Double Roti and Maggi

This was my dinner today. 

Since we have been having "heavy" meals from yesterday, I decided to go "light" for dinner today. Every Indian would agree that the above combination of bread and a pack of Maggi is the best choice. After all, what is "junk" in this food?

Double Roti: A strange name we have given to breads in our country, particularly the North. "एक डबल रोटी देना", when asked by a customer to a groceries shopkeeper means he or she wants to buy a loaf of bread. Not buy a single slice of bread. I tried to reason why we may have started to call it "double". It maybe because of the thickness. It is lot thicker than our rotis. And roti, because it is after all the next staple "bread" after roti here. In Bengali, we call it, "পাউরুটি" (Pauruti), which literally translates to "Pau-(legs)-ruti-(roti)". Now this is logical. In the olden days, people would jump over the batter in the bakeries to ensure that the mass quantities of flour mixed throughly with the yeast. We didn't have batter mixing machines in those days, so no need to say, yuck! It would be interesting to know what this is called in other parts of the country.

Maggi: Every Indian will swear by their heart and soul that this instant noodles launched by Nestlé India in 1983, has saved the hunger pangs of millions of people across the country in so many years. Not withstanding the ingredients and the banning and unbanning of this product time and again, this instant noodles is one that anyone who can lit a gas stove in India can cook. Boil the water, crack the noodles and sprinkle the "masala". Let it boil for 2 minutes. Done. The "Masala" flavour is the one and only that tastes best. Nestlé could very well stop doing those crazy, schezwan and chicken experiments. The best part is that you can use it as a sandwich filling, a dough for "pakodas" and what not. In those stalls near the busy office areas, you get butter Maggi topped with fried onions and butter and dressed with green peppers and "chaat masala". Then you have the egg Maggi, where the scrambled eggs are mixed with the noodles. One can have it plain, veggie loaded and what not. The sky is the limit.

Ten years of companionship

This year we are celebrating our 10 year's of companionship. We first met in the fall of 2008. It was love at first sight. In the initial days, he was not well versed in driving our relationship. He was nervous and innocent. He would try to get me rolling along and I had to show a lot of patience. His lack of experience led me to be hurt a lot at times, scars of which are present even today.

Gradually, thinks started to work. He would take me out on Sunday mornings and tried to "impress" me. Though for short runs, I was content that he was showing dedication and inclination towards me. Gradually, our relationship was fostering, it seemed. However, this was only temporary. He left me in the month of June of 2009. I was disheartened, that he left me in the company of his relatives for two years. The relatives were kind to me. They took good care and even today we have a fond relationship.

It was only in the year of 2011 that he was back and I returned to him. From then on it has been a steady but solid relationship. I may have failed him a couple of times, but very rarely during our outings. I have a problem that I am down and out when he leaves me wanting for few months. Not even touching me. He says he has to go abroad for few months, so he cannot attend to me. Sad! And when he returns, I make him pay to get all charged up and (re) start our relationship.

It has been a great journey so far. But he says that I am getting old. He is thinking of replacing me this year. He says this is the right time to get a new one. I am so afraid and sad, but what can I do?

Whatever happens, I know I have given him a good service and fulfilled my part of the relationship. In fact, today he took me for the most memorable service. It was my 10 years service day. They worked on my oil filter, engine oil, distilled water, spark plug, wheel balancing and what not. He splashed a lot on me today.

I would like to serve him more, but I am getting old. I do not have the same pick-up more so when the AC is switched on. He complains that he has to switch off the AC during the ascent on flyovers. I feel pained at heart. But we cars are not supposed to have emotions. Who cares?

Labour's Day

Today was labour day for me. Middle of the week holidays are sometimes dangerous. Suddenly a lot of "TODO" items come alive from nowhere. Okay, weekends too have similar traits, but the mind is more than prepared to handle.

Morning 8'o clock, 2 hours, was all the "extra sleep" I had the luxury. Then it was time for my son to go to school. My wife does all the hard work but since I was on leave, I had to accompany them to the school. Not that I mind. I love seeing the tiny-toddlers holding their guardian's hands tugging along and going to the school. My son's school is 450 meters from our house, a casual walk is all it takes. I feel pity for those kids who have to get ready and wait for their school buses (or school vans, those pathetically overloaded, utterly unsafe, rash driven vehicles) at 10 minutes to 7 in the morning. Things have not improved since my days. In fact they have become worse.

My son's school building reminds me of my own. Red bricked outer walls, the school name displayed with huge letters painted in blue and airy classrooms (yes, it is a non-AC school). The playground is much larger and it has these new fancy pools and skating areas. Thankfully there is no horse riding yet. I recently had a chance to pass-by my school. It has expanded. It must have taken the buildings on one side. Now it has a huge gate with a huge banner, a huge new building alongside the older building and possibly a larger playground.  During the nursery admissions this year, I heard that it is now considered one of the best schools in this district of the capital city. I have some memories buried deep inside that place. Sometimes, when they break open my flood-gates of emotions, in the ensuing deluge, the image of the building sometimes finds it way floating along. The present building looks an unfamiliar burial ground.

After the see-off, my wife went for her usual work-out session. I returned home to start the "installing of the overhead tank overflow system project". Climbed up the stairs of our roof only to find that the lid of our tank was blown over in the recent storm. Fixed and that and installed the new wireless level sensors. These are cool. You drop the sensor wires in the tank and the level of the tank is transmitted wirelessly down to the ground. The receiver in the room below picks up these signals and displays the water level on the display panel.

My wife joined me on the roof by the time I was giving the final touches to the installation. It was very windy today, so the effect of the summer heat was somewhat compensated. Once back at the house, I had to take my mother to the dispensary. Her medicines had been indented and she received the SMS on Saturday. It is never a pleasure to drive in the pathetic peak hour traffic in Delhi. More so if you are staying in an area where another flyover is being constructed in parallel to an existing operational one because our so called city planners could not estimate that we would require a bigger one in the first place!

After I returned home, I decided to clean the air-conditioner in our room. It has picked up a lot of dust in the filter and the guys who serviced the AC this time did not do a good job. This is a painful job. To use a toothbrush to clean the filters!!

It was almost getting time for my son to return. So I made a quick dash to buy few "cornettoes" for him. I had to take the car again, but thankfully I could drive this one inside the lanes and avoid the wretched outer ring road.  My son was very happy to see me at the school gate. He agreed to carry the umbrella and his school bag by himself.

It was after this that I had nothing else to do. I tried to invent work by checking my office emails on my mobile. There was nothing interesting there. Then I took lunch and had a siesta. In the evening, took my son for cycling so that he starts to get accustomed to our ways of driving early in his days.

To cap off the day, we decided to order the "Maharaja Thali" from Karnataka Food Center for dinner. These mobile food ordering and delivery apps surely help. Oh! and it was the most delicious present to gift oneself after a days hard work.