This was not what I planned for the last post of the blog marathon. Funnily enough, this blog marathon hasn’t been as tough as the others so far. I’ve been having loads of ideas, the only problem was getting the time to jot it all down.

Anyway, as I said, this wasn’t what I had planned. I had planned a nice, ‘it’s been so much fun doing this blog marathon’ post. Also, this one is extra special, as this has been the only blog marathon, apart from that photo a day challenge, that I have actually completed. I normally fall off somewhere. Not this time, clearly. Maybe I should just do this, chose the busiest time of the year and do a blogathon. It was such a fun ride. I didn’t comment on posts, as much as I would have liked to, or read as much as I would have liked to, but still enjoyed it thoroughly. So thank you, Seema, for roping me in 🙂

Getting on to the topic I wanted to discuss. Delhi elections. I’ve been a sporadic follower of events. I’ve been reading stuff off and on. My sympathies (and my vote, if I were eligible) are completely with the Aam Aadmi Party.

They have released their manifesto today, and it is such a thought out manifesto. So many points had me nodding away. Who wouldn’t vote for a party like this, I thought. But I am wrong. So many wouldn’t.

Why? Now that is something I can’t figure out. Why are we fine with voting in career politicians who have done little or nothing in all the years of being in power? Why do we jump on Kejriwal and demand explanations for all sorts of things? Let me clarify here, there is absolutely nothing wrong with holding politicians accountable and asking them for explanations. What makes me wonder is that the nobody seems to be holding a BJP or a Congress to the same standards. It is almost as if they have got some holy exemption on the grounds of having been in politics for long.

The vitriol against AAP also makes me wonder why BJP, for instance, is so worried that AAP might win. The only reason is that they know that they will be forced to be more accountable. They wouldn’t be in a position to line their pockets as much as they could. They wouldn’t be able to get away with doing nothing. That to me is the biggest reason AAP has to win the Delhi elections. We need an honest party, we need someone to keep the mainstream politicians in check, we need a party that is accountable. Hopefully, one day, all parties will be forced to the same high standards.

If they lose, we are in danger of losing the last chance of having an alternative. I’m not saying that AAP is the epitome of all things good, but I do think that they mean better than other parties. They have less at stake.

And all those who say, ‘Kejriwal was given a chance’, all I ask is, why are we so reluctant to give them another chance while we happily give BJP and Congress chances after chances.

I’ve got my fingers crossed (and toes). I do hope Aam Aadmi Party wins. Even if they don’t, I hope they get a sizeable number to make a strong opposition. And I hope that us, the people of India, question what our media, our politicians feed us and make a decision that will actually make a difference in our lives.

I’ve seen Srividhya’s tag  going around and had been planning to use it. One day. Today is that day. Desperate times. When I don’t have the energy to think. Actually yesterday was the same but I remembered something that I could make into a post. And given that we are this close to completing the Marathon, I would hate to give up now.

So here we go.

1.What is the first dish that you cooked?

Ooh! That’s a tough one. I think it was boiled eggs. Once my friends and I had a picnic. We used to live in a set of terraced houses and the end of the line of houses was a club house sort of place. It was a house which was used as a club, to be more accurate. And after they had some functions there, I vaguely remember that there were some sort of cooking stove, left behind. I can’t even remember what or how, but I remember my friends and I boiling eggs and making Maggi. I must have been around 13-14, and I do think my contribution must not have extended beyond shelling the eggs. But still, it counts, doesn’t it. I do remember us being super excited about it 🙂

2.What is the first dish that you cooked for your better half? (If you are not married, you can tell us what you are planning to cook for him/her)?

I can’t remember what I first made for husband, but can assure you that whatever I made was definitely a complete disaster. I was a horrible cook. Not that I’m any good now, but at least it is marginally edible now 🙂

3.Which food were you reserved to try first but then liked later it since you acquired the taste?

Chicken. My family is a little different. My mum is a non-vegetarian but my dad is a vegetarian. He had no problem with us having non-veg, but it was quite rare for us to have non-veg at home. When we were little, it was mainly when we went to my grandparents place in Wayanad that we had non-veg. Mainly chicken. Now, I would never eat it. For the longest time, I refused to touch it. Until I became friends with a girl called M. She used to describe chicken with such detail that I had to try. Absolutely had to try. And once I tried it, I fell in love with the taste.

4.What is your comfort food?

Anything at all that Amma makes. And if that is not an option, Dosa with chutney.

5.Which dish of yours you like the best?

I adore my version of ennai kathrikai.

6.Which dish of yours your family likes the best?

Daughter loves her green curry. That’s my secret curry which allows me to sneak in all sorts of vegetables.

Husband loves my coconut chutney, my dosas and rava dosa at this point in time.

7.What is your favorite street food?

Chaats and golgappas in Jamshedpur. Nothing, absolutely nothing comes close.

8.Tell us about any of your kitchen disaster story.

Now here’s a question I can answer with aplomb. I can just walk into the kitchen and create a disaster. You can read about how efficient I am here and here and here.
And if you are still not satisfied, let me tell what I’ve managed to do just the other day. I’ve managed to mess up my Dosa batter. Big time. Something has gone wrong with it. It is stinking instead of having that lovely smell of fermented batter.

9.Any one or two food confessions 😉 😉

I hate sweet in savoury dishes. Even in chaats, I’m not too fond of the sweet chutney.

I love salads. Almost all sorts of salads.

I can’t stop eating some sort of snacks, like biscotti for instance.

10.Apart from basic stuff, like milk, yogurt, veggies what you have in your fridge or in pantry? (Name any 3 items)

1. Hummous
2. Pita bread
3. Desiccated coconut

11.Any food related or cooking resolutions for this year?

