अर्ज है.....

आपकी याद ना आये तो हम बेवफ़ा
आप बुलाओ और ना आये तो हम बेवफ़ा
हमे मारनेके लिये खंजरकी जरुरत नाही
एक बार नझर फ़ेर लो, ना मर जाये तो हम बेवफ़ा

(Source: http://shayari.co.in/)

At first, the world was simple - there were vegetarians and then there were non-vegetarians. Slowly but steadily, more categories got added like eggetarians, fruitarians, vegans etc. Lately, however, I have realized that there must be sub-categories in the non-vegetarian category because I believe (and obviously hope!) that I am not the only one who considers only chicken and eggs as part of her non-vegetarian diet. And if that is the case, there must be people who eat only sea-food or who eat only white meat and so on and so forth.

I realized this even more sharply as I sat watching Nigella Lawson's new show 'Nigella Kitchen'. There she was, calmly pointing out the marrow in some piece of beef and explaining how it makes the meat more delicious. She quoted a saying too - something like 'The closer the meat is to the bones, the sweeter it is". I know of people who would positively faint if they hear such a statement, but to be honest, I wasn't too excited about this whole marrow-in-the-bone business either.

Well, as the saying goes, it takes all kinds to make this world!

I don't much care for coffee as such unless it is the traditional south Indian one. But I walked in Costa Coffee as the rest of my family wanted to have a sip. As we were about to leave one of the attendants politely handed over a feedback form. The task was delegated to me though I had not had a single sip.

There were the usual questions about the quality of service, staff, beverages and food. But one question did amuse me. It asked me who I had come with. The options were

1. On my own. 2 With friends 3. With colleagues 4. Others

As I checked the 4th option and wrote "Family" in the space provided to enlighten whosoever was in charge of making sense out of these feedback forms, I wondered if it wasn't a norm to come to these cafes with your family.

I had been to Pantaloons over the weekend to check out the sale. At the entrance stood a guard in uniform who was folding his hands and saying "Namaste" as people walked in. I noticed that almost everyone was ignoring him. When it was my turn to walk in, I folded my hands awkwardly but instead of "Namaste" I said "Hello" by mistake. I don't think he noticed because I guess he is used to people not replying.

But as I walked on, I wondered why it was so difficult for me to fold my hands in the gesture that we Indians have used traditionally to greet each other. And why the hell couldn't I say "Namaste"? :-(

Happy Friendship Day!

This one is for all my friends :-)

रबसे आपकी ख़ुशी माँगते है
दुआओमे आपकी हंसी माँगते है
सोचते है क्या मांगे आपसे
चलो उम्रभरकी दोस्ती माँगते है

थेंबे-थेंबे..

Read on about one man's efforts to conserve water - थेंबे-थेंबे..

A nice funny take on the trials and tribulations that characterize air travel - The vexations of flying.