I need a Pressure Cooker

Remember the Prestige jingle:
Phenk do yeh kadhaai, degchi, yeh frying pan; Inse nata todo.
Prestige Pressure pan-
Fry kare, Deep fry kare,
Achchi tarah chun chun sikaai kare.
Jhat ubaale, Phat pressure de.
Prestige Pressure Pan.
Jo biwi se karein pyaar, woh Prestige se kaise karein inkaar!

Well, who wouldn't fall for this ad (more so when biwi's measured the extent of husbands love with a Pressure Cooker!) So, my Dad too got a Prestige Pressure Cooker for my Mom. I remember those day's because the new cooker meant over/under-cooked rice and burnt daal until a few weeks; after all its no mean feat cooking in those utensils without real practice (read, training).

There were two other brands of Cooker’s as well, ummm: Hawkins and Marlex. But they couldn't make the same impact then. I think, I'll buy a Prestige.

Little Johnny wants to play

It rained again today. The child within me wanted to go out in the rain and get wet (I love the rain-drops falling on my face), but the adult mind prevailed. As a child, I used to love playing in the rain. Many a time I would walk back home when the school got over and it would be raining; without caring much for the books which got soaked lying in the school-bag. The rest of the afternoon (and the evening) went in getting them to dry under the ceiling fan :).

But that aside, I love the rain because I feel its magical: the vapor from various water bodies collecting in the sky and then pouring down on the earth. Had it not been for this little magic trick, I'm not sure if mankind would have thrived OR for that matter if life could have ever evolved the way it has. Every time it rains (okay, almost every time), I think whether this phenomenon takes place on any other planet (you see, I'm a sci-fi junkie).

...and to think of living without water (there's a 40% cut in water supply in Pune).

My Tobu cycle

When was the last time I rode a cycle? Lets see, ummm... probably in 1997 - after which I moved to Delhi for my higher studies and my younger brothers took it over. But, I'm right now thinking about my first Tobu cycle, a tricycle, bright red colored. Recall its jingle on DD: "Chalo chalein hum, le kar apni, Tobu cycle-ein.....". I remember riding it day long, having my food on it - my hassled mom running around to make me eat. I would never let any of my friends have a ride on it (unless they gave me something in return!). The only other person who accompanied me on it was my younger sister, who would dutifully sit on the back seat and let me paddle...(hold on, was that a trick - to let me paddle the tricycle while she enjoyed the ride? Damn!).

And then one day, the sun and the rain did my tricycle in. The handle-bar broke, now all it could be used for was as my sitting chair. Then, after a lot of haggling and howling, my dad got the handle fixed (read, soldered). The cycle was in use again, but not for long - the handle-bar broke again and this time, fearing rebuke from my father, I left the tricycle alone; in a corner.

When I was in class 6, my Dad got me an Atlas cycle (although I wanted an ATB), but thats another story.