Day 20 - 10 Ka Dum

I was sent to Scindia school in Gwalior along with my younger brother Arbaaz. It is an excellent boarding school with unlimited sports facilities. I have always been fond of swimming and my coach believed that I could be a National level swimmer. I have been frittering away chances since childhood, therefore it’s nor surprising that I did not do Baazigar or Chak-de-India. I vividly remember my days in school. It was fun, frolic and sports all the way. I was extremely naughty and loved to play practical jokes. It is really surprising that despite all that I did, my teachers loved me.

Our father does not like to demonstrate his love but he did miss us very badly and once came to Gwalior to fetch us for the summer holidays. He made elaborate plans for us for the month long vacation….we went to see a circus playing near our house, in Bandra. We were thrilled to see acrobats and trapeze artists creating paintings in the air with their magical movements. Next day, I decided to copy them atop the water tank…fell tumbling down, breaking bones in both my arms, resulting in plaster casts for the whole month! Our father had taken a month off from his work especially for us, to make our holidays memorable and he was terribly annoyed with me. However, the silver lining was that for entire month my mother fed me all meals with her hand! And for me food never tasted more delicious! God has bestowed mothers with special powers to enhance the taste of food. They have magical fingers….

I like those who enjoy food…but I am a small eater myself and rajma-chawal is my favourite. Nothing of course beats the jumbo prawn curry my mother cooks and the biryani from her kitchen I can eat loads of. She is a great cook but even I manage to rustle up a dish which consists of left-overs redone in ample butter. Trust me this mixture is delicious - my food fantasy. I am not a gourmand but gourmet – I just love to taste a bit and not completely gorge.