Life through a glass of wine!

This Teachers' Day, I take the opportunity to thank everyone who has taught me something in life. I must have left out something, so my apologies in advance.  And there's still a lot to learn - so bring it on life! To my mother who taught me how to hold a spoon, thank you, I will need your embrace till the end of time.  To my father who taught me manners, thank you, I will need your support and strength always.  To the sister who taught me companionship, thank you, It is because of you I've never been friendless.  To the brother who taught me to keep cool,  It's because of you I can smile when things get hot.  To the teacher who taught me how to read, thank you, It's because of you I discovered the joy of books.  To the teacher who taught me maths, thank you, It's because of you I know there's a solution to every problem.  To the teacher who taught me science, thank you, It's because of you that I question and learn....

I don't want my daughter growing up on Disney movies. Don't get me wrong, I love them and have myself grown up on a steady dose of Cinderella and Ariel, but I still don't want my daughter watching them. These stories depict everything that women today don't want to be. Extremely girly girls wearing these unmanageable dresses, shy and timid, whose only mission in life is to wait for their Prince Charming to come and sweep them off their feet.  Sorry, but that's not what I want my daughter to be.  Childhood is the most brilliant time of anyone's life, where you can dream and fantasise and be anything you want to be. I can't imagine how dull life would be if we did not have these brilliant childhood memories and fantasies where we were allowed to be anything. But if I have to help steer my daughter's dreams, it would be towards seeing herself as Superwoman! Somebody who can fly and lift heavy things and run faster than trains and be a messiah of...

Happy to share that the hubby's next book is now available in bookstores and online stores! Available at: Amazon | Flipkart | Infibeam | Landmarkonthenet | PayTM

It is amazing how food can evoke some very powerful emotions. Some of my most cherished childhood memories revolve around food - particularly that made by my Nani(maternal grandmother). If you are a Punjabi foodie like me you will understand what I mean. The inspiration to write this article came while preparing this beloved dish for my family. For the uninitiated, Choori is basically a hot paratha mashed with generous amounts of ghee and sugar to make a mouthwatering dessert. You have missed something in life if you haven't had it. Yes it is VERY unhealthy - probably worse than a halwa, but who cares, it's Choori! So here I am, making Choori in the kitchen, infusing it with love, ghee and sugar, all the time missing my Nani so much. This happens every time I prepare the dish - for she was the one who would make it for me and my siblings, roll it into nice, round laddoos and give one to each one of us. It was the highlight of our trips to her house. And if she...

I am at an age when most of my friends are getting married. Since everyone has their own parameters for choosing the 'right' partner, and most are extremely secretive about their alliances, I have never really tried to intervene or advise anyone. After all, it is the single most important decision that one makes, even more important than deciding a career I believe. To us Indians, this decision acquires utmost importance because we generally think that once married, there is no way out of that alliance, unless extreme circumstances force us to. And no matter what kind of marriage you have, love or arranged, it remains the biggest gamble of your life. No matter how carefully you choose a partner, you can never predict whether your marriage will be a happy one or not. In all this, if someone were to ask me the one advice that I have to give, it will be this - Marry a guy who loves his mother. Controversial? Why would any independent, strong headed woman want to listen to a...

Since the time a child is born, it is told that it must do good, and good will come back. Honesty is the best policy. Love all, never harm anyone, treat everyone equally, do some charity, live selflessly. All this and more of the benefits of ‘good karma’ are wired into our system by our parents, teachers and religious/spiritual leaders. God too is brought into the picture. The ever-forgiving, all-loving, omniscient and omnipresent God suddenly becomes angry and wrathful if we do something that our religion or elders don’t endorse. Whatever it is that our elders wish us to learn and do, they teach us by instilling in us the fear of God(s), the policeman and destiny. I’m sure that’s how superstition was born. Some parent told his gullible kid that it was inauspicious to walk under a ladder (lest the child get hurt), and the ladder has been bringing us bad luck ever since. As children, we tend to live in a world of idealism. We look at ourselves and everyone around us through thes...

My dear educated Muslim friends, Why are you so quiet? Yes you – the educated Muslim? Why do you let your extremist counterparts create such fear, distrust and misunderstanding about your religion? Why? Why is it so difficult for you to speak up? Support your girls? Dispel myths about Islam? Help your community progress? It’s all very nice of you to ‘like’ pictures of Allah and praying kids on Facebook, but why do I never see you supporting a cause? What stops you? This letter comes in the wake of the kidnapping of over 200 young Nigerian girls from a boarding school, reportedly by a radical Islamic group Boko Haram, that opposes western education, particularly education of women, who they believe are meant to stay at home and raise children. These ambitious young women, if not rescued, might end up working as sex slaves for militants, sold for less than $12 each. But it’s not this incident alone that causes me to question you. I have had this question for very long now...