Julie and Julia

I watched the movie “Julie and Julia’ today. Based on true stories of two women, the movie shows how Julia Child’s cookbook inspires Julie Powell to try 524 recipes in the span of 365 days. yeah!! Such a great inspiration to me as I related small bits of their lives with mine!!

Julie is frustrated with her office job and takes up her cooking challenges after coming back from work. She has a supporting and loving husband who encourages her to write a blog. He typed the first blog post for her while she was dictating and here she goes…... Afterwards, she started blogging daily and her blog became very popular in New York, the city where she lived.

What she taught me about blog writing is that its all about sharing experiences, observations, ideas and thoughts. You don’t really need a topic to write a post. Every human being has thoughts and it’s about sharing it with the people. It conveys the message so beautifully that I realized that hey, it’s been quite a while I have written my blog and I started writing.

Another thing which I learned from them is passion!! Julie’s passion to learn from her idol Julia is truly remarkable. And when Julia got married she didn’t even knew how to boil an egg; she started her culinary career in her late 40’s. Both Julie and Julia had passion to cook. Its not about cooking, its all about passion!! Whatever you do in life…whatever you want to achieve… whatever your dreams are.. do it with enough passion and everything will fall in place for you.

Suitcase of Happiness!!


Thrilled!! Excited!! Curious!! That’s me, all charged up with these emotions every time when my papa is back from his official trips. When I was a kid… infact, even when I am grown up… papa’s official travel always meant - a new gift for me. I loved opening the door for him after eager restless wait. His arrival always made me bounce in excitement and joy. As soon as my hugs and babbling hearing was apprehended, my eyes were all focused on papa’s blue suitcase.

A Barbie doll (one Barbie doll in toy collection meant a lot for a kid of those times) or a dazzling ravishing dress or toys or…….. ?? Given all the possible gift options, I always urged for a dress (frawk) fading out other gift options. My longing for gifts doesn’t end here!! I was so curious for small-small stuffs… mini size water bottle, sweet toffees in a tray and wet face wiping tissues given to him in a plane always fascinated me more than a beautiful Barbie doll. Thirst quenched with that water bottle, sweet taste of those toffees and the incense fragrance of wet tissues always accelerated my level of excitement!!

That’s the beauty of childhood…never allured with charisma of premium expensive things. Rather its all about enjoying the beauty in small-small things.

I remember… I miss…


Living away from my home country in the land of Swedes made everything different for me – whether for good or bad, that is indecisive. One thing is for sure that I never delved into these deep thoughts ever before. Is this the repercussion of cold country? or may be the warmth of my home land? I don't know. What I know is...I miss.... I remember…. remember what? miss whom? Well, it would be difficult for me to adduce them all in single blog post as the count is beyond any number.

I find myself thinking back to my childhood days in Nimri Colony, when the mango tree leaves immigrated to our balcony at first floor. At times, we bounced toward the tree holding a long stick, craving for few mangoes to fall. I miss the sweet taste of those mangoes….

I miss seeing my office friends everyday. No matter how bad my mood is when I reach office, morning chit chats at barista coffee table with close friends always returned smile on my face. Evening tea (chacha ki chai) break at a tea stall just below my office building always did wonders.

I remember my all pink room (not bigger than 10x10) before marriage with everything pink in it. The curtains.. the wall colour… the bed spread… and sometimes me too… all dressed in pink clothes. Notwithstanding the room size, it had everything in place, from my computer…. to music system… to a big size mirror…. to a capacious book rack….I loved it!! Now my lovely niece adores it too and spruces it up with her favourite Disney characters stickers. I miss appreciating her creative artwork on walls…

I remember the nights spent with my cousins in the same 10X10 room chatting and gossiping with Jagjit Singh ghazals melodiously swinging in the background….

Driving my Swift at the speed of 110 km (shhhhhh…. mom!! this one is not for you) on Gurgaon flyovers tuning 93.5 Red FM…. Though I miss the traffic cribbing sessions too....

I Miss.....


long phone calls with friends and fixing up the plan to meet on weekends or after work….

bhaiya theek theek laga lo...bargaining while shopping at street markets.. kamla Nagar….Karol Bagh…

getting my eyebrows shaped in a beauty parlour for only 10 Rupees....

glimmer sparking white light of a tube-light…

delectable divine Punjabi food made by mom...

the sweet smell of geeli mitti after it rained…

gossip sessions at family get together

window view from my office seat….

wearing cotton kurta with churidaars….

festive occasions and celebrations with family….

paapri chat and gol gappe…ummmm

and the count is indefinite….these may sound trivial to some but mean significant to me.