Wrong Estimates

In Anpara, the quarter where I am staying with my husband, is fully furnished. There is a kitchen with all necessary equipments except a gas or electric stove to cook food. So I asked my husband if a stove or heater could be arranged, then I could cook because the mess food is not good for us at this age.
So next morning a man came home with a coiled heater and placed it in the kitchen. I smiled. He hung his head and folded his hands and said “Please madam I could not arrange for a hot plate so I am setting a heater here. As soon as I am able to lay my hands on a hot plate, I will replace it.” I said nothing.
Looking at the heater, I remembered my first kitchen at Haridwar. In Abhijit’s E.T. Hostel quarter, he showed me a room and said “This is your kitchen”. There were lots of things already there - a coiled heater, some crockery, beer mugs, empty beer bottles, motorcycle tires & tube, empty tin, pile of news papers, hammer & tools, etc.

I cleaned up the room. I threw out the things which I thought (at that age) were not needed. The coiled heater was the only source of heat to cook food in the kitchen. I love to drink tea. Before marriage I drank cups and cups of tea, but never made a single cup myself. Now I had to make tea. In the morning, after Abhijit left for office, I placed a pan filled with water and milk on the heater. I thought that it would take too much time to boil so I went off for a nap again. Meanwhile, the milk boiled, swelled and overflowed on the heater coil and the heater went off. After Abhijit returned from office, he repaired the heater and only then was I able to drink tea.
Those days we (I and Abhijit) were eating "Chand’s"  tiffin career  food. I will tell you the story of this man in particular some other time. Right now I can tell you that he was the only food provider for the big bunch of bachelors and I was also added to his client list.

Ten to twelve days passed. I felt that I must start cooking. I didn't know the A B C of this subject, yet I felt that I had to start. In the mean time Abhijit arranged a kerosene stove because he was fed up with every day complaint of the coiled heater and cooking gas connection was not easily available those days.
Now I had two major things in my kitchen - a stove and utensils.  Next I needed groceries, so my husband asked me to make a list. I spend the whole day in making the list and whatever I knew or could remember I wrote in that list. In the evening I gave the list to Abhijit. It was too long a list. He asked me “What is this?”  I got an impression that he was not familiar with these things. His ignorance caused my  confidence to grow out of proportions. I said “Groceries list.”  He gave back the list to me and said, “Write down the amount or quantity of the each item.” I asked him “In which unit?” He said “In kilogram because in India we follow the metric system”. I wrote the amount of each item in kilogram. He went out with a large size of canvas bag. When he returned he had three large bags with him.
He placed all the bags in the kitchen. I was happy and immediately started emptying the bags. One bag contained only bay-leaves (tej-patta) and the second bag was also half full with bay leaves. I was confused that what I will do with large volume of bay leaves. The third bag was full of rest of the things of my list.  At that moment Chand came with tiffin boxes in kitchen and was surprised. He exclaimed “Too much bay leaves”. He giggled and went off. I did not understand anything but felt that something was tremendously wrong. I asked my husband “Why did you purchase this volume of bay leaves?”  He said “I purchased whatever you wrote in the list”. I saw the list. I had written: Tej Patta (Bay leaves) -  1.5 kg.

News spread in the township that Mini has purchased 1.5 kg. bay leaves.  Abhijit’s friends gave him sympathy that his future was going to be so pain full with this dumb wife. Ladies laughed and cracked jokes. Days passed and this incident became a tale. Very often my friends talk about my first groceries shopping and have a hearty laugh. This incident has almost become a legend. My Haridwar friends who attended my son’s marriage, narrated this story to the newlyweds (my son and daughter in law). 
The phone started ringing. It was my son is calling. I said “Hello beta….” He said “Good morning Maa….what are you doing?”  I said “Cooking and remembering the good old days.”  He asked “Now you have a kitchen in Anpara?”  I said “Yes… with a coiled heater and new utensils.” He said “And 3kg. bay leaves ……” and laughed. I said “No, I will not repeat my mistakes…”.

The Painkiller Funda

The day was 1st of May and it was my husband’s birthday. Birthday wishes started pouring early in the morning from his friends and colleagues in the form of SMS and phone calls. At around 8’O clock, I was sipping my morning tea when the phone rang. It was Anindo-da his college friend. He gave his heart full wishes to Abhijit . They talked for over 15 minutes. I requested my husband  give me the phone as I wanted to talk to Sumita (Anindo da’s wife). He gave me the phone. Sumita is a sweet and intelligent lady about my age. She is one of those persons with whom I'm impressed “How are you and how is your family doing?” I asked her. She said “My family is fine by God’s grace and now I am alright as well." “NOW?” I asked. The word hit my brain it means she had something wrong in past. I asked her “What was wrong with you.?”

