Life in Corona Times:The Cordon Bleu way

Life In Corona Times , the Cordon Bleu way .

Ok , we have the biggest , hugest , scariest pandemic on hand ,and even the Aliens are skipping coming to Earth . And , to top it all we have an asteroid coming to blast us all to smitherens . It's a sad , sad situation, we are alll fighting and overcoming it , be it with Tai-chi , mediation , music or calls or moping and the one that has taken all of us by storm , cooking .

I mean , we live to cook but here we all are cooking in such a manner as if we could beat the virus off with a belan.

Where ever I see , or hear everyone is cooking these yummy , delectable ,scrumptious dishes and then we wonder why the clothes are getting tight .

The only solace is no one is meeting anyone , so ki farak painda hain ..and vaise bhi khande peende ghar de hain ( the true zaika is speaking in one's Mother tongue ) . 

Never mind ,we will be having food riots soon . It's become a battle field out there, normal cooking plus baking those pies and cakes and the cheesecakes , we will be the only country or the community to eat out the Corona through a food coma .

I kid you not , sometimes, I think  the pink moon bewitched us all and we all started whipping out these gastronomic delights . Everything is a work of art and , for me fancy was coffee and cake and that also got mysteriously changed to Dalgona coffee ( South Korea patents ) .

A normal parantha wali person living in the boondocks like me , has started seeing frittata for breakfast with mushrooms and a side order of burnt tomatoes ( the organic garden went on an over drive ) . So them eggs , thanks to the free - range hens that think they own the farm plus all is a staple at our place . Sometimes, I do visualise the chicken on the plate but Ive grown fond of the hens and their vagabond behaviour !

The next thing in this era of social distancing was baking bread and how ! I am telling you , we are baking ,all of us have have become competitors in making the humble bread . To sieve, cut and mix and knead and hoping and praying that Madam yeast works and isn't temperamental and it rises, and then to beat the air , punch it ( get the frustration out) and then to bake and to lovingly baste it with a butter glaze to get the sheen and sprinkle some seeds and to then Instagram it.

I am guilty of this too, we all do this , bake , post and share on our social media accounts , but some days it seems its getting a tad bit competitive out there.I don't want to bake,cook , or cut another salad , I don't want any of the fancy schmancy stuff , jut some golgappas and some rehri wala noodles would be fine, and most importantly some one else would be making em!!!

Oh ! And the vegans and their smoothies and the kale and the spinach , and Andy more flax or chia seed I see , I would seriously cry . I ain't an Olive Oyl , just need this nightmare to end otherwise as to put it like Freddy Birdy ( who I love for his wit ) I'd be using old underwear , plus stevia plus 3 eggs , almond milk = a delicious keto breakfast . Let's , just go rewind to 2109.

Life in Corona : grouchy me

It's official , we are in the next stretch of our lockdown , quarantine and curfew ,whatchamicallit , its the only way out ! Is it me , or are the birds louder ? It seems they are making fun of us being prisoners and its like a role reversal now. We have been for long abusing nature to such an extent , the only way we can move forward to live now is to learn from our mistakes . 

It's teaching me a lot , this curfew in my home and making do with what I have. We all have a lot and imagine we can survive without the trip to the bazaar,without the online shopping , without the coffee , and the numerous lunches . 

At the end of the day ,all that matters is our loved ones and the fact that we cant meet them . Remaining cooped in , is taking a toll on all of us . The challenges , the tagging in uploading pictures and now the latest one the pillow one is making me laugh. Are we so shallow that we want to upload ourselves wearing a takiya? 

Yes ,we are . And this lockdown doesn't need to be a competition , nor does need to be a better ment project . Have your doubts ,live em , and stop cleaning the cupboards . 

Give yourself time to breathe and be . I have seen all of us being rushed to prove ourselves, why do we as women have to prove our cooking skills or cleaning skills or management ones? Who designated us to be the Chef, cleaner , corden bleu and the rehriwala all rolled into one? When do we get time off ? Curfew is making life harder and sometimes unbearable and there isn't any harm in saying this . I didn't cross any imaginary Lakshman Rekha by saying this . 

