Title Intentionally Left Blank

…I have no idea what to do with so much time. Absolutely no damn idea. I have never had this time ever.

When I was a student, I always had claseses and guest lectures on weekends. And party plans of course (did I even need to mention that?). When I started working, I was working Saturdays or getting the shopping done for my wedding. After getting married, Sundays were the one day when both Hujband and me would be home after working all kinds of hours over the 6 working days. Now I have weekends off. I don’t know what to do. Currently, I sleep and do housework and have some office work.  Please keep your fingeers crossed so my maids come home soon. Its been 2 weeks now that Hujband and me have been doing the jharu, pocha, bartan, chopping, cooking, washing, putting out the garbage etc. etc. etc. And entertaining guests as well. Yes we did. Maidless. (Btw we actually keept he house cleaner now that we have no maid because we know dirtying means cleaning up ourselves)

So back to my moaning about Saturdays? Any suggestions? I plan on getting strict with my exercise regime (I promise I shall begin tomorrow); doing some baking; blogging a little more often; I’m thinking of finding out about some classes happening around. Any other suggestions on how to use my saturdays?

PS: How do you like the new look?

This weekend was a complete tragedy for me in terms of food. Now before we get started on the woeful  saga (arthath ‘dukhbhari katha’ ) of my weekend, let me bring to your kind attention that I am a self-confessed foodie, whose food interest are however, very much restricted to tried and tested food items. I refuse to venture where I have not gone before. I love eating what I already like to eat. I am very much vocal about my likes and dislikes when it comes to food. Getting me to try out something new is a major task unto itself which few have dared to attempt after their first tries have miserably failed. My roommate of three years in Pune though did manage to introduce me to the joys of gajar ka  halwa, which is probably the only time in history that I have eaten and liked something new.

Now that you know some of the background, I shall begin my dukhbhari katha.

This Saturday, on our way back from work, I proposed a dinner out to the Hujband, who readily agreed (and here I was all set to build my case for dinner out). The only condition being I had to decide where to go since he wasn’t in the mood todecide. Thus, we landed up at this super-exclusive Itqlian resteraunt (with an Italian chef) in Gurgaon. We called for some prawn antipasto, which basically turned out to be sadda Dilliwala channa masala with prawns in it. Tolerable. I wanted to try some pasta for the main course, but the host kept telling me to try the “authentic Italian pizza” – it being different from the other American pizzas readily available. On his recommendation, I tried some chicken pizza, which basically turned out to be tomato puree, cheese and boiled chicken. Yes that’s it – no salt, masalas, nothing. My desi taste buds were offened and I was constrained to ask for chilli flakes and oregano which offended the Italian sensibilties of the chef, who personally came out and tried to convince me not to defile it. I sprinkled generous amounts of oregano and chilli flakes etc…but didn’t help. I struggled valiantly though one and a half slices till I gave up. The host tried to convince me for some pasta, but I was obviously very sceptical. He finally recommended chocolate mousse for which I agreed. Only to repent. The chocolate mousse tasted of anything but chocolate.  Apparently, it had a filling of balsamic strawbeery, so the end rest of the mousse was that it just tasted weird – neither chocolate, nor strawberry nor balsamic.

[I ended up having a chicken tikka sandwich and coffee as dinner at DT before we went in for the late night show of 3i (which we were seeing for the second time) and absolutely loved].

Next tragedy was my Sunday lunch when we called for mutton biryani from Deez, but the mutton was not cooked properly and again I couldn’t have it. Called up the Deez guys and gave them an earful and turned down their offer to send another handi.

My last and final tragedy was my Sunday dinner where I made dal, chawal and fish fry. Fish was perfectly fried red and crisp – but had not been cut properly and the fish was bitter

So that sums up my tragedy-wala weekend in terms of food.  

[I demanded good food for lunch the next day at work, as opposed to our usual thali ;P]

 PPS: I started drafting this post on Monday, but managed to complete it only today.

One thing my parents always told me is to be honest with my work – whether it was studies or doing my chores around the house or anything else that I did. This was the first thing which I was told on my first day of my first internship as well by my then mentor. He told me that if I was not honest with my work, it would show and I would be the ultimate loser.

Don’t cut corners so that you can leave ten minutes early. Go the extra mile. Study the file completely. Make your own reference notes. Take a coffee break when you need to but don’t stretch it too long when you have work piled up on your table. Whethere its research or drafting, check it completely before you give it in. Know your file. Be sure of the facts. Know the dates. Don’t hesitate to clarify if your unsure about something. Eat up the client’s head if you need to – that’s what he’s paying you for. Think out of the box but back it up with logic & law. Read up the latest judgements/ noifications/ amendments. When you fail to do this, it reflects on your work. Present you facts clearly. Pay attention to the details. No work is too big or too small. Do things one step at a time – read the facts, do the researcg, check the latest updates, draft, vet it, settle the draft. Be proud of your work.

I learnt this during my internships & later, when I stepped out of college and began my career with the bar. It has always stood me in good stead.  This is something I also tell my juniors. Abd when someone is no honest with their work, I fail to understand why. It shocks me (And I’m not talking about ass-lickers here – just people who’r plain and simple lazy to do their work). Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, because I am informed that this is how it works today. I refuse to accept that – it never worked that way yesterday, and it won’t work like that tomorrow.

On a more pleasant note. I had a good mid-week break (Friday), a working Saturday and a lazy Sunday. Friday, I met Meira. She’d come home for dinner – we had some good girl talk and dinner. And she said i’m an awesome cook & I have a lovely house too – Thanks Meira : )

Saturday was a usual working day, though we did go for a leisurely office lunch.

Sunday night, we did a potluck dinner with friends where thir little soon licked up all the ketchup with his finger and had ketchup all over himself and elsewhere as well

Monday morning – work as usual.

And yeaaaaaaaaaaaah, India won