The she told me everything in detail that happened the day before yesterday. After dinner she had a bad tooth ache. It was already 10 pm. At this hour of the evening (actually night) she would not find a doctor for medical help. So she had to endure the pain. It was very difficult to sleep with the pain. She spent about one and half hour but neither there was even an ounce of relief nor could she sleep. Anindo-da was fast asleep. She got up from her bed and then sat down with her computer searching for an easy household remedy for tooth ache or some kind of pain relief. After a good search on internet she found a remedy.

The remedy was  - “If you have a tooth ache then rinse your mouth two or three times by whiskey.”

She came back to her bedroom and started searching for a bottle of whiskey in her husband’s almirah. Luck was on her side as she found a bottle. As I know them personally I knew Sumita never drank and Anindo-da does not drink on a regular basis, but he does indulge occasionally with his close friends. So Sumita took the bottle and came to the kitchen. She poured a good amount of whiskey in a glass then she took a mouth full of whiskey then she rinsed her mouth thoroughly and spit it in the sink. Mean while Anindo-da woke up and came to the kitchen. When Sumita was spitting he was shocked. He screamed, “What the hell are you doing??? Do you know this is one of the costliest whiskey and you are spitting it in the kitchen outlet?” Sumita was confused. After a mouth wash she was feeling good. This time she took another mouth full whiskey and rinsed her mouth. But this time instead of spitting out, she swallowed the whole amount. This time she felt better. She repeated this until the glass was finished. In her own language she told me “Entire kitchen was rotating ……I did not know what happened after that.” I asked her “How about your pain?” Sumita laughed and replied “What pain?? Yesterday I was suffering in headache but today I am perfectly alright.” I said “Sumita you truly valued your money."

Who am I?

Recently my husband got transferred from Varanasi to Anpara. I didn;t know anything about that place  - where is was or how small or big that place was etc. After a good deal of research with different atlases, road maps, and search engines, I found it near Madhya Pradesh border in South U.P.

One fine morning I came to Anpara with him. We arrived at the guest house and he went off for his work place.  I spent the whole day lethargically as I nothing to do. My mobile was discharged, so I couldn't even chat with my children or call up my friends in Varanasi or Haridwar. In the evening I put my sandal on and took a stroll outside. In front of the guest house there is a huge play ground. I couldn’t see a single child there - not even men or women. After about half a kilometer of walking I came across a hedge. Some kind of unknown sound drew my attention. I stopped there and tried to find out the source of the weird sound. “khachar pachar..oink..g..rrr.” I saw two groups of living being were fighting. There were five puppies and eight piglets. The pups & piglets were chasing each other’s group and a mock fighting was going on for their territory. I stopped there and was enjoying the fight. The mothers of two groups were unconcerned. Mother of the pups was scratching it-self by its hind leg and other group’s mother was searching food by pushing its nose in the dirt. After some time I returned to guest house. Abhijit came back and he offered me his mobile phone and said that my friend wanted to talk to me. I picked up phone. From the other side Dr. Mrs. Dutta was speaking. Dr. Mrs. S.Dutta alias Mimi is one of our very good friends. We were started talking. First she congratulated me for Abhijit’s promotion and said that now I can live like a queen. When I switched off the phone I realized that 20 minutes had past. The word ‘queen’ hit my brain. I asked myself “ Who am I ?”

When I was in class 6th, someone asked me my mother’s name. You can find it hard to imagine, but I didn't know it back then. Throughout my childhood I was taught “My father’s name is Mr. A. K. Mukherjee” but  told me my mother's name. That day I asked my father and then I came to know Mrs. Prativa Mukherjee is my mother. Even in our high-school days there was no column for mother’s name.
After my marriage I came to my in law’s home, and immediately my identity was changed. Now I was "Banerjee saahab ki bahu" (Banerjee’s daughter in law). Then days passed and after a gap of time my identity changed again. Whenever my husband introduced me to any of his friend’s wife I directly asked her first name. I called them by their name instead of their husband’s surname. As time passed, my identity changed from Mrs. Banerjee to "Paku ki mummy" ( Paku’s mother). Then "Piku ki mummy" (Piku’s mother). Then "Pinky ki mummy" ( Pinky’s mother, Pinki is the name of my pet dog).

