Maa Ka Pyaar

My friend’s mom had come for Madhushravani puja. I, with my other friends went to her house for the last day puja. That day you are supposed to eat as much sweet dishes as you can.

We all did the puja and then it was time for some prashad. We all sat and aunty started serving and then the serving went on and on…..Kheer, ladoos, fruits, rasgullas, dry fruits, barfis and so on. Too much of sweets, we were all tired of eating. And then while leaving, aunty said, “Have some puri sabji?”

We were not in a position to drink even water but moms are moms. They are the experts of emotional blackmail when it comes to feeding the kids. Even after denying for so many times at last we did not have any option left than to agree. Deal was set to have one puri. We were having but then suddenly we don’t know from where she came and kept two more puris in each of our plates. We finished eating finally. We were so full that we were unable to walk. Although it was evening but we were so full that we all skipped our dinner.

This situation happens many a times when our moms serve us food. They always feel that we are not having food properly. It is always the favourite dialogue of all the moms when they see their kid after long time, “You have become so thin.” And when the kid is married then guy’s mother will feel that daughter in law is not taking proper care of their son and girl’s mother will feel that in-laws and husband are not taking care of her daughter.

This is mom’s love. For each of us, our mom is the world’s best cook. They have the perfect recipe of everything, blending the love together with other ingredients and serving the best food. The love with which they serve you the food, no one else can do. Whenever the food comes to you via your mother, it becomes special. The love they shower is incomparable and precious. 

Brands Confused Brains

Watch television for 10 minutes but effectively you will be watching advertisements for around 7 minutes. And among all these ads what interests me more, is the tagline for cosmetic products, like: face creams ---Lakme - youth infinity; Ponds – white beauty or age miracle; Olay - total effects or regenerist; Neutrogena – fine fairness or deep clean; And the ingredients for preparing them like different soaps --- contain shea butter, tea tree oil, jojoba oil, aloevera, eucalyptus oil, honey, lemon; face washes available with all varieties of fruit flavours and etc etc.

Each product of each brand is unique but confusing. From toothpastes having salt to shampoo for silky, shiny, damage repair, dandruff free, for oily, dry, straight, curly; from hair colours to face creams; from mosturiser to lip guards having strawberry/cherry/guava/apple; from dish cleaning agent having power of 100 lemons to hand wash that cleans your hand in 10 second and not 60 seconds. Everything has something different to offer.

Isn’t all this confusing? Even if I am very clear about my skin and hair type, if I go to the market to shop for some cosmetic, I am definitely going to be confused while buying after seeing so many products; I won’t be able to decide that which one will actually suit me. My mom or grand mom never faced this type of dilemma because neither they had this knowledge nor they had the choice but their skin or better if I say health, was much better than us.

People now are so much conscious about their looks and this huge availability of products is slowly transforming this consciousness to craziness. Of course, it is better to be concerned for your health but definitely not worth to be paranoid. You will stuff yourself with oily food and then you get a pimple on your face and then you will expect that clean and clear facewash will remove your pimple at one wash. Is it really possible? Just sensibly think on it. Any golden glow facial scrub will not make you fair and make you glow like gold. Don’t be confused with all these pearl white, golden glow and age miracles. It is always better to consume fruits than running behind these fruity extract products.

If you are in your 30’s then none of the creams will make you younger. Please remember that youth is for certain time and not infinite. There is nothing wrong in getting old. Every age has it’s own charm and grace. You are what you are, so don’t pretend to be one you are not. Everything is the result of the balance, if maintained you can feel good and therefore look good. If balance does not exist then nothing can be good.

I like one ad where Arjun Rampal says that, “These shade cards are for walls of the house and not for your skin”.

Bangalore: where “Bakeries” serve the purpose of landmarks

We the people spend a lot of time travelling to and fro between office or college and home. While travelling, we cross many areas, the so called “stops”. No doubt each stop has a different name but what else I have noticed in most of these, is that each stop has a Bakery right at the main bus stop. For example:

Kundanahalli : Silsila Bakery                          

Whitefield : Mayura and Brother’s Bakery               

Vinayaka Layout : Archana Bakery

Brookebond : Devika Bakery

Arekeri : Iyengar Bakery

AECS Layout: Ragam’s Bakery

BTM Layout : Mr. and Cosmo Bakery

Channasandra : Thirumala Bakery

Bellthur : Sri Sai Bakery

Varthur Kodi : Mangala Bakery

Hennur : Honest Bakery

Bellandur (Opposite to Central) : Bellandur Bakery and Sweets

Marathahalli : Raju Bakery, Pooja Bakery , Royal Bakery

And …..

These bakeries are indispensable for us. As the city has grown, bakeries too have grown. From serving just bakery items like: “dilpasand”, “fruit cakes” , “veg-puffs” , “cream rolls” etc  these bakeries now sell tea , sweets , biscuits , chips , sandwiches , birthday-cakes , ice-creams , other dry snacks and lot more. Crowd is always there. Rushing for somewhere, just stop for a while, pick some snack and move on. If these bakeries would not have existed, many would have starved.

But these bakeries are not just meager eating joints but they actually serve the purpose of landmarks. We identify the stops by identifying the bakeries. You ask anyone about any specific location, be it a bank or school or office or bus stop; you might be told that “Go in <exact directions>, you will find “Location X”, it is near “Y Bakery”. Sometimes people might ask you “Where is this bakery?” in order to enquire about some place, because people are very sure that exact location of these bakeries would surely guide them to the place they need to visit.

Cheers to the Bakeries and the Bakers JJJ