This weekend was spent with Juno who graced us with her presence early Saturday morning. This girl is not named after a mythical Goddess or some circus elephant. Her parents loved the Oscar nominated movie Juno so much that they decided to name their first born after the protagonist. To begin with Juno.. just saying Juno does not seem enough. I know her mom would kill me for this but don’t you expect it to be something like “Juno the elephant” or Juno the.............. I mean something..... Someone should fill that blank seriously. So Juno looks like a tiny tot [Even though she celebrated her first birthday last month], holds herself quite regally and can make you feel like an idiot with just her stare. We always feel like she is the ‘visiting royalty’ [must have got the genes from her Mom].
On this particular Saturday, she arrived looking freshly bathed and smelling nice in her colorful attire. And she actually looked down at me. Who bathes early on a Saturday morning tell me?? She came downstairs and behaved like a celebrity visiting a third-world country. I expected her to start throwing food packets any minute. Sighing with disdain, the lady chose to be seated on a tricycle.. the catch is that one has to hold her in place.. her little legs do not touch the ground and I felt like her loyal subject, kneeling before her. All the attempts to make her laugh went unacknowledged. I wanted to see if she would cry on being slapped but fear of retaliation by her mom made me curb my not so Gandhian instincts. She ignored all offers of biscuits, toffees and chocolates [wish I had that kind of will power] and she proceeded to talk in her code language to Rachit who was grinning at being the ‘chosen one’. Juno let loose a series of incoherent sounds and Rachit was nodding his head and jumping with excitement. He brought one toy after another to show her and that is when Juno started howling loud enough for her mom to come and threaten me. I looked here and there for the reason of this discontent and then I discovered her weak point. HA HA. The lady is scared of teddy bears.. Do you even need to ask what I am gifting her the next time she comes to visit??
Saturday also marked the beginning of Navratras. Don’t ask me why but I actually thought I could keep all the fasts [a last effort to lose some weight, I guess]. Anyway I have realized within three and a half day of fasting that I have a lot in common with my idol Jughead. The first day of fasting Moni promised she would make some yummy Khichdi. Having had nothing besides an apple and two cups of tea in the entire day, it sure sounded promising. Oh, how I wish it could have looked and tasted like that too. Lesson learnt on Day 1: Stay away from burnt peanuts, especially if you have a bad taste in your mouth.
Day 2: Moni was contrite. Promised to make something edible. Foolishly I agreed. Ate two apples instead of the usual one, just to be on the safe side. Good I took that measure. What was served in my plate made even Rachit crunch up his nose and ask, “What is that??”
Day 3: The time had come to do something. Two days of going hungry is not good for your temper. Decided to take matters in my hands. Thought of experimenting with a new kind of dish. It turned out well but alas... the quantity was barely enough for the two hungry souls.
Started hallucinating and dreaming about food since last night. And I have been watching all the cookery shows on TV. MORBID, isn’t it? And you know what is the worst part? Making hot steaming Maggi for the two monsters AND watching them relish every bite....
P.S. Jughead, I know what it feels to be hungry all the time..
On this particular Saturday, she arrived looking freshly bathed and smelling nice in her colorful attire. And she actually looked down at me. Who bathes early on a Saturday morning tell me?? She came downstairs and behaved like a celebrity visiting a third-world country. I expected her to start throwing food packets any minute. Sighing with disdain, the lady chose to be seated on a tricycle.. the catch is that one has to hold her in place.. her little legs do not touch the ground and I felt like her loyal subject, kneeling before her. All the attempts to make her laugh went unacknowledged. I wanted to see if she would cry on being slapped but fear of retaliation by her mom made me curb my not so Gandhian instincts. She ignored all offers of biscuits, toffees and chocolates [wish I had that kind of will power] and she proceeded to talk in her code language to Rachit who was grinning at being the ‘chosen one’. Juno let loose a series of incoherent sounds and Rachit was nodding his head and jumping with excitement. He brought one toy after another to show her and that is when Juno started howling loud enough for her mom to come and threaten me. I looked here and there for the reason of this discontent and then I discovered her weak point. HA HA. The lady is scared of teddy bears.. Do you even need to ask what I am gifting her the next time she comes to visit??
Saturday also marked the beginning of Navratras. Don’t ask me why but I actually thought I could keep all the fasts [a last effort to lose some weight, I guess]. Anyway I have realized within three and a half day of fasting that I have a lot in common with my idol Jughead. The first day of fasting Moni promised she would make some yummy Khichdi. Having had nothing besides an apple and two cups of tea in the entire day, it sure sounded promising. Oh, how I wish it could have looked and tasted like that too. Lesson learnt on Day 1: Stay away from burnt peanuts, especially if you have a bad taste in your mouth.
Day 2: Moni was contrite. Promised to make something edible. Foolishly I agreed. Ate two apples instead of the usual one, just to be on the safe side. Good I took that measure. What was served in my plate made even Rachit crunch up his nose and ask, “What is that??”
Day 3: The time had come to do something. Two days of going hungry is not good for your temper. Decided to take matters in my hands. Thought of experimenting with a new kind of dish. It turned out well but alas... the quantity was barely enough for the two hungry souls.
Started hallucinating and dreaming about food since last night. And I have been watching all the cookery shows on TV. MORBID, isn’t it? And you know what is the worst part? Making hot steaming Maggi for the two monsters AND watching them relish every bite....
P.S. Jughead, I know what it feels to be hungry all the time..
