Kitchen tales with my right hand chef!

Got some time to kill so just wanted to write about the gazillion things that drive Chelsea each moment, of every minute, of every hour, of every day.

A great day so far. I attempted to make dal with drumsticks and a side dish of cabbage and potatoes with my Jane Doe - Nana dearest. Lol. It was a treat. She snuck up to the gas adding her own ingredients every time my back was turned. And a couple of glasses of water because - 'the cabbage wasn't cooking na chelsea'

The culprit behind my
masterpieces in the kitchen :P

... lol. I just stared at her.

"That's what I do too!!!"

Like Godmother, like grandchild, I always say.

I go to wash my hands only to come back to find some drumsticks floating in the cabbage. If you've ever seen videos of logs of wood floating downstream... well that's what my cabbage bhajji looked like. I yelled... NANA!!!!

She did the one thing she deserves an Oscar for... DAK - Deny All Knowledge.

I swear that woman is a first class act. You end up doubting your own intelligence and learn to swallow that the resident ghost was up to no good and did said mischief.

Then came the daal. 'Have you put salt?' I must have answered that question about a minimum 15 times. Ultimately, I forgot if I had put salt or not. So I added some.

Salty daal with drumsticks are in vogue people.

But it is fun cooking with my Grandmother/Godmother. So, you basically have two people in the kitchen - one who writes recipes on small scraps of paper and fixes a dish by throwing in her secret ingredient re: curd while the other doesn't remember she can cook but knows the ins and outs of a kitchen!

Who'll build the Church, We'll build the Church!

Going for collections every weekend is rewarding. For not only the spirit that it fills us with but also knowing, you are doing God's work.

I have been going off and on for almost two years now. And each visit to a new Church is filled with excitement, fun and most of all 'Hope' that people will donate generously through their pockets as well as send us loads of love through their prayers and best wishes.

It's a miracle. Every single time.

You feel so touched when you see the parishioners and the resident priests open their homes and their Church to us. They not only make you feel welcome but make you feel like you are one of them. Some of the Churches we have visited, have parishioners sharing their journey of the struggle they had to go through to build their Church and how they persevered and endeavoured, with a never-say-die attitude: WE WILL HAVE A CHURCH!

In God's good time, of course.

Transport is arranged for as well as refreshments and lunch, not to forget you get to know more parishioners from our parish but who knows, you might end up meeting that schoolteacher you troubled back in the day, or some of your family and friends. Trust me, we keep meeting people who ask us, 'Do you know Mrs. X or Mr. Y from your area?'

We go to the same Church for two consecutive weekends. The first weekend we go around handing out envelopes after every mass. Fr. Austin is our PR guy. He gets people noticing us with his flair for languages by pitching to them our need to build a Church. There is no fiction involved. He lays down the facts straight and simple - who we are, where we are located, how much we have collected, how much more do we need and how they can help us.

The following Sunday we go back to the same Church to collect the envelopes and have people drop them in our boxes. Simple isn't it?

I encourage those who have never gone through such an experience to sign up for this challenge. You go out not only representing St. Joseph but you go out as a witness to Christ. Moreover, as witnesses of Christ, this is our first small step - standing proudly with our sashes and caps and dabbas, asking for help from our own flock.

Also don't worry about breakfast, tea, lunch, snacks, etc... Your mama won't recognise you after Fr. Austin is done feeding you all the wada's and chai possible :D

The Lullaby

Staring into the dark while the world lay resting in a blanket of snow, she saw Him.
He smiled with His eyes.
Come.
She froze.
But I... can't.
Follow me.
I'm not ready, she said stubbornly.
You never will be, that is the beauty of being You.
And He left.
She waited by the window for His promise. But He never came.
Felt like He had found another light in the darkness.
While hers melted into ice.
The forest chained her again with a stone fortress to keep Him away, if He ever returned.
She lay dead inside the four corners of her soul.
Still.




~


Sometimes when I'm lonely I sit and think about him
And it hurts to remember all the good times
When I thought I could never live without him
And I wonder does it have to be the same
Every time when I see him, will it bring back the pain?
How can I forget that name?

Look into his angeleyes
One look and you're hypnotized
He'll take your heart and you must pay the price
Look into his angeleyes
You'll think you're in paradise
And one day you'll find out he wears a disguise
Don't look too deep into his angeleyes
Unfortunately, still Crazy 'bout his angeleyes
Once he took my heart and now I pay the price
And one day you'll find out he wears a disguise
So don't look too deep into those angeleyes

AbbA


~

The Gates Way to India!

What draws Bill and Melinda Gates to India, especially Bihar?

A truly inspiring and heart warming read. To see people who have all the money in the world wanting to share it with people who have nothing. Wanting to give the poorest of poor Indian's a chance at a normal healthy life. A salute to Bill and Melinda Gates for being an inspiration to those of us who may not have millions and billions to give in the name of charity but who know that if we follow our heart and do what's right - we can change the world not today, not tomorrow but someday!

Thank God for blessed people like them who 'Be the Change' that US President Obama spoke about. Yeah, Apple Inc is taking all the feathers out of Microsoft's hat where innovation is concerned... so what?

While Steve jobs will be remembered for all the I-this and I-that he has invented and placed in the hands of the few, Bill Gates will be remembered by many as the man who helped India get rid of its stigmata - Polio!

Like Fr. Austin reminds us often - In God's good time... His will be done.

Also read: World TB Day: Tackling TB through innovation - By Bill Gates