Voter Woes

My daughter has been inquiring about her voter identity card. I have told her that it will take a month or two to arrive. She filled up the registration form  online. And she believes that she will get her voter identity card faster compared to registering the offline way.I hope her belief is strengthened & she gets her card soon.

Contrast this with the indifference of my husband who is hardly bothered that he is not on the voters list. About why, he is not there on the list till now, calls for another story & its better left to another blog post.

My husband has rather very strong political views .And add to that , the fact, that he spends his free time engaged in listening to speeches of the the party he loves ! Sorry, maybe, not the party, but the leader he loves.

Since my nagging yielded no results , I used coercion. I told him that his party will lose by one vote because my husband will not be able to vote. Yet, my husband remained steadfast .Rather, he said that he is fine if I did all the groundwork for him. Meaning, that I must fill up the form so that he gets a voter card .Political parties who are trying to form partnerships, to go for it together, in the elections need to learn from me & my husband ! This is so, as I & my husband hold divergent views on all things political ( among so many things ) .

I tried filling up the forms & received no confirmation that the registration  was done.I thought maybe , it got done & was relaxed. A month later, releases in press urging voters to register, filled me with new enthusiasm. So much so, that I felt ,I need to convince, at least one person to get enrolled as voter. And as Charity begins at home ..even this should start at home.

So once again I started on my task. This time after repeated attempts, I finally did it. I got a confirmation that the registration has been accepted. By the time , I finished doing this, I had almost memorized the form !

And then we went & submitted the documents at the voter registration centre nearby. My husband accompanied me ....despite me & he not seeing eye to eye on most matters.

Before I conclude, I have two voter identity cards.....so even if my husband gets his card, the party I vote for or the neta I put my stamp on ,will win by that solitary vote !!!

As they say...everything is fair in love & war & in Elections ...especially in voting !!!!!

Summer Fiesta !

I would love to host the coolest party in town...to bring tempers down ! Well,I would choose a poolside venue of a five star hotel.I would invite all my family ,friends & well wishers.The dress code would be casual summer wear...cool cottons.There would be pastel shades in clothes,even bright Kurtis & Kutrtas & handloom sarees,pajamas,salwars & patialas,flowy dupattas ,etal ! The party would be in the evening, after Sunset on a Friday, so that if we party late night ,the next day ,all can get plenty of rest.It would be a vegetarian party as I am a vegetarian & wish, the world follows suit !

There would be soothing music being played at the party venue...a DJ would play the choicest music....bollywood,Western,Jazz,Classical...Indian ,Western etal. Music will enhance the get together.Friends,family can all mingle & enjoy.The music will just create the right ambiance & soothe the nerves.

The party would begin with cool drinks..no alcohol ...I am a  teetotaler.The drinks would be watermelon juice with chunks of watermelons floating in ,rose milk ,aam panha & kokum serbet.These are all cool drinks & ideal to beat the sweltering heat.There would be appetisers like pani puris & dahi batata puris.I am sure, all will gorge on the appetisers which are favorites of many.Pani puris & dahi batata puris will make ample use of Tamarind & date chutney.

Then will be the main course.In this there will be phulkas & no puris as I am health conscious .Puris are totally unsuitable during summer as they are seeped in oil.With phulkas made from Aashirvaad Select & royis from Aashirvaad Multigrains ,I will ensure that the party food is as nutritious as it can be !There will an assortment of paneer curries....Paneer Malai,Mughlai Paneer & Darbari Paneer.These are very apt  for a vegetarian party as paneer is an excellent source of protein.The guests will just keep licking their fingers as these curries will just melt away in their mouths ! There will be aloo tikkis & cutlets  with a platter of mango chutneys  like Shredded Mango chutney ,Mango Jeera Chutney & Mango Garlic chutney.Raw Mango is an excellent coolant & these chutneys with their tangy tastes will tease the taste buds of all my guests ! There will be  plain rice to go with dal bhukara .There will be salads to add crunch to the dinner...like slices of cucumbers,tomatoes,onions,radishes,beetroots & there will be sprouts salads as well.Salads add freshness to food & sprouts are simply nutritious! There will be the usual pappads ...roasted & not fried.I am health conscious.I would prefer that my guests can indulge without worrying about their waistlines !



The dessert would be the cool Jodhpuri Moong dal halwa...moong is a coolant & this halwa is a personal favourite !

I am sure my party would be the coolest one, as all the gourmet dishes are sourced from the Kitchens of India.The best thing about the party will be gifts that will be take aways...all from the Kitchens of India.I will gift Hazoori Petha Halwa  & Mango Saffron Conserve ! These are cooling gifts as the ingredients of the gifts are natural coolants....perfect compliments  for the scorching summer !

I will try the Apple Cinammon conserve in baking eggless cakes in place of apple sauce .I am sure ,the results will be amazing ! I deserve this gift, for arranging the feast of feasts !

This blog post is my entry for "My Gourmet Party " on IndiBlogger in association with Kitchens of India .Kindly "Like " "Comment " & "Share ".

Balloons & birthdays.

Yesterday,my daughter turned nine.So,again,we had to have a b'day party,my kid insisted.I find all this quite a task- I have absolutely no interest in all such things but then kids compel us & we have to just give in.

I told my kid that she better call girls who are staying in our building only.She gave me a list of some eight girls & I invited them all.The menu was also small -akin to the common minimum programme of our political parties which they never deliver but I am not so lucky.I had to get the cake,the wafers,the pizza & the chocolates.

So the preparations began- gave the order for the cake & pizza & got wafers, choclates, paper plates,balloons,plastic spoons,paper napkins,etal.My friend & her daughter who are very close to both of us came in the afternoon to help us- in fact ,it would be more appropriate to state that my friend works like the host & I behave like the guest on my daughter's b'day party.My efforts depict or rather display my feelings or rather lack of it for such events & more.

We hung the streamers & tried to blow the balloons- it was impossible.None of us were able to blow even a bit of air into any of them.We were trying hard but to no avail.We were just left huffing & puffing.My kid insisted, that I had got the wrong ones which I flatly refused to acknowledge as such.But I also started doubting if I had brought water balloons but then the shopkeeper was at fault, not me.Then, my kid started stretching the balloon like an elastic & then blew it up.It was superb! We were really thrilled ! My daughter showed us all how she did it & we all followed suit.All the colorful balloons were soon hanging around the drawing room giving it that distinct birthday look.

My daughter taught me that sometimes a task like blowing a balloon may also require that correct technique & may have to be learnt from somebody younger than you.In effect, a task may not be as simple as it looks- appearance can be deceptive!Any body could teach us provided we are open & receptive.Looking at the colorful balloons made me also jump with gay abandon! It was just like the balloons full of bounce ! Filled with the joy of life !

I realised , my daughter is really grown up.I wonder like all parents that my daughter is growing up too fast.After all - from the next year onwards,her age will be in two digits.