Ladies just be , and tide this time and don't be and in case you find all this tough , come with me to Mars . Because you might be the juiciest , ripest , yummiest peach in the world and someone will hate you because they don't like them peaches .

It's a stressful time and we are stretched to the hilt and on top of it , no beauty parlour or time off ! They ask me to enjoy the weather , the blue skies , the mountain range showing up right in front of me ,and the beaches in Amritsar but nothing is the same without family and friends , its all overrated ! I miss them and yes this too shall pass and my faith in Him sustains but I'm allowed to be grumpy ,na ?

Letter to God

Dear God,

This isn't a post for forgiveness , we have brought on this calamity on ourselves as a human race that had become a bunch of egg headed megalomaniacs . We bungled up big time and it's pandemic that is going to mutate later into something worse. In the last two months we have become a population united by a virus that has us on our knees killing without mercy and not differentiating between the rich or the poor, black or white , Hindu or Muslim or Christian . All the divides and the class lines drawn by us have been erased and it strikes all without any discrimination .

Covid-19 is a virus that was first detected by a start up company called the blue dot that found that there was a large amount of pneumonia cases in Wuhan way back in December and then slowly and as fast as magic it spiralled out of control and we know of it as it is now . I cannot stress the importance of social distancing and isolation and washing of hands , you've had that by all the messages , forwards and bomabardments of media .

The lockdown by the governments,sealing of the borders and laying down of rules and regulations is the only way we can tackle with this . 

As humans , rather than pointing out fingers who did what or when , we have abused , scarred , raped the ecosystem systematically without paying heed to the calamity . Yes,we have had warnings and God we haven't paid any attention. The hubris of mankind is that we think its not going out affect us , but is someone else's problem not realising we all are sinking together . 

You are having the last laugh , God .  I know maybe this is a great game plan of yours to slow us all down . We all were in this mad rush and now have time to take it slow , to be with our families, to read , to get to know each other and to be still .

 All we need is to reconnect with ourselves, our inner selves that has been burdened and weighted down with the rat race and  to be one up than the other the upmanship , to be better , to have more , it all seems futile now to shop , to buy and to hoard clothes or material things , when the next victim could be you . This forced introspection given to us by you , makes us realise that all we have is the time , which is transient and we are visitors on this planet , guardians for the future generations to come, and the animals and the flora and fauna were here before us . 

Maybe , this all was done to take a pause and reconnect . But , I bow  down to your bigger plans and know that you will find a path for us. In the meanwhile ,

Love Always .

Being a woman

Last night , I had a bunch of half -assed hooligans sitting in front of me who had also come to watch the movie that has been trending the charts since it was released.Thappad is a movie that is a must watch for everyone , and it has stayed with since last night and will do for as long as I live. Woman's Day is a day that was given to us to remember and resolve that how far we have come and how far we have to go . It is meant to celebrate the achievements and to recognise this power force in the paid economy , and more in the unpaid economy and the real Thanos . She is the glue that keeps and binds us all together.

Glance and see , she wakes up first and works as a silent well oiled machine that foresees everyone's needs , desires, anticipates everyone's wish before they even voice it . Does she get the respect , recognition she deserves or is she rough shod in every walk of her life , at the hands of the conditioning that is seeped so deep into our skewed society that she is ridiculed , hurt and beaten ,abused , degraded , demeaned, disgraced and physically violated , abused by sex , and subdued. 

We are battling the largest , scariest pandemic right now,but half the population is killed , abused and scarred just because they can , and there is no remorse over it .

These young boys in front me , kept on giggling , checking the Instagram story and using their snapchat . It was a movie and why have the screen lights on or why continue with the messaging and impertinent behaviour with complete disregard for the brevity of the movie .

I loved  Taapsee for her powerful portrayal as a woman who is wronged and tried to tell that her soul was hurt and she didn't have a problem with him but her self respect was injured and abused .Its a fight for her self respect for one and all , as she had given up herself her entity her being to be his wife and what did she get in return? She was told to shrug it off  because these thing happen and she should get over it and move on . A diamond bracelet was the apology but it was all about him , his promotion , his machoisim and his image , nothing about her . He got emasculated as she moved out , but her hurt is immaterial . 