In my in law’s house, when we came back after 16 years, the people in the colony give me another identity and that was "26 number walli bhabiji" (lady of house no. 26th). So who am I ? Abhijit is a senior officer in a big organisation. He is an eligible man. He has worked hard to reach this post. I did nothing, but as his wife, I am enjoying the fruits of his success.

I am nothing without my loved ones. After all they all are part of my personality. But above all the identities, a little girl is still inside me. She never grows, she never falls sick, she never cries and she is simple and fearless... but never a queen!!! Never in my life.

My first (Little) Guide to Varanasi

27th June in the year 1997, I was in Varanasi with my children unwillingly. WHY?  Because my husband was transferred to Varanasi from Hardwar. Me and my children were very well settled in Hardwar and I didn't want any change at that stage. In this city my first priority was to get admission for both of my sons in a good school. I asked my neighbours about a good school where I could put my sons. Some mothers of children recommended St. Johns school. I decided to visit St. Johns. On the evening of 1st. July one of my neighbour Mrs. Mukherjee told me "Minu! I will go with you." Dr. Mukherjee was professor in Physics department in science college BHU (now retired). He was a good friend of my father in law.

2nd July - I took all the necessary papers, passport size

photos, pen, money etc. and came to Mukherjee's home. Mrs. Mukherjee was down with fever and Dr. Mukherjee had gone to doctor's place for lady's medical help. I was disappointed because I didn't know anything about Varanasi - neither geography nor the people of the town. I told her "Please give me some direction at least." She was also feeling low because she felt that she could not keep her words. I said "Don't worry! I will manage." She said " May be Rohit can help you." Rohit was her nephew. I hadn't met Rohit earlier. I was thinking that Rohit was a big man but she pointed towards Rohit, I was a bit amused. He was a little 8 years old boy below my waist line. His mother was also hesitating because she also didn't know me. While we three ladies were discussing about other options, Rohit had put on his socks and tied shoe lace. He combed his hairs and told me "OK Minu aunty I will go with you .I will show you my school." I was not very confident about him.

I was on the road with three children, Paku - 14 years, Piku

- 7 years and Rohit - 8 years. Mrs. Mukherjee had advised me to go to BHU gate and from there take an auto-rickshaw for DLW (Diesel Locomotive Workshop). So I took a rickshaw for BHU. I and Paku sat on the seat of rickshaw. Piku was on Paku's lap and Rohit was on my lap. Rohit was talking like a well trained guide "This is Durga temple. That is our grocers shop. This is the way to Sankat Mochan Temple. This area is called Lanka." I looked at my wrist watch; it was 8:45 already. Rohit looked at my face and got down from my lap on the rickshaw's foot rest then he patted the rickshaw puller's back by his little palm and said "Tanik jaldi chalawa bhaiya"(move little fast brother). I grabbed him in my arms and settled him on my lap. He started again "This is a good medicine shop and all other nearby shops are thieves. This is La-Bella restaurant, very good Chinese food is served here. Minu aunty! Do you like Chinese food?" Piku immediately replied "I do." Rohit asked Piku "Do you have power in your spectacles?" Piku got irritated and said "What do you think.....why should I be taking load on my nose and ears? Just like that eh?" Rohit didn't like this answer and he started talking with me.

At BHU gate we left the rickshaw. Rohit said "Aunty that auto rickshaw will go to DLW." I asked "How are you so sure?" He said "Because that is facing towards DLW."  Simple common sense. We took the same autorickshaw and reached DLW. The school was inside the DLW colony. We were walking towards the school. Piku said "Maa, I am thirsty." I pulled out a water bottle from my bag. He took 2-3 sips then he told Paku "Dada, whenever I want cold drink mom always has a water bottle. I don't know why?" Paku was absolutely in serious mood. He said "Because she knows you better."

