Friday, May 22, 2009

Cabinet capers

Thank God for Kamal Nath - the minister provided the only horse laugh during the dull as ditch water swearing in ceremony. The other stress buster was Robert Vadra sporting a jaunty polka dotted tie! The nation's son-in-law has been extraordinarily visible of late, and one wonders whether there is a plan behind the new high profile?? Is Vadra being primed for a bigger role in politics, now that the old man (his father) is dead? One will never know. The Gandhis move in mysterious ways, and even insiders remain outsiders when it comes to protecting family turf. One day, a desi Dan Brown will be born and only then will we get to know more about the angels and demons in Delhi.
In Mumbai, dark, inky, dense rain clouds have been gathering over the South Western horizon. I watch them every evening with growing interest. Last night there was a drizzle - as soon as the seductive fragrance of wet earth reached my nostrils, I jumped up to catch the first few drops as they wet the leaves of the peepul tree outside my fifth floor balcony. The golden oriole has long gone. Now all I can see are wet crows. As you know, the domestic sparrow is facing extinction worldwide. I miss those noisy, chirpy creatures and refuse to make friends with the aggressive crows.
It's friday night.... and I am blissed out. Babita, my energetic masseuse has just kneaded those tense muscles with a combo of rose and coconut oil - my own concoction. The house is quiet - very quiet. There's nobody home. Kiara is snoring at my feet... and I am looking forward to a leisurely, lone dinner. I 've asked for a new version of my favourite tarkari - tonight, I'll sample chunks of doodhi mixed with red pumpkin, tempered with red chillies, jeera and kaddi patta. Rock salt will provide the needed kick. I expect the vegetables to be mushy yet firm, cooked in their own juices with just a dash of olive oil . I may add a sprig of mint as a last minute garnish. If I'm sounding slightly loopy, blame it on the heat.... or on Kamal Nath.

20 comments:

Gossipgal said...

oh am i the first.. lol

ek-ladki-anjaani-si said...

Hi De!
Long time, huh? Another thing that bothered me about the whole swearing in ceremony was that even in this day and age, we swear in the name of god! Such God Delusion! Why not take responsibility on their own? Chidambram and Antony didn't... thank god! LOL
Aren't you watching the semi-final between Delhi and Deccan?
By the way, finally coming to India. The last time I visited was 13 years ago :-D Let's have coffee, what say you?

The Unsure Ascetic said...

Hi De,
It is noy kaddi, it is cury patha idiot!

Priyadarshini Karanjai said...

Oh noooo veggies! I'm in Kolkata right now for a holiday and can't think of an all-veggie-dish! Did you have 'phuchka' here? Its heaven. Mallya is laughing as Deccans need 13 to win from 32 balls. Love you Shobhaa. Keep rocking the space.

obssesor said...

The Gandhi's...your new obsession?

The Unsure Ascetic said...

PUBLIC NOTICE: Its kaddi patha , not curry patha.

Anonymous said...

The politics of Delhi and the apolitical junta of Mumbai...Rite said ma'am?

Unknown said...

Why is the president only saying "I" or "mey" and then stops. Our first comment was why could they not just say their oath in Hindi and observed so many are shaking andbarely sign the document. How can you have these overly obese and potential or actual cardiac cases run the country when they maybe unwell

Jogeshwar said...

@Abstract its patta(leaf) not patha

Anonymous said...

Silence is Strength.
Enjoy !!!
:)

Gaurav Tārkar said...

@nitin,
it seemed kinda dumb of the president to say a nasal 'mey' or 'I' and then stop for the minister to continue. but nevertheless suits her very well. finally she's using the post for some actual service to the nation.

@Shobhaa,
dont u go through what you have written before publishing it? there's a slight error: 'seductive fragrance of wet earth reached my ,' your what? :O

and you may hate the Gandhis too but they have got a class that will never allow them to besmirch their family name in any circumstances (i refer to sonio, rahul, priyanka and rob). i cant say the same about rob's dad... suicide! loser!

ZB said...

oops, you would give seasoned celebrity chefs all over the TV a run for money and words.astute depiction of the culinary connoisseur.TC:))

Harish said...

robert vadra, he is so lack lusture. he is also ekdam bhelpuri.. His mother is Scottish, father was indian, Saas Is italian, Sasur was Half Zorashtrian, Half Kashmiri Pandit... bechaara, his and priyanka's bachha log must be totally lost...

I love the suspense and secrecy in their family... there is always everything that you know about them, and yet you have so much that you dont know... lol.

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I was never so so utsuk to hold the chatri in my hand as much i am this year. they predict that 24 July is when we are going to have a real bad High Tide. We need a cloud burst,m this drizzle drizzle is actually increasing the garmi...

Yes, just recently i saved a sparrow... i was at the station and there was this sparrow that had its legs entangled in its nest that was in the ceiling of the station gangway that had a small cavity. There were some idiotic people who just stood their in ADMIRATION of the birds apathy... THis sparrow was the male one, and the female sparrow was flying from one corner to the other furiously and terribly tensed. I grew wild and mouthed some real bad hindi gaalis to the great human spectators. I ran to the ticket counter, requested them for a small table, got a passerby by the name of rahman to help me balance as i reached the birdy... and set it free after feeding him some water.. Whats interesting was that the female sparrow was around all through...

How cruel man can be. How could. How could any sane person think of killing such gentle and lovable creatures. Why does man have to pride himself with his superiority towards anim,als? They are without Sin. Absolutely without sin.

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Massage-- yes you need one.. ask babita to come everyday, you will feel nice and your shouldder needs that. You dont neglect your shoulder De.


Kiara, wah.. i tell you thats the best massage that your can have... move your feet over kiara.

Christine said...

YOU and only YOU Ms De can take the sublime doodhi and elevate it verbally to make it sound so sexy!!lol... I am a hard core non veggie and normally my eyes would've glazed over reading the word "doodhi!", but hey- maybe I might try that tadka and mint finish- sounds interesting :)
Merci beaucoup for the info on getting a hold of one of your designer saris :) pity they don't sell in Pune- but I will shop for it in Mumbai and wear it for the wedding for sure!

The Unsure Ascetic said...

@Jogeshwar, thank you very much for the info.

Maddy said...

""It's saturday night.... and I am blissed out.""

Shobha....You have posted this on Friday. Am I reading it correct??

ekta khetan said...

Interesting!!!

So, how did the tarkari turned up?

Rainy seasons are best to experiment tarkaris of different type, sauce and spice :-)

hhtp://ektakhetan.blogspot.com

ekta khetan said...

Sorry to peep in to other comments... but couldn't stop adding...

@ Jogeshwar
yeah it is curry/ kadi patta

@ Aham
The sparrow tale is nice and must applaud your effort to save life than being mute, blind spectator. I read your blogs and must say they are quite neat.

Sidhusaaheb said...

Thankfully, there still are sparrows around where I live. My mother likes to feed them pearl millet seeds and provides them water to drink and/or bathe in.

:)

Unknown said...

thanks for the great post ...

Work from home India