My cook breaks the magician's code !!!!

The battle gets bigger and bigger with every phase. I struggle very hard to get atleast 5 hours of sleep at a stretch every night ( the target used to be 8 to 9 when I started) but then I give up, thanks to my little monster compressing my bladder as the months pass by. That morning, as usual ,when my cook showed up at my doorstep at 6am I welcomed her looking grumpier than usual. She asked me what was wrong and I told her I was feeling tired as I couldn't get sufficient sleep.

When you share your problem with someone you are at the risk of being showered with a lot of gyaan but if it's coming from your maid/cook then you dare say how useless it is aloud as you know you will have to suffer the consequences later. So , after I mentioned why I looked grumpy ( in spite of biting my tongue soon after that) I knew there was no turning back ! 

Cook : " Akka, I knew this would happen. You looked so good yesterday during the celebration of Gokulashtami in the building. I knew then itself that someone will cast a spell on you ". ( Read 'put kannu' in local language).

I wish she realized I paid her to do her job sincerely than paying me a compliment but again,I didn't dare say it to her face. In stead I said " It's not like that. More liquid in , so more liquid out and moreover my bladder is becoming small everyday".

Cook: " No Akka, you don't know. Your bladder size or condition is not even in the picture. Actually the spell shows up in different forms.."
Me: " What? People curse or cast a spell if someone is looking good ??? And that too, in this form??? What are you talking about? "
Cook : "Akkaaa, you don't know anything, you just sit here, I will do something to break the spell and then you can go back and get some sleep".

She didn't wait for me to respond and disappeared into the kitchen. But she made me think deeper. Hmmmm.......
Just imagine, if ordinary people like us can get affected to such an extent then what will happen to models and beauty queens? How many times will they have to wake up every night? If one model is jealous of the other, all she has to do is, cast a spell like this one! And when the moms of models or female actors say " Baby, you need to get your beauty sleep" what's the hidden truth behind it? It all started to unveil before me ( thanks to the insights provided by my divine cook).I wonder how many times Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightely, Lisa Hayden, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett,Jessica Alba,Madhuri Dixit, Zeenat Aman, Chithrangada Sen .....etc wake up in the night??!! I also want to know if it gets multiplied when there are more number of people casting a spell on one person ?????

Breaking the chain of thoughts my cook returned with some dried red chillies to rescue me and when I went to bed later that morning I dreamt about Rekhaji ( our yesteryear diva). In there, I was explaining my situation to her adding the logic that my cook had bestowed upon me earlier that day. Then I presented her with my question;

Me : " Rekhaji , we all know that you are an evergreen beauty. How many times have you gone through this for no fault of yours but for looking drop dead gorgeous ? Does it continue to happen even today? " 
Rekhaji : (Looking at me in disbelief) " I don't remember the older times gal but now it's not even an issue as I don't even have to step down from my bed." I dunno if she twitched after that or it's just the wrinkles around her mouth but I thought she gave me one last 'crazy Gal' look before I woke up to attend my call !

Moral of the story : The nature always calls but sometimes more than it should !

My city is a perfect blend of filter coffee.

' It's not what it looks like' applies to the city very well. It has everything in it and becomes that which every person wants to see. It's the kind of cocktail that everyone wishes to get a high on and they all have their own recipe for it. It lives up to every one's expectations , that's my city Namma Bengalooru !



During my childhood days the city was my summer home. My grandma lived here which made me feel like this city hosted the entire world to me and back then I hadn't even explored the city but it didn't stop me from falling in love with it. The most exciting thing for me those days were these little trips we took in Double Decker buses visiting all the relatives residing in the city. Those were the 'painting-the-town-red' kind of moments that I will never forget. Co-incidentally that's what my husband misses too now !!!! Having born and brought up here in Bangalore, he has always loved those red Double Decker buses and we find solace in each other's words :-) 

There are things that are same even now like 'Tindi Beedi' which means more to us than any Burgers, Bucket chicken or Pizza outlets. None of these even put together can wipe out an entire street like that. Only thing that has changed about that place is 'the price per plate' but I'm not complaining, everybody has to make a living, isn't it?

My city is like Ravana but only with more heads than he ever had. It has all the 'navarasas' and more. It has its ugly side too but even an atom has positive and negative charges in it and isn't that the factor responsible for the stability ??? This city is like an elastic womb that keeps expanding in order to make more and more space to accommodate everyone who wants to be here. This is my city, the city that never sleeps, that never stops growing and that which is not black and white. 

Physics says ' Energy cannot be destroyed however it can be transformed from one form to another' (Sheldon will be proud of me) and I say the same thing about my city too. It's never gone, it just keeps changing from being a city to a Capital city, Silicon City and a Metro city.It's like a perfect blend of coffee where we have our local flavor but are not afraid to turn global when the time calls. I just want to say one more thing ' People,stop complaining how crowded the place is or how chaotic the traffic is. If it was not for us flocking up here,the city wouldn't have had its cherry popped!' 

It is and will always be my city with my favorite boiled beans and a hot cup of filter coffee.

Women can't drool over men !!!!

I'm convinced that women have a lot to learn from men at least the quality of acceptance ! It doesn't mean the entire breed is like that. I'm referring to 'some' of the women who feel offended very often when the deal is not even that big. 

 We all remember our dear Poonam Pandey, don't we ( for those who are naive, she's the one who plays 'Will I or Will I not' ) ? Have you ever seen any men complain about the offers she makes ? (not that she fulfills it but men find salvation in just thinking about it !!) The gorgeous ladies on the posters/bill boards/hoardings cause accidents just by posing provocatively, showing off more than just the product they are meant to promote.  ( Have you seen jewelry ads? You keep looking for what's she trying to sell and never find it unless you look at the wordings) But have you witnessed any man complain about all that? NOOO ?! It

Iris Jewelry

In that case, why make a big deal about Amir holding only a radio to cover his modesty ? I read somewhere that some women organisations were offended by the poster and demanded to have the 'erected' poster removed ! I mean, really ???? Here I was thinking , finally there's something for women too ( and was waiting for Amir to drop the radio? No No :-p ) I wonder what's so offending about a man baring everything except for his essentials ? They have called it a 'publicity stunt'. Yeah , so? When they were repeatedly playing ' Sheila ki Jawani' , ' Ooolala Ooolala', ' Mere photo ko', etc , what was that? If someone makes a product or a movie , isn't publicizing part of post production ?

Or may be, some women feel insecure that now men will symbolize the 'sexy' or 'glamour' part of the equation? In that case I'm with you 100%. Only women should be the objectification factor, only nude women should be used for publicity stunts otherwise what will women do? they will have no jobs. You are right sisters, we need to get offended for it is our duty to keep us at display and make men drool all over. We have no rights about drooling over nude men. I forgot our tradition, thank you for bringing me back on the right track !