A notice was there on the notice board of the school for

admission to class XI mentioning the entrance exam would be held on 6th and 7th July. I went to office. From a window I purchased a form. In the reception I sat down and filled the form then attached Paku's class 10th mark-sheet. Now I have to paste two photographs on the form. I was searching the gum tube in my bag. Piku said "Mom the gum tube was on the dinning table at home." I felt hopeless. Rohit said "Wait aunty." He rushed into clerk office. I was watching him from the window. He approached a clerk and spread his two little fingers in front of him and said "Sir! Please give me two drops of gum so we can paste dada's photo on the form. "The gentleman smiled and gave him the whole bottle. I finished my work and submitted the form and asked the clerk about 4th standard admission. He said very blankly that there was no vacancy for 4th class and suggested that I might talk to Principal Sir. I went to the Principal's office. There was a receptionist. He gave me an appointment at 11:30. Now it was 10 O'clock. I have to wait. Three children went to explore the school. My sons were nostalgic about their old school - DPS Hardwar.

At 11:45 receptionist allowed me to meet the Principal. I

went inside the Principal's office. The gentleman offered me a seat. After formal greetings, I asked him that I wanted a 4th class admission for my younger son. Paku and Rohit were standing behind me but Piku was hiding behind Paku. He said that I must leave an application with my address and phone no. If there was any vacancy available due to transfer etc., then the school will inform me. The message was loud and clear - NO.  I came out and wrote an application and gave it to receptionist and asked him hopelessly "Is there any hope?" He looked at the application and said "Yes yes! Why not? We just need donation." DONATION for class 4th student?? I suppressed my anger and asked him very softly. "How much." He said "2 lakhs." I said "That's all?" He looked at me blankly.

We came out from school and asked Rohit "Now we need

cold drink. Any good shop nearby?" He took us his favorite shop near the school. First time Piku smiled since morning. We came back to BHU gate. Now I wanted to go to BHU Central School. Not a single rickshaw wanted to go inside the campus. We were compelled to walk. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. The sun was scorching over our head. We walked a quarter of a kilometer and reached Central School. Children's faces were glowing red. They sat down on school's veranda. The school was empty. I was thinking now what should I do?  Suddenly I saw a man with a bicycle was coming towards us. I asked him that when I can find some one responsible in school. He said that school would reopen on 5th July for children and Principal Sir was not in school. "From where can I get any information for admission procedure?" I asked. He showed me a corridor and said that end of the corridor was the staff room. There I could find some teacher. I walked into the corridor. It was empty. At the end of it was a room, in which five men were sitting and two of them had put their feet on the table. I knocked on the door. They looked at me but did not put their feet down. I asked few questions but their way of talking, their attitude and their beetle leaf chewing faces made me extremely repulsive. I came back to my kids. The bicycle man was talking to the children. When he saw me he directly asked me "What happened Madamji?" I ignored him. I told my kids "Let's go." That man said "I will arrange admission for all three of them. Just money will be required. "I suppressed my disgust feeling inside me and started walking holding Piku and Rohit's hand. Paku was few steps ahead. The man was following me and saying the same thing "Madamji....listen....money is negotiable." I almost burst out in anger. I turned around and looked straight into his eyes then said very strongly "Don't follow me...otherwise I'll do something that you wouldn't have imagined... don't follow me..." and I stayed there until the man vanished.

The sun was painful enough for the children and now my bad mood had made them silent. After walking for a few meters, Piku said "Mom, I can't walk." I picked him up in my arms and felt pity for Rohit. Now Rohit was holding Paku's hand and walking quietly. We came out from BHU campus. Paku said "Maa I am hungry." First time he talked to me since morning. Piku and Rohit said in chorus "Me too." I asked Rohit "You told me about a Chinese restaurant. Where is it?" Suddenly three faces began to glow up again. Piku got down from my lap. Rohit said joyfully "I will show you aunty."

In the restaurant, the children felt happy and relaxed. They enjoyed their food. Even Piku had consumed the whole soup for the first time in my life. When we returned home it was 2:45. Rohit's mother was standing at gate. Anxiety was clearly visible on her face. When she saw Rohit was well and good, she smiled. I also felt relaxed. That day I experienced lot of good and bad things in my life, but Rohit was a constant positive energy with me.

So Rohit where ever you are in this world keep your spirit alive. May God bless you.

I Love Dogs

I am basically a dog lover. Is it a quality of a person? I think YES. Humans may not be able to recognize a dog lover at the first sight, but dogs have this quality of recognizing a dog lover at first sight. I feel that it is bliss to be an animal lover, but sometimes it creates some awkward or nasty situation. It is a natural phenomenon that dogs bark at unknown persons, but even the fiercest and unknown dog does not bark at me. Generally they would wag their tails and show affection towards me. I sometime wonder if it is a normal behavior!

