"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."
Marion C. Garretty
Pri,
On this day of yours, I wish all the happiness in the world for you. There is no one I know who deserves it more than you. Happy Birthday Sis!
Joli
Pri and I have nearly always lived in different cities. The few days we spend together now and then, are precious.
As children 
we spent many days at our grandmother’s house, playing all the time, fighting and hurting each other, loving each other. We couldn’t wait to meet, the first days were full of excitement and then the fights would start. But when the time to separate came closer all that would be forgotten. There was a sense of desperation to hold on to each moment. It was hell for our parents to separate us. We would cry and howl and nothing could comfort us.
A few months later, the cycle would start again.
When she would come to town, the highlight of my life was when she would come pick me up from school. I couldn’t wait to show her off to all my classmates. I honestly believed that no one could have a sister as perfect as mine. I still believe that.
When I went to stay with her, she made me do the same thing. Though I don’t think I will forgive her for making me go to her class in my pajamas.
The town she lived in was very safe and beautiful. I remember countless walks we went for as kids, even once when we didn’t tell anyone we were going and gave everyone at home a royal scare.
Then there were the midnight feasts 
when she stayed at my place (you can blame Enid Blyton for putting this into our heads) and countless hours watching the same movies over and over. Chitti Chitti Bang Bang was one of them. I can’t remember the name of the other one, but I do remember it was about a man, who had a ring with an inscription and each time someone read that inscription out loud, this man would turn into a large furry dog.
I have always wanted to follow in her footsteps, do what she did, and be like her. So when she applied for boarding school, all it took was for my mum to tell me this and I wanted to go also. Unfortunately, I didn’t get through one of the exams and the humiliation was so great that I never tried again. She went of to school and I looked forward to living the same life through her letters.
There are no words to describe how I felt when she asked me to come with her parents to her school. The first time was to pick her up. The second was for her school's prize giving ceremony in her last year there.
There she stood in her lovely pink and beige salwar–kurta (the school’s dress uniform), as vice-captain of the school, amongst the other captains. She looked so amazing and I never knew a prouder moment. That was my big sister standing there.
She always made everyone proud of her. Very good at academics, excellent at sports, never-ending creativity in everything she did. Nothing I could ever do came anywhere close to her. Much as I tried.
She did her college years in Bombay. 
Again I would have loved to be with her. But it didn’t work out. I reconciled myself by visiting her a few times. She always ensured that all her friends became my friends and made sure that I had a great time.
Soon after college, she met this guy and got engaged to him. They made a wonderful couple and I was really happy for her. A year later, they were married. That day when I saw Pri, I was speechless. I have yet to see a more beautiful bride.
Nothing changed... in fact she is probably the only person I know who didn’t allow her marriage to change her. To the contrary she seemed to grow even more as a person. Trips to Bombay became even more fun. My brother in law, Rushabh, is great company. When I heard she was having a baby, I went crazy with joy.
She still doesn’t forgive me for not going when her son was born. I eventually ended up seeing him on his first birthday. There was no way I was missing that day. And I have given her my word, that as far as possible, I will always be with her and Rohan on his birthdays.
Each time there was something special happening in her life; Pri made it a point to ask me to be a part of it. Every gift she ever gave me was thought of and specially chosen. There is no end to her generosity. No one else can ever make me feel so special
Every year on her birthday 
I make sure I call her at the stroke of 12 to wish her. Invariably she is asleep. Last night at 12 I looked at my phone, for once I decided to let the poor thing sleep. At 1, she called me, demanding that I wish her and cursing me for not calling. I can’t win can I???
Having a sister is wonderful, having one like Pri is good fortune. I am a very lucky girl!
"For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands."
Christina G. Rossetti
Apparently when I was a kid I used to call my cook, Magan, a good ‘cooker’. Dad was a good ‘drawer’ and so on and so forth.
This morning my mother called me a ‘good Chinese cooker’. In a sleepy haze, my mind worked its own logic and I pronounced that I am a wok! (Since a lot of Chinese cooking is done in a wok, but then you already you knew that...)
So why am I a wok? Well, because for the first time last night, I tried my hand at cooking a Chinese meal and it turned out swell. Dad is thrilled and instantly pronounced that I cooked better Chinese then mum, and she... well, you read what her reaction is. They both enjoyed their meals thoroughly and this wok here is thrilled.
This is what was on the menu and for the cookers out there, here are the recipes. (I hunted for hours on the net before I found them, so please forgive me for not mentioning the sources.)
EGG FRIED RICE
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups cold unsalted cooked rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until just smoking; Add eggs and cook briefly, stirring once or twice, until just softly set, then transfer to a small bowl. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in wok, then add rice, salt, and pepper and stir-fry until heated through and starting to crisp, about 3 minutes. Add scallions and peas and stir-fry 1 minute. Add egg and stir-fry just until combined. (Carrots, bean sprouts make nice additions)
SALT AND PEPPER PRAWNS
450 g King prawns
8 tablespoons Vegetable oil
2 Spring onions (scallions)
2 cloves Garlic
2 Dried chilies
1 1/2 teaspoon Szechwan peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Wash and shell the prawns. Sprinkle on 1 1/2 teaspoon of the oil. Cut the spring onions into 2.5 cm sections. Thinly slice the garlic. Shred the chilies. Lightly pound the peppercorns and mix with the salt. Heat the remaining oil in a wok or frying pan. When hot, stir-fry the prawns over a high heat for 1 minute. Remove the prawns and pour away the oil to use for other purposes, except for 1 tablespoon. Reheat the oil in the wok or pan. When hot, quickly stir-fry the chili, garlic and spring onion. Spread out the spring onion and chili and return the prawns. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper mixture and stir-fry for 45 seconds.