How many of us truly are told to get over the hurt and move on for children , family , status , or being weak ? But what about the beautiful you , inside who shields her pain every time as that is what is expected from .

I applaud the courage of the director , the vision and thank you for making me realise what it means to be a woman . We can only give love forth , if we love ourselves first . 

And , no this not from Rumi or a forward . 

Happy woman's Day !

Close encounters of a Simple kind

Close encounters of a simple kind 

Today was an interesting day and my jaded eyes go cleaned a bit . The day starts very early for us at the farm and we had someone coming at the gates around 7 am and the security guard said he's a tall Sardar and an NRI and it seems he coming to take thekha ( lease money ) . Do not confuse this with the world famous Punjabi thekha - the place to buy alcohol. So , I was told to send tea and all for him , till the offices open. When I called the guard to take the tea , I was told that he had gone away .

The day went by as it as it does, nothing crashed , climate was still the concern , the Akalis were bashing the Congress and  AAP was as shrill as ever , nothing seemed to change and India was getting a makeover as if the Dulha was at the doorstep . 

Evening came , and I have a fixed routine , with the evening classes with the children and the mandatory coffee and then my paath . The same person was at the gate , and he had to come to meet. The guard ushered him in just because he was an NRI , he was accorded special status .In Punjab ,it is of matter of great pride,when someone comes to visit you , but even more so when he is an NRI . The red carpet was rolled out , we presumed he was a land owner and just wanted to meet my in-laws and was brought home . Anyone coming from Amreeka is accorded special importance as he's come back from the shores where everyone wants to be. The roads are paved with gold ,there. And why stay in Punjab, we don't owe it anything . 

Well , he came in and Mama met him and he started talking about America and how great it was and the fact that he made so much money and about his kids and the weather etc. He was from a small village near Nakodar and they had emigrated a decade ago and his kids were making so much money and that in America , milk was abundant . 

It seemed so ironical that he went from Punjab , the land of milk and  honey and he revered that there . I was called in and they had an album open . In his complete innocence, he had brought his daughters album and was showing us his family. I kept on looking and didn't say anything . He , in all his humility had been impressed by the boys , and wanted one of them for his daughter.

It was so innocent and his simplicity shone through . I have been thinking about him and his approach, he also told us that the families don't match but he just liked them ,he had seen them in a wedding album. 

It was his simplicity , his faith and his chutzpah to come and his anecdotes kept on regaling us . It was better to drink coffee he says ( that's what they all do ) , he hadn't been educated and never liked school , and from his childhood had just been caught in the rut of growing fodder , wheat and the cycle that goes with eking out a living ! When he went to the States he had to sign everywhere but he couldn't remember the squiggle . so , the next tie he came to India , he just got it tattooed on his arm . See, problem solved.

Where he lived, he used to carpool with another Bhenji to the factory but she charged 5 dollars , so he decided to get a cycle and bike to work , knees would be fine , and he wouldn't have to buy the car and any the steep insurance ! 

It was so refreshing to talk to him and hear this little homilies of life. No drama , no frills , no fancy stuff . When I asked him , hwy did he start working , and how did he cope with the language problem ? He said he started to work , because sitting at home , he had started to imagine all sorts of things about his daughters, he would make scenarios that they were being followed by boy s, or something had happened or why they never came back on time . He assumed the worst and then said if something like that would happen he would have no izzat . It reminds me of the new book I read, " A woman is no man"where no matter what , where you are , you toe the line ! 

So , he started to work , and he says it was better than sitting at home and fanatasizing the worst case scenarios.

Im telling you somedays , just makes me feel that all is well and there exists an invisible balance in this society that reaffirms my faith in a worl that is spiralling downwards into a dark dark chasm of evil.

Over the years I have become cynical , jaded with the deprivations and the complete disintegration in human character, fibre that this persons optimism , simplicity shone through ! There is hope for mankind and what better way , that a punjabi to lead the way ....

