs galore to pair

A Handful of love to give
In every moment to live

Life is not in years
But in smiles and tears

Life is short, Life is uncertain
LIVE before it draws it’s curtain!!!!!!!!!!

The Ever Elusive Words..

A world of words

This exquisite world I see..... 

Words I dream, Words I live

Yet they so elude me...  

Words elude me.....Writing is not just an isolated example..Be it  professional meetings or casual conversations..They so often leave me lurching in the dark amidst a tete-a-tete...Post 100 count into striking a talk  words cease to flow  and I stand speechless ,a silent exterior masking a tumultuous interior.. Words jostle inside my brain but fail to see the light of the day as my brain ceases to process them any further and cuts them short in their endeavour.. 

Concision is all I can churn in the name of creative writing...

I have come to believe that my poor under developed brain is equipped with a 100 count word-o-meter..A single expression more and it shrieks aloud!!!!!!!!!!!   

No Rhyme,No Reason

Work On my brain 

Of Very few words am I 

A person sound yet inane....

What am I?

At times we become an extension of the emotions of the people around us. Their love for us, their belief in us, their dreams as us, reflects on us and we grow..

What am I?

I am Today

An Extension of You.. 
The love for me 

When much I cant do... 

What am I?

I am Today

A Reflection of You.. 
The belief in me 

When hopes go skew.. 

What am I?

I am Today 

Simply Just YOU.. 
Daring to Dream 

Albeit, In a varied hue.......

Terrible Two,Trying Teen & Forgetful Forties:

 Ri: Maa, Eddie 🐶chewed my heels

Me: Arre let go ..Its Eddie’s Birthday today.🎂🦴. 2/21/2021..He turned 2..

Ri:Maa do u remember when is my birthday?Like Which year was I born

Me: after a long pause- so you turned 16 this year so 2007

Ri: Maaaa 2006 ..Bro,Your Memory & Maths both are Mid

Eddie do you want to chew Mama’s shoe next.

Its your Birthday afterall …

Me: Whatever

Nooooooooo Wait ……

Love Aaj Kal

Love to me today ….💕

Is Your smile

When back home after travel.

Koi Bhoola Bisra Gaana

Jo,Bus Yunhi Youtube pe I unravel..

Love to me today..💕

Is my mom’s voice

& Dad ka ab bhi Daantnaa

Weekend visits from sister

And badhiyaa time & Khaana

Love to me today..💕

Is my kids rant

Poore din ‘Ma yeh..Maa woh’ Kehna

Eddie , Chess ki hyper tails

Jub bhi walk pe nikalna

Love to me today Is

My morning run, my words, my work

My Moments of I,Myself , Me

A “Main apni favorite hoon” glimpse

In the mirror when I see..

#MyMovieMusings- Pathaan

 Pathaan- a love story or a spy story or shaayad no story 🤣🤣 

So, Our Dashing, Age Defying, Gravity Defying, Laws of Physics Defying Desi Devdas(yup..ab dhokha element ke bina any bollywood thriller is incomplete naa...) meets Wrong turned Right turned Confused Turned Skater Girl Doctor Diva....

Sparks Fly, Helicopters Fly, Planes Fly, Bullets Fly. Missiles Fly, People Fly and with that all Logic flies..

Hawa main udta jaaye behaal Pathaan & Rubai. ho jee ho jee 🤣🤣

Dynamic Duo jump atop buildings, jump into rivers, jump from cliffs. In other words jump in and out of thin air..

Chale Jaise Hawaein Sanan Sanan

Ude Jaise Pathaan Gagan Gagan

Jaaye Rubai Jaise Chaman Chaman

Yunhi Ghoomoon Main Bhi Magan Magan

Hey-Hey Hey-Hey Hey-Hey, Wow

Hey-Hey Wow-Wow Ha-Haa

Across bade bade desh and choti choti baatein, Senorita and Spy run after gibberish Jim and his Caricaturish Cronies...Enter Tiger, an abducted scientist, a state of the art lab,some assistants in white coats and a beaker with the secret formula. Voila!!!! Dilwale Formula le jaayenge...

As I exit the movie theatre I ask my husband

Me: what was Pathaan's name in the movie

Husband: Pathaan,,duh !!! 

Me: Arre No his aslee name in the movie .. the name on his passport and all those exotic country visas.

Husband: Raj, Rahul, Aryan...Shahenshah  ??

Me: .Whatever 

And the Journey Begins...

#ChessChronicles: 06/28/2019

It was Friday,the 28th of June 2019.We were enjoying a nice cozy dinner at one of our favourite Indian restaurant,a regular Friday fare for us  ...Just about to finish our dinner we were planning to head to the nearby theatre to watch a movie..But fate had some other wonderful plans in store for us...

My husband received a call from a very kind lady from the rescue shelter,informing us that our adoption application had been accepted and we can come tomorrow and take home the pet we always wanted...In a moment our lives changed...'This can't be for real..Looks like I'm dreaming.' I said in my head...Excited beyond measure we looked at Chess's picture again..Mesmerized by his innocent look we started to prepare the house for our new family member..It was hard to catch sleep that night as the happiness of bringing our new member tomorrow kept us all awake for most part...

Chess at the Adoption Center. His first time in a crate and on a leash.

Our journey together with Chess started on 29th June 2019.Chess is a mix of labrador retriever and border Collie born on 3/9/2019 .The first time we saw Chess in person we were all  instantly drawn towards the innocence in his eyes...We adopted him the moment we held him in our arms..we knew He was the one :-)

Chess first day @Kohli Household

Chess came in our lives,waging his tail and enriching it with his love,hugs and puppy kisses..:-)
And thus began a wonderful never ending journey of love,learning and companionship