Happy Mother's Day

Why is mother's day on different days in different countries? Anyways, my mother is back home after 5 days of hospitalization. Cheers to that. Today is Down Syndrome Day too. Label me selfish. I'm happy to have healthy kids though I'm a terrible mother to them. Also, Happy New Year Day to Iranians. so I'm so happy to be alive. Wow!

Happy new year!

You know that I don't enjoy cooking. Not even for my family. They never give me a chance with their varied likes, dislikes and choices. Nevertheless I cook. And my favorite is my biriyani.  As usual the majority of my brood disapprove my biriyani. I've only Mirchi on my side for this dish.

Today I wake up grumpy. And gets grumpier n angrier. I fail to pinpoint the reason. So I decided to try out pressure cooker chicken biriyani to let out the steam. Also, it's Hijri New Year today.

Why do people use different ingredients? I get tens of customized recipes for the pressure cooker biriyani from the Net. As varied n different as possible. Finally, I decided to add coconut milk n yoghurt. As expected  Mirchi and I like it. Forget about the rest.

 Happy new year. When you are in Kuwait, you should cook majboos. If not, biriyani.

Gone with the wind

It's 43 degree. Scorching. Luckily no sand storms this time. Look at them locals! They have set up a temporary play area and stuff for kids! Right under the intimidating sun. Great.

Happy Eid! Today is the last day of the 5 day Eid celebrations. The much-awaited 5 days off. How fast days flew away! What did I do? Holidays start off with pest control. While the roaches died in our flat, we spent the day in 360 mall and Kuwait Magic. The next day was spent in the kitchen entertaining the guests. Another fine day ended in dinner with relatives. Mirchi's tuitions. Ginger's early morning badminton classes. Pepper running off with her playmates. Finally shopping @ Mallu mall.

 Phew. Gone are the holy days!

The third child

Church honors parents with 4 children. Funny? Education at Kalari is free from 5th child onwards. Savvy? What about the third child? Catechism is free for the 3rd child. Hallelujah. For the first time in Pepper's life, she's got a fee exemption. Hee heee. She skips 2 years of Sunday/Friday school and directly joins in 3rd. And its free for the third child. What a luck.

Jesus revised

This is my first reading of the bible and the life of Jesus in a new context. I like it. Immensely. I find many deviations, altercations, and explanations quite amusing. In the revised version-

• Mother Mary dies during childbirth.
• Father Joseph is a rich n famous carpenter, farmer n Rabbi.
• The stepmother Mariya has 3 sons n 2 daughters.
• John the Baptist disowns Jesus.
• Jesus suffers from migraine n poetry.
• Jesus was the leader of the revolutionary party, Nazrains.
• Jesus doesn't perform miracles.
• Donkey was an expensive commodity.
• Lazar was a traitor.
• Martha, the sister of Lazar was in love with Jesus.
• The heartbroken Magdalene Mary plots against Jesus out of spite.
• Judas had epilepsy. He is not a traitor.
• Herodia and Judas are as innocent as lambs.
• Barabas was a revolutionary.

Now. As a descendant of  St. Doubting Thoma, I'm totally confused. What to believe? What not to?

September comes and...

Kalari reopens after 3 months of rest. Back to the furnace. It's 46 degree. So what? Fresh beginning. Perfect time for new set of vows. This time the resolutions are mild and practicable I feel.

• Reduce tea and coffee. Rice also.
• Dinner before 7. Ignore wine.
• Cycle daily.
• Cook variety food. Eat less.
• Speak less. Work more.
• Finish off all those 101 pending blog posts.
• Write daily.

As simple as that.
Cheers!

springs without smell

I buy the books last year as part of DC Sahityotsavam. As a hefty fan of Benyamin, I don't really know why I kept the books untouched for 1 whole year. And. My good God. I'm shocked beyond my 12 years of Bahrain life. Flabbergasted. Mind blowing.


 


 The books are a mix of history n fiction and of course autobiographical too. The lines merge and divide. I salute the author's courage. Bravo.

A must read for all Gulf expatriates esp of Bahrain.