Many years ago when my husband was posted in Haridwar, we were living in a ground floor quarter. There was no boundary wall. Instead of wall, there was a fencing of barbed wire. The dogs used to crawl under the wire and come into our compound. I gave them food very often. Two dogs stayed there before we moved to that quarter. One was added latter. There were many quarters in that area but the dogs stayed in our compound most of the time. WHY??  I don't know. When it rained or in the scorching summer heat, they used to take shelter under the shade of my veranda. It was such a familiar site to see the dogs in our compound that many persons in the township thought that the three dogs were our pets.

Wherever I would go walking, they would also walk with me as if they were my bodyguards. If some one on a bicycle or scooter went past me, they would chase him, barking loudly. A couple of times the cyclist fell down and got hurt. I used to feel very bad. One day I went to dispensary for some medical help and they (all three of them) went with me. As long as I sat on the bench in the waiting room outside the doctor's chamber, the three dogs sat under the bench. When my turn came, I entered the doctor's chamber. One of my self appointed bodyguards followed me into the doctor’s chamber. The doctor bounced up from her chair. "Please Mini don't bring your pets in dispensary." she said with little anger and irritation. I wanted to explain her that they were not my pet but I could not say anything because I didn't have any logic to explain that they had come with me on their own and they will follow me even if I ask them not to do so.

One afternoon it was raining and the dogs had taken shelter in my veranda. I was busy inside home with my house hold work.  Meanwhile a man, who used to record our electricity meter reading, came. He was scared of the dogs and could not dare to come to veranda and push the calling bell. He started shouting "बनर्जी साहब, कुत्तों को हटाइये" <"Banerjee sahab kutton ko hataeeye."> (Mr. Banerjee please remove the dogs.) Suddenly all three of them were barking and howling in full volume. I and my maid servant came out and I picked up a stick. They left the veranda immediately. My maid went up to the road and called the man back. The man said “If you have dogs then you must train them. I am an honest humble man and they are chasing me as if I was a thief, and you ladies are laughing." I said very seriously “They are not my pets and beside that we are not laughing."The argument continued... He finished his job and went off.

From that day, I stopped giving them food - not even left over’s. Few days latter I was walking on the street, and all three of them started to walk with me wagging their tails. That night I again gave them food.

Four years later we left the quarter and I lost them forever...

   

Paku pass ho gaya

In the year 1992 in the month of October my elder son's quarterly examinations were going on. Next day he had his Sanskrit  exam. I was in extreme  tension  because he was very weak in languages. I forced him little hard so that he could pass in language subjects and I needed more time to help him in his study - at least 2 hours.

That evening my husband returned from office with a guest. He introduced him to me "My college friend Mr. J.P.Dwivedi.............he is here for some official work." I hid my tension about my son's exam the next day and very politely  welcomed him and after formal greetings I came to the kitchen to prepare tea and snacks.

With the tea tray when I entered  in the living room my younger son Piku was sitting on his lap. He was asking him "Where is your dada (elder brother)".  Piku told him that dada was reading 'pathantu....pathantu'.  "What's that?"  He questioned. Nobody could understand what Piku wanted to express. I explained him "Tomorrow my elder son will be taking his Sanskrit exam so he was trying to memorize the 'shabd roop and dhatu roop'  (part of Sanskrit Grammar)." "Oh! he means पठति, पठतः, पठन्ति' (pathati...pathatha...pathanti.....)" Bhaisahab said. My husband told me to prepare dinner. Meanwhile Sen family came.  Every one was busy with tea and chatting.

Now I had to prepare dinner for our guest. Time passed and I had a tension for exam. My son needed my help. My mind raced - what might happen if he is not able to secure pass marks?  In the  parents- teachers meeting his teacher and his father both will scold me. Oh! forget it, nobody will understand my problem. I came in the kitchen and concentrated in cooking. My husband came into the kitchen and said "Sanyals have come, so please make another round of tea." Then he asked me "Where is Dwivedi gone?" I was surprised "I don't know, he is your friend and you were sitting with him, not me."

More then two hours passed. I finished my cooking and called everyone for dinner. I came to my kids room and saw an amazing scene. The gentleman (Mr. Dwivedi) was sitting on the study table and Piku was hanging on his shoulder. Dwivedi and my elder son Paku were talking happily. Amazing!!! It seemed that they knew each other since long.  I called them for dinner. My tension remained inside me.

