October musings..... ~ From a nomad's diary

The past one month was in every aspect interesting for me. Sometimes, you already expect the outcome and most of the times, the outcome never fails you, good or bad. This time however, I was surprised in more pleasant ways, leaving aside a few unpleasant ones.

• Watched Ekkis topon ki salami a couple of weeks back. And, it so turned out that the movie was a little less than worth of my time. The first 40 minutes were incredibly slow with unnecessary songs and dance. It was the second half that the movie was on a roll until finish. Needless to say, the movie was all about Anupam Kher and it was his acting prowess that kept me on my seat. Had there been less dance numbers, the movie would have been better. Also, the other actor who stood out in the movie was Rajesh Sharma, though his potential did not seem to have been used well. Somehow, I did not find it worth reviewing.

• Well, following the movie thing, hubby had his big outdoor commitment coming up. In fauj, they call it exercise. Which means – When the cat is away, the mice shall play. So, hubby was away on exercise. My son’s Diwali vacations had started. And, one can clearly picture the state of my just cleaned and dusted home. Some conditions always leave me in a dilemma on whether I want a happy home or a clean home. The problem is the men in my family love the term ‘clean’ only if they find me sitting for a minute to rest. Every other time, it is the happy home that matters. So, I preferred to choose happy over clean and for a change, gave my son all the freedom he needed to turn everything upside down. As they say, chaos is the beginning of all great things waiting to happen. So intermittently when hubby used to drop in for breakfast or dinner, the frown on his face was enough for me to get running around the house like a headless chicken, not knowing what to start with or where to begin. It felt like I was living in a house where every non living object was moving to every nook and corner as it pleased. And then, once he left back, my son and I would slouch in the bean bags procrastinating about the tasks left for us.

• That one week, with little to cook for the two of us, I found myself playing chess with the computer more often. As I tried explaining the game and its contents to my son, who is still too small to understand, I found him quite intrigued by the way the rook moved straight, the bishop in diagonals, the horse in two and a halfs and the queen in all geometric ways. He was more drawn towards the pawns that moved just one step ahead and crossed in diagonals by one step when they had to attack. His incessant questioning made me wonder, “how much would a child want to know?” There can be no greater thinkers than children as their questions reflect the diversity of thoughts that cross their growing minds. The good thing for me however was, my rusty skills were getting polished and I managed a few wins with the computer on the beginner’s level. Considering the last time I played chess was in high school, it was a big deal for me that I remembered the rules, to say the least!!

• Despite having little to do, I did not feel much joy. I did not feel like doing much rather. Although hubby was just on his exercise, I missed him a lot. I missed hugging him, fighting with him, cooking for him and most importantly, talking to him. Did I tell you, he is the best listener. And I don't have to disclose that I am a very talkative lady! Despite having stayed away from each other in the first few years of our marriage (when he was serving in a difficult area where family accommodations were not feasible), I have still not got used to his long hours of absence from home. Of course, duty calls and for a fauji, duty and disciple go hand in glove. And now, there was a certain amount of lethargy that was just multiplying my moment of inertia. Somewhere, my interest in food was dying down despite having followed Masterchef Aus so religiously. The week was turning out too deadpan now and I badly wanted something interesting to happen. But then, interesting things do not happen when playing games of chess indefinitely. And then, one of those days, I got up and opened the fridge to see if there was something worthwhile to make. There were a few tomatoes, some eggs, a packet of salted butter, some ginger and some cream cheese and curd. I stepped into my kitchen to see, if the maid had made rotis. And then, I remembered, she had taken half a day leave. Tried to scour the shelf for Maggie and all that came in hand was an empty cover! Phew! How worse can this day get? How I wish someone made an exotic meal for me and my son? And then, from nowhere ideas came to head. I felt like Remy from Ratatouille had taken charge. That was how, I created a humble lunch of buttered garlic bread, some tomato rice, herb grilled potatoes with a home made cream cheese dip and boiled eggs decorated with some tomato sauce. My son loved it and the food did taste heavenly. That was my cue to move my butt and get things on a roll. (hubby said, there was some good influence of MasterChef on me!)

• There is a saying that asserts, “when you are busy complaining about your life, try counting your blessings. You will feel good about it.”  And, at this point I must tell you about my blessings, the awesome neighbors who put up with my incessant jabbering, thunderous laughter and my never ending culinary tales. And then, I decided to invite Saroj and Navkiran for some tea and snacks one of the evenings. Fortunately, I had soaked sago a day before and sabudana wadi, a lip smacking Maharashtrian dish was my savior. The dish was a big hit as the tea and wadis disappeared into our tummies over a beautiful evening of gupshups and mirth. Believe me, we are a riot as heads turned on the roads to see who laughs like a pack of hyenas! (Oh common! I am kidding! But we can scare away birds and animals with our peals of laughter)

• Then, the exercise ended on a Saturday and I was elated to see hubby come back tired and then ask me out on a dinner date! I was skeptical but he had already made up his mind. So, all three of us had a nice hearty dinner at Shangrila (a small restaurant run by Inf Div here). Known for its good food and hygiene, this is our pick most of the days. And it is evenings like these, I feel blessed to have also found my best friend in my husband whose timely advice on many things makes me get a little wiser than the day before. My son of course, is learning his table manners and he pleasantly surprised us when he aped us by eating Chinese fried rice with a fork and a spoon.

I guess, the month started drab but ended interesting. And now, that my parents are visiting us, I am glad for a fact that my son would learn a lot from his sagacious grandparents who always have Knowledge and wisdom to share in abundance. So this was totally an October post. Now, that the month is ending, I am looking forward to the new chapters of life that shall unfold after a couple of months. Yes, we the migratory birds are now preparing ourselves for a new ground where there will be new people, new bosses, new surroundings and new neighbors. Soon, we all will be going to a new place, as soon as our next destination is known. Until then, I want to enjoy every minute of this beautiful place, Mhow that has seen me in my worst and best times.

Signing off.....