LEMON CHICKEN
8 chicken breast halves, de-boned and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup water
4 egg yolks, beaten
2 cups Cooking Oil
Green onions, sliced
For the Lemon Sauce
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon ginger or more if desired
Combine cornstarch, salt and pepper. Blend in water and egg yolks. Dip chicken pieces into cornstarch-egg mixture. Fry chicken in oil for about 5 minutes until golden. Drain. Sprinkle with green onions. Pour sauce over chicken. For the sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, about 5 minutes until sauce boils. Pour over chicken. This recipe also works well in a wok. (Dip some triangle cut bread slices to the remaining batter and fry, serve separately with the Lemon Chicken)
Put together the 3 dishes made a very light but filling meal and the tastes were varied enough to compliment each other. Instead of prawns, similarly stir fried vegetables would also go very well with the other 2.
But, I am my biggest critic and there were many things I thought of that would improve the meal tremendously. The rice needed to be boiled less and fried a little more, and a little more salt. The prawns were a little bland, maybe a wee bit of soy sauce and vinegar would help. The lemon sauce was too thin, a little more corn flour and boiling would have done the trick. Plus it would have helped if the chicken had been soaked for a little longer to tenderize the meat.
I am going to go and buy myself a proper wok (then there’ll be 2 of us) and try my hand at more Chinese and Oriental cooking. It really is an art to know when to stop and not overcook the food. I am determined to master this.
Next stop… the wok shop!
We were supposed to leave for Sayla at 9.30 am, or so it had been decided. Of course 9.30 am came and went, and eventually my ride came at 11.00. I was going to be in the car with Inderjit and Chirag, while Amit, Jyoti, her sister Jagruti and their friend Anjali were traveling in the other car.
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I never believed I could be a writer. But I always wanted to be one.
At one stage of my life I started writing poetry and the few people I shared it with seemed to really like my work. But unlike many poets I could never write unless the correct inspiration hit me. Which meant I wrote very rarely and very little. My last one was written 11 months ago.
My father and a friend pushed me into starting a blog. Then dad introduced me to a community of bloggers (Dud Sea Scrawls). I started writing with a vengeance and if I were to go by the comments I received, not only do I write well, but my subjects are interesting also.
The poetry fizzled out and so did my blogging… Until a few weeks back! I wanted to create a one page write up on the Indian festival of Diwali for my customers all over the world. This led me to thinking of writing about all our Indian celebrations (an idea I have been toying with since college) and so I created this new blog.
Again the words of praise started coming in. To be very honest, for me, appreciation of my writing is akin to a hedonistic pleasure.
And then something happened to over shadow everything. My fiancé saw my new blog and sent me an email. I have never known such appreciation before. This has to be one of the biggest compliments I have ever got. It left me speechless. It is too wonderful to keep it private. With his consent I am publishing it here for the world to see.
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That was awesome jaan... I just read your new blog… Every time I think you outdid yourself, you go ahead and do it all over again… It was fantastic love; absolutely amazing…
It’s like you have taken the festival, your wishes and your 
rangoli to a different level… Your idea of the virtual rangoli has actually taken it to newer places outside the confines of your house into the millions of homes that are going to read it and celebrate the festival wishing you even if they don’t write back…
I can’t imagine what its like to be you, to have that creativity and the… JAAN I AM SIMPLY OUT OF WORDS, it is fantastic...
Thanks for a wonderful Diwali present to all of us… I say that not just for myself but for all the people that are going to read this… JAAN SIMPLY AMAZING…
HAPPY DIWALI LOVE.......
& WE WILL HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR AND A WONDERFUL LIFE AHEAD.....
Love
JJ
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What can I say to this? Thank you so much JJ… your words mean the world to me and you even more so.
All the signs tell me not to stop writing. I hope I don’t, because I really enjoy it, and I hope you don’t stop reading and commenting.
Here’s to lots of creativity and many more writings… Cheers!
Happy new year once again! And a Happy Bhai Beej… 2 celebrations in one…This time last year…I dropped my fiancé at the train station and rushed home to get the prayer thali ready for my brothers who would be coming home to meet me.Read More
The start of the new year according to the Hindu calendar. In fact based on this calendar we are actually starting the year 2062. Apparently we are running ahead of the rest of the world. Thankfully in normal life we use the Gregorian calendar, other wise we would be really confused.Read More
The day we have all been waiting for is here. Bringing with it all the traditions, customs and rituals that go with it.Read More
we spent many days at our grandmother’s house, playing all the time, fighting and hurting each other, loving each other. We couldn’t wait to meet, the first days were full of excitement and then the fights would start. But when the time to separate came closer all that would be forgotten. There was a sense of desperation to hold on to each moment. It was hell for our parents to separate us. We would cry and howl and nothing could comfort us.
when she stayed at my place (you can blame Enid Blyton for putting this into our heads) and countless hours watching the same movies over and over. Chitti Chitti Bang Bang was one of them. I can’t remember the name of the other one, but I do remember it was about a man, who had a ring with an inscription and each time someone read that inscription out loud, this man would turn into a large furry dog.
Again I would have loved to be with her. But it didn’t work out. I reconciled myself by visiting her a few times. She always ensured that all her friends became my friends and made sure that I had a great time.
I make sure I call her at the stroke of 12 to wish her. Invariably she is asleep. Last night at 12 I looked at my phone, for once I decided to let the poor thing sleep. At 1, she called me, demanding that I wish her and cursing me for not calling. I can’t win can I???
