I am 45 now, and as the winter chill settles in, a simple act—oiling my head after a shower—triggered a cascade of memories spanning three decades. When I was a boy in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, the ritual of a weekly, sometimes daily, head massage with oil was as common as breathing. My favorite was the potent, earthy scent of mustard oil . I remember visiting our local vaid ji (traditional practitioner), who stressed the importance of this practice, lamenting even then that fewer people were keeping it up. Fast forward to adulthood, and my simple habit met the sharp reality of changing cultural norms. My wife, from a different background, and her circle found the idea of oiled hair "un-stylish." Even when I switched to the fragrant, dark luster of amla oil, the gentle teasing and continuous pressure to conform chipped away at my resolve. Now, my cherished ritual is relegated to an occasional, quick application, washed out within hours. Where Did the Oil Go? As I drov...
Raise your hand if you don't like to eat out! If anyone claims to be so, than it is certainly not true, for there wouldn't be so many restaurants coming up. I don't remember a weekend when me and my wife had food at home! Well, it is certainly nothing to be proud of, but this is how we are. This past weekend we camped at Cafe 21 restaurant at Shri Anandpur Sahib to subside our hunger for diverse food. After juggling through the menu we picked up two items, this is a drill in which 99% of the time I come first. I should say my wife come second, not the last, to avoid her from obvious shame!! Anyways, we picked up a paneer grilled taco and veg. burger. So after ordering the stuff it barely took 5 minutes for the first dish to arrive on our table. I would call this ETA to be under standard test conditions as there was none else dining at that time. The first item to come on our table was the veg burger, and I must say that I liked how it was served. I mean the plate was cute...