Take your mother out on a date

So the other day, I took mom out for coffee.

Our typical 'family outing' is with the three(or four/five if sister and brother in law are around) of us going to the regular restaurants we go, ordering the usual food.  Coffee never appeared on our list.

Sometime back, mom joked with me that I never take her out for coffee.

Hmmm.

So, last Saturday, I took her out to Chocolate Room.

"Hot or cold?"

"No, I'll have cold coffee".

"Do you want to try the espresso?" I grinned.

"No, it would be too bitter", she said, making a face.

I was going through the menu to see what else she would like.  While suddenly she saw something in the kitchen.  I turned back to see what made her smile.  They were making someone's chocolate shake, in a giant glass, with whipped cream and a ferrero rocher on top of it.  She had the brightest twinkle in her eye.

"Do you want to order that?", I asked.

"What is that?" she smiled like a 3 year old.

"Chocolate shake, they have it for different chocolates, do you want one in Kitkat?" Kitkat is our family's favourite chocolate.

"Let's order one between the two of us, it's too big, I wont be able to finish", she said.

I ordered one Kitkat shake and a plate of nachos, so that we don't get sick of the sweetness in the shake, and also to break the taste.

As soon as our order came in, her face lit up.  It was almost as if the roles had reversed.  It wasn't a mother taking her daughter out for a treat, it was a daughter taking her mother out! She took the first sip and was delighted.  After taking a few sips, she offered it to me.  In total, I had some 3 sips from it and she finished off the entire chocolate shake! She was almost sad that she could not drink the last few drops of chocolate sauce which was stuck at the bottom of the glass.

The satisfied smile on her face made me realise how much it must have meant it to her.  And also made me wonder why I didn't bring her with me before!

I always thought she wouldn't want to come with me for coffee, but I guess, she was just waiting to be asked.

Please don't smoke

I'm allergic to smoke.

As a child, I don't remember celebrating Diwali bursting firecrackers.  I was invariably down with cough and cold because of the heavy smoke that would fill the air.  Even today, Diwali at home is a low key affair, with me usually down with cough and cold.

So I don't smoke either.

But I have friends and cousins who do.  When I asked a cousin to quit smoking, he said, 'I am not an addict, I can quit whenever I want to'.  That was five years back.  He now smokes at least 10 cigarettes a day.  Obviously, his will to quit smoking hasn't found a way to him.  Of course, smoking doesn't come alone, alcohol follows.

Last year during the Cricket World Cup finals, his friends had gathered, and he lost control of his drinking and started throwing up while his very pregnant wife had to clean up after him.  Oh, and he has no memories of him puking even in his sleep.  He rubbishes that incident saying all this never happened.  Denial.  He says he has quit drinking and smoking but he does enjoy going to the paan galla just down their apartment every evening and like to chew tobacco so that no one can know that he has had a smoke.

When you have to lie about your action, you know you are doing something wrong.

I have a few friends who smoke too.  Not addicts, but those who 'enjoy' it once in a while.  (oh, some are addicts too).  When you need a substance to feel good about something and generally get a "happy" feeling,  you need to talk about it.  There are friends who could listen and help you out.

I have tried telling them to quit smoking.  But then, they think I am their enemy and they start 'hiding' their smoking escapades.  I know, it is not my business to tell anyone what is good for them and what is not.  To each his own.

At times I wonder if I should stop telling my friends to quit smoking.  And by friends, I mean men and women both.  And then I feel, if I care about my friends, I want them to live longer, happier life, without any kind of substance in their bloodstream.

There are better, safer ways to get a high.  Be around happier people, you will need less of substances to keep you happy. 

So here is an appeal to everyone out there who smokes, please quit. 

Also, trust me, no girl (I can say only from a girl's perspective with complete authority) would want to kiss a guy who has stained teeth and smells like a chimney.

Middle Eastern Salad: Tabbouleh

I'm not a "foodie". I mean, I love food, but I usually stick to familiar flavours. I wouldn't experiment much with unknown flavours. So when a friend told me sometime back on how she made "Lebanese" food, I was little bit apprehensive on whether I'll like it or not. So she got me some to taste, and it was fab! I loved the flavours and thought of trying it out myself. 

And if you like simple flavours, you must try this out.

Tabbouleh

So I used cracked wheat (daliya), while the original recipe says bulgur.  I have no idea what bulgar is, but looked up over the internet and here's the difference. But you I didn't have bulgar (I keep typing it as burglar) and usd cracked wheat only. 

Now, before I could make this, my first challenge was to find fresh parsley.  Turns out it is the essence of the recipe.  The herb smells awesome and does bring out the flavour.  It's kind of sad that most of such herbs are not easily available in Ahmedabad. 

Anyway, so once I got the parsley, it was decided we'll have this for dinner. (along with left over daal chawal and bhakhri)

What will you need?

1 small bowl cracked wheat (or daliya)
loads of parsley
2/3 tomatoes
5-6 spring onions
3 spoons lemon juice
salt, pepper
2 spoons extra virgin olive oil

(yea, that's it - no other spices required - you can never go wrong with just salt and pepper, unless you have absolutely no sense of taste and put in way too much salt)

How will you make it?

