Thank God for the Bad Times – They never last

The times are bad till August the 5th.

With this dire prediction by Hubby Dear, I was relatively calm while working from morning till night the whole of last week. Even though we don’t have any cows to milk or fields to plough, I have always got up before the crack of dawn – sometimes because I’ve completed more than the requisite 8 hours of sleep, at other times because I’ve spent a fitful night tossing and turning. So while it was no surprise that I got up every morning. what was surprising was that I actually went through my day with as beatific a smile as I could manage while I made cups of tea, chopped vegetables, washed dishes, dusted tables, typed letters, shopped for groceries, contorted my body in Yogic poses, said my prayers, read a book and waited – waited for the Ion Exchange man to clean and fix the water filter,
waited for the washing machine mechanic to see the machine,
then waited for the delivery man to deliver the new machine and finally
waited for the mechanic to install the machine
and now waiting for the first wash in four days to finish!

On the 5th itself things started getting better with Pushpa actually volunteering to cook a whole meal!!! This was a great relief especially since I was returning home after a long day………

Then on the 5th evening, the new washing machine was delivered……….

Today the new machine was fitted and my clothes are being washed………..

And the icing on the cake – Bayda the Bai has just stepped in triumphant after a short visit to her village. She has come back with a pile of new cotton sarees and gaudy brocade blouses. Luckily she has also come back with a broad, happy smile so perhaps good days are here again.

Cleaning out Bad Karma

Boxes with lids

Boxes without lids

Time and time again, I’ve noticed that whenever things go bad, the only thing that soothes the nerves and cleans out bad karma is tidying cupboard and dusting shelves. Washing clothes and dishes helps too! And this morning while looking for suitable boxes to pack Hubby Dear’s lunch in, I was astounded to find an assortment of boxes and lids. So I made them into two piles. One with lids and one without. What amazed me was that the boxes without lids were the expensive store bought ones, specially picked out to keep food fresh while the ones with lids were the freebies which came with the cheese or take away containers!!!

The bottom line is – things on which you spend a lot of money are bound to get lost and ruined while the freebies stay on forever…………….

Workshop on Saturday 29th

On the last Saturday of July I attended a wonderful workshop conducted by BlogAdda a directory of Indian Blogs. This was my first experience of meeting other bloggers . Blog Adda actually had a food workshop at Fat Cat a restaurant and bar in far away Andheri. I was apprehensive about the weather but luckily it held and I could make it to Andheri for an enjoyable morning watching Michael Swamy ( who for some strange reason I imagined to be British!!) de-mystify cordon bleu cooking and sharing his tips on food blogging and food photography. If the morning’s edutainment was anything to go by, I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of his book ” The East Indian Kitchen”. Finally after all these years, I will be able to identify what those tantalising smells coming from Aunty Marie’s kitchen were.
It was a wonderful morning, well organised, educative and fun. It was rounded off with a yummy vegetarian spread and if this was just a taste of what a Fat Cat could produce, I would happily recommend the long trek to this restaurant from any part of town.

Be Silent

I am not one for remembering jokes much less re-telling them. But sitting in front of my computer and typing away with the gentle hum of my new machine in the background, I am reminded of a joke I first heard all those years ago while the mesmerising aroma of Aunty Marie’s pork vindaloo vied for my olfactory attention which was being smothered by the varan,bhaat, toop of my grandma’s kitchen.

It goes like this : Once a Sardarji who was watching an airshow saw a plane fly overhead and began shouting ” Boeing , Boeing , Boeing.” So Pandit Nehru who was sitting next to him said ” Be silent, silly man”. So the Sardarji went “Oing, Oing Oing”

I just can’t get over the joy of this super silent Siemens washing machine!!! And to think I was taken for a ride all these years by the IFB machine which not only made a ear splitting noise, it bounced all over the place and ran on for as long as it wanted.

Which brings me back to my original premise : bad times never last and when they end, they only herald the good.