Time passed. After a couple of weeks there was the dreaded 'Parents - Teachers Meeting.' I and my kids went to the school. I was mentally  prepared to listen to a lot of complaints about our elder son from his class teacher Mrs. Shreenivasan . When I entered the classroom Mrs. Shreevasan was surrounded by parents. I said "Good morning." She raised her head and said " Oh! Mrs. Banerjee...before I show you the result, would you please meet with Mrs. Verma in room number 17? She wants to talk to you."  Me and my son looked at each other. A kind of hopelessness showed up on our faces. Mrs. Verma was his Sanskrit teacher. We went to room number 17. Mrs. Verma joyfully welcomed us and said "Look!  Mrs. Banerjee...I thought that your son could never do well in languages - specially Sanskrit, and I have to struggle to give him minimum pass mark. I am happy that I was wrong. He can do excellent if he wishes so. Now you just see he has got full marks in Sanskrit.  I have cut half a mark because of his poor hand writing ." He got nineteen and half out of twenty. This is first time that he has scored excellent in a language paper.

I remembered Mr. J.P. Dwivedi said that night that Sanskrit was his favorite subject and by mistake he had become an engineer. He had taught Paku for a little less than two hours that day - that too casually - and now he got excellent marks in Sanskrit.

I realised that day, that a good teacher can make any child excellent.  

The Gourmet and The Chef's Love

Recently my dear friend wrote in her blog "A happy couple?" I am quoting her "No one can be happy every moment of his/her life and that does not classify them to be unhappy. We all have happy moments in our lives."

I totally agree with her. If we enjoy these moment we can make our life happy and fruitful. In this context I want to tell about my self. Me and my husband are north-pole and south-pole. It's not just the appearance that is different, but our thoughts, beliefs, behavior, our tastes, our likings and disliking are totally different - poles apart. But one thing is clear that two poles make a world. The world where the children are safe and happy and where our elders are comfortable and cared. Two like poles can not make a world. I am going to tell you about two romantic dishes here which reflects the relationship and love (of a happy couple).

One Holi, (festival of colors) evening I and Abhijit visited our friend Dr. A.K. Singh's home. Doctor-saab and his wife 'Suman-ji' welcomed us warmly. Soon after we settled down in their drawing room, Suman-ji served us a lots of eatables. 3-4 types of sweets and variety of snacks plus 'Dahi Bara'. [Dahi Bara is a dish made of urad dal (lentil). Soak the dal and then make a smooth batter . Add some ginger and other spices. Take a dollop of batter and deep fry it. Then serve fried Bara with sour cream (dahi) and garnish with roasted cumin seed.]

Dahi Bara is one of my favorite dishes. So at first I picked up the Dahi Bara plate. I was amazed to see the size of Bara. I took a good look at the plate again and asked Suman-ji very politely "Did you make this at home?" She laughed and said "Bhabi-ji you are very intelligent." I could not make any relation between the size of Bara and my intelligence. I looked at her blankly. She pushed her husband by her elbow and said "Will you tell them please?" Doctor-saab smiled and told us the whole story. "In the early morning of The Holi, Suman was busy frying Dahi-Bara in the kitchen, when her friends came. She left the kitchen and went off with her friends to play Holi. I thought let me help her finish this job. By the time Suman came back, I had fried all the Baras. She was surprised and said "What the hell have you done... ...look... ...how big these Baras are???" I said "The size does not matter. You may serve one piece instead of two." Then Doctor-saab asked me "Bhabiji! How about the taste"? I smiled and said "Romantic Dahi Baras are always tasty . What's the difference if the size is masculine or feminine."

Another evening of Holi festival - I and Abhijit visited Mr.Sanjoy Sinha's home. This time the dish is Malpuha. [Malpuha is a kind of pan cake shallow fried and soaked in sugar syrup.]

Sanjoy and his wife Ruby welcomed us. As we settled down in their drawing room, Ruby placed a big bowl of malpuhas on the table. I was hesitating to eat as I am diabetic. But Ruby said "Please Bhabi, take one at least I made it with great love and labor."

Sanjoy interrupted and said "Hey! I made it."

"NO!" said Ruby "You just fried it."

"Frying malpuhas are most important". He raised his voice little.

But Ruby said softly "And making the batter is nothing? I alone did all the preparation."

Sanjoy said "On a holiday, I wake up early morning and fry the malpuha. This is not a matter of joke."

I interrupted them and said "Let me taste it first." I shoved my blood sugar aside took a good size of malpuha in my plate and ate whole of it, then said "This is excellent, Sweet and Romantic."