Pressure cook the daliya.  For 1 bowl daliya, add little over 2 bowls water. ratio should be 1:2:25 type.  We don't want daliya to be runny.  Once they're cooked, you may want to put them in cold water, so that they are separated.  I just mixed them with a spoon and let them cool down, and they were okay.  Cut the tomatoes, spring onions and parsley.  You may also want to add fresh mint to it. I didn't add, because I didn't feel like.

Put all the veggies and greens in a bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix.  There will be overwhelming smell of fresh herbs and pepper! I LOVE PEPPER! Anyway, once that's done, put the daliya in it and mix well.

Yeah, that's ready.

This salad is like revenge.  Best served cold. So put it in the fridge for about half an hour.

And it's called Tabbouleh.  I just call it cracked wheat salad. (I actually use the Gujarati word for cracked wheat - faada :P)

Samudra Manthan : Live Tweet

Disclaimer: The post below is to be taken in good humour, and no offense meant to your religious beliefs. कृपया हमारा पुतला जलाये नहीं.

Once upon a time, Devas and Asuras, decide to churn the mighty ocean and solve once and for all the matter of supremacy.

Jesus, I see your turning water into wine, and raise churning of ocean with a mountain named Mandar acting as the churning rod and a snake, Vasuki acting as the churning rope.  Of course, once mountain started sinking, Vishnu takes form of a Turtle, Kurma and supports the mountain.

What if the Samudra Manthan happened during the times of Twitter?  What if they live-tweeted the event?  It will probably look like this:

@IndraRockz:  Abeyaar, this @D4Durvasa is way too sensitive. Only because of him we have to now churn the ocean.

@D4Durvasa: @IndraRockz #lulz

@MtMandar: Yo, @Vasuki, mount me. #IAmDecent

@Vasuki: *hiss*

@DevasRulez: We have checked into @MtMandar with @_Asuras_ 4sq.com/Mandar Let the churning begin. *dibs on holding the tail of @Vasuki*

@MtMandar: Whoa, luks lyk u r njoing a lot, here, take this #Halahal

@DevasRulez: We're not taking #Halahal

@_Asuras_: neither are we, cc. @Vishnu RT @DevasRulez: We're not taking #Halahal

@Vishnu: @_Asuras_ @DevasRulez wait yougaiz, let me ask @ShivasRegal for help, he's awesome that way.

@ShivasRegal: @Vishnu Y U NOOO TRY SOME YOURSELF?

@Vishnu: @ShivasRegal Poda.

@ShivasRegal: @Vishnu Okfiiiine. Give me #Halahal on the rocks.

@Paro: @ShivasRegal Swamy pls, don't drink too much.

@ShivasRegal: @Paro If you say so, darling, not a drop will go down the throat.

@ShivasRegal: ZOMG. MY THROAT IS TURNING BLUE! #HumAwesomeHai

@Paro ♥ @ShivasRegal: ZOMG. MY THROAT IS TURNING BLUE! #HumAwesomeHai

@Vasuki: Yougaiz, are you gonna keep churning or should I go home now? *hissss*

@_Asuras_ @Vasuki Abeyaar, when did you last brush your fangs? 

@_Asuras_: Whoa! Look at all these awesome things coming out! *dibs on Varuni - all booze on the house* *shows thenga to @Sujej*

@Vishnu: Yo, Lakshmi, #comeoffraa

@DevasRules: Heh, *dibs on the Apsaras*

@Vishnu: I'm taking Kamdhenu, so that years later, her progeny can roam on the streets of India laying fresh warm dung. ♥

@IndraRockz: I think elephants are cute, Airu, come to me.

@_Asuras_: WHOA! 7 headed horse! HOW COOL IS THAT! Uchhaishravas, you come with us.

@Vishnu: I love shiny objects, I'm taking the jewels.

@DevasRules: Parijat tree comes with us, Our wives love the smell.

@Vishnu: Here, @ShivasRegal, Y U NOOO KEEP THIS MOON AS A TOKEN OF OUR APPRECIATION FOR DRINKING THE ALL DESTRUCTIVE POISON?

@DrDhanvantari: I HAVE ARRIVED! *looks lovingly at pot of Amrut*


After this, no one live tweeted the event because they all got busy fighting it off on who will drink the nectar of immortality? So Garuda came and took off with the kumbha (pot) and very cleverly dropped 4 drops at 4 different places, so that Kumbh Mela could be held every 12 years and could act as wonderful background story for zillion Hindi movies.

(The above post is inspired from @mishrashiv's absolutely hilarious blog in Hindi. The references of Samudra Manthan taken from it's Wikipedia page. )

Disappointments

Sigh.

Today is one such day when I feel low.  This is despite having two ferrero rocher chocolates.  Guess after some point, even chocolate can't lift your spirits up. 

And sometimes the problem is, even though you want to call up someone and talk, there is no one who wants to listen to you.  You fight your battles alone. All alone.

I'm kinda sad such kind of post makes an appearance every few days on the blog.  The frequency has increased.  Does that mean my defense mechanism is failing? Isn't denial an answer to all life's problems?

I can't be weak.

Anyway.

Also, all those who Google "Nirwa Mehta" and land on the blog, who are you guys? What is it that you're looking for? Also, the blog url is so easy, how come you don't remember? Why do you have to Google it every time?

So guys, if you again Google the name, and reach here, how about saying hi? Drop in a comment, or send me a mail? <3 p="p">
Anyway, I'll go sleep now, hopefully, tomorrow will be better.