Happiness

Some days everything falls into place and you know there is hope and humanity exists. It so happened I was taking my evening class with a motley crew of children who start coming to class from 4pm onwards and keep on walking from far away just to attend and be with me . It must be the grey hair that is appealing to them or just the crooked nose. I was taking my attendance and generally we were doing our salutations with each other when one entrant , a young exceptionally fair Sardar boy said Ma’am I am Sarwan . I said ok and wrote his name . The kids around started saying that he had come for a couple of classes but had left after that . Sarwan , very boldly said that he had told his mother that he will come for class and wouldn’t miss it now. Then he introduced another new boy sitting beside him , whom he said was his brother ; Shankar.

Imagine , my surprise when I looked up . Shankar , was a relatively dark Hindu boy dressed up in layers of woollens . He proudly called him that he is my brother and he lives with us . I was taken aback at how can a Hindu boy be his brother and what made him say all this . I smiled , and loved the reaffirmation of faith in humanity . It is so refreshing to see this. This little boy , made me believe in all the things that are posted virtually . It does happen , there still exists empathy and compassion . 

No one told the little boy to differentiate with the boy just because he was dark skinned or he was his father( a bhaiya) son . Punjab is one of the most rampant states where racism exists . We are blatantly the worst in discriminating another human being on the basis of color and even worst in calling another a name because of him or her not being a punjabi . 

And then some days , there is a glimmer f hope that things will change and the  future looks bright in spite of the onion prices making us cry and watching a slugfest between the finance ministers ! Imagine , its onions v/s avocados ! 

 Although quoting my favorite author , it is our choices.... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities .

Every day we are faced with situations and it is in our power to make the righ choice . All lies in or hands and in making the right judgement we can change the world step by step slowly . 

This is a feel good post and we needed this after all the dismay and sadness of the last few days . And all the gloom was lifted by the encounter in the morning. Justice served .

There is always a change , and its happening .

My Piku moment

So it’s one of those crazy days , when its so hot that even Drogon would take a day off , and my maids decide to come to work late . And ,I was all heated up and had made up my mind to fire my duo that reminds me of Laurel and Hardy . Time kept on elapsing and she sauntered in with a Donald Duck gait and I asked with all my anger and the best memsahib voice , that why were they late ?

The little one was hidden behind her girth and she said that she was filling water and they didn’t have a water pump to get water to their homes in the village , so that’s why they were late . The older one started telling me that she had to get up really early to store water, wash clothes , and then had to catch a breath and eat food and come and if it took time , so what . And on top of that , she had to go for morning walk, drink some water and then sit in anticipation of the royal movement . Some toilet here and there and this was in chaste punjabi !! 

I was quiet and then just burst out laughing . She told me its important to drink water so she could go and do . All of us from any strata , big or small, living in the best of the worlds or in the bylanes of village  to the biggest bunagalows need to go and then only the day starts . I had to keep quiet to that one and couldn’t push any longer to why she was so late in coming to work.

Ever since that day I’ve become a bit more humane to her basic needs , they cant afford a water pump set to get the water to her house and that delays everything for her and she has to come for work to eke out her living.

We take a lot of things for granted as things are just there , open a tap , water is running, turn a switch and electricity is running, scroll and see the world, order and things are delivered to our door step.  They have to still fight , strive for their basic needs and spend all their lives to just reach to a basic level and eat   But we sanctimoniously complain that that they choose the wrong type of Netaji to lead our country . We are a minority who have everything going, yet we complain the maximum , and do the least to change the society or situation but have the shrillest voice to change the world . When do we start to change so that collectively all of us have water equally for instance  and can go to the toilet at a decent time and not wake up at an unearthly hour of 4am and work like crazy . Lets divide the benefits , as no one is getting out of this life alive and none of us are taking the riches along . 

I am out a socialist , nor am I asking for any favours but take a minute to think that we preach , share , post as our statuses, or put up as stories can only be held true if we started to believe , have faith and started practising what the Gurus had already laid down for us . 

This divisiveness and divide and demarcation on basis of religion is going to be an end of us .As water flows for all from the source and is for all life , lets all change ourselves or start to .