I don’t do resolutions but I’m always trying to eat lunch on time and carry healthy snacks to work. And carry lunch if possible. And to avoid sweets.

12.In our custom when you goto Kasi, you need to give up one of your favorite veggie and fruit. So you cannot eat that veggie or fruit from then on. Which one you would you give up? (It should be your favorite one)

Oh dear me! I would just give up this tradition 😉

13.You need to prepare a 3 course meal for a party? What dishes will be there in your menu?

Aloo tikki chaat / panirayams with peanut chutney

Pulav/Jeera rice/lemon rice with methi malai mutter/ennai kathrikai/ dal makhani/ Kerala style egg curry

Store bought naans

Tiramisu or a Tres Leches cake for dessert.

And I’m done! I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed doing this tag!

Not a completely wordless Wednesday would be more apt.

The long walk.. somewhere

Also known as my Sunday walk avenue. This is where Daughter comes for keyboard lessons and husband and I go for an hour long walk. This last week, I walked 6 kms. What a fun walk that was!

I haven’t written about politics much recently. More often than not, by the time I read something, it is already old news.

Today, husband was watching the news and I saw this news being aired.

Apparently this is the logic for commissioning this road.

According to the epic “Ramayana”, Lord Rama took this route to reach the Chitrakoot forest to serve an exile of fourteen years after abandoning his claim to Kosala’s throne. 

This is a government of ‘Ram bhakts’, government of those who shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans. Hence I promise you that Ram Van Gaman Marg will also be upgraded to a national highway

I was gobsmacked. So we now have a government of ‘Ram Bhakts’! And not just that, we will build roads based on a religious text. So many things wrong with this!

Why would you bring religion so blatantly into policy making? Surely making roads should be based on need of the moment and not to satisfy some religious sentiments. Make roads, we all know that there are plenty of roads that are crying out for being made/repaired, but why, why, why add a religious angle to it?

Secondly, why would you say something being a ‘govt of Ram Bhakts’, or of people who shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ when we are a secular country. I wonder how it feels to people of other faiths when my blood boils, despite the fact that I am a Hindu by faith. And even being a Hindu doesn’t make you an automatic ‘Ram Bhakt’! But some people will never understand this!

Thirdly, it worries me. Like Maya said in this post. It is worrying that this govt seems to be turning a blind eye to so many ‘fringe elements’, be it people demanding bans of books or people asking Hindu women to have 4 children. The fact that these so called fringe elements seem to have become empowered to come out and speak with authority is worrying, at least for me.

At least if it had been just the fringe elements, it would have been tolerable, but today it is a Union Minister, who says this. This for me, has reached a whole new level.

I tell you, I could write a book based on all my adventures in the morning.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I am a morning person. I like waking up early and morning is the time I feel most active. Mornings, funnily enough are also the time that I end doing the silliest of things.

My weeks start off quite well organized. I would have ironed most (do notice, I say most, not all) of my clothes, most of daughter’s uniforms, I might even have managed to pack a lunch. I don’t normally take lunch with me neither does daughter. On some days she doesn’t like the school lunch menu, so I pack a lunch box for her. But most days, we don’t carry lunch. I would like to, but we don’t have a microwave at work (health and safety, apparently!). If I have to eat cold food, I prefer to step out and get something from a nice lunch place. Some days, when I am inspired, I do take a sandwich, or a nice salad, but it’s very, very rare. Only of I’m really feeling inspired or if I’ve got back to back meetings and no time for lunch.  Some days, I’ve also done stupid things like forgetting my lunch at home! Which is really annoying, because the only reason I had packed lunch was that I knew I had a packed schedule.

So on one such morning. It was a mid week morning, I had clothes ironed for that day, but not for the rest of the week. I had packed lunch for daughter, packed a sandwich for myself. I had woken up feeling extremely tired, probably one of those days when I didn’t have a good night’s sleep. So by the time all this got done, I was running the slight risk of being late. I had got dressed and when I looked at myself in the mirror,  a haggard old woman stared back. Skin looked lifeless, dark circles under the eyes.. hair, well hair is always messy, so can’t use that. As a last minute damage control, I dug out a forgotten bottle of foundation. Now, those who have met me, will vouch for the fact that I’m not a ‘dresser-up’. The max I do is use a lipstick. And sometimes a foundation. Mostly days like this when I’m in disaster control mode.

So. As I was saying, I dug out the bottle of foundation, used so long ago, that I had to struggle to get it to open. Finally, I managed to get out a small quantity of the liquid and smoothed it on my skin as best as I could. All this with one eye on the clock. I wasn’t realy behind schedule until then. We had about five minutes to get out of the door. And then if the car was not frozen, I would be off in a minute or so. If the car was frozen, that would add more than a few minutes to my timeline. So I was rushing to make sure that we leave on time when I glanced down at my trousers and noticed that while wrestling with that bottle of foundation, I had managed to spill some on my black trousers. Wiping off made no difference. No, that’s not true, it made it worse. All I could do is change. As I hunted around to find myself another pair of trousers, I realized that everything else needed to be ironed. I managed to find a skirt but then realized that I couldn’t find tights that looked decent. One thing after another.

It was a while by the time I could find everything I needed. Daughter stood there with a worried look on her face, exasperated that her mum had managed to delay things again.

It was 15 minutes later that we managed to step out. 15 minutes make a lot of difference. From almost empty roads to long queues of cars. That day, it was worse. It was an icy day. All I could do was wait. Wait for the car to get defrosted, and then wait in the long queue in the roads.

By the time I reached work, I was late. Daughter, thankfully, was on time, but I wasn’t so lucky.