My Spy Family

Everyone has a little quirk somewhere in the family. An uncle who's irritating, a negligent cousin or a loud aunt. My family is no different. There's a lot to go around since my Dad DOES have 7 brothers and 1 sister. Most of them are these orthodox families with tarditional values and then there are some slightly 'liberitatrian' families. But they all have one thing in common; a passion for secrecy. I admit that just because we're family, you don't need to tell everyone exactly what you're doing but I think we'd like to know if we invite you to a party and you tell us you're in Amsterdam! The problem's become so acute that one of my uncles is always a question mark. We can never tell exactly where he'll be the next day so we actually have to tell him a week in advance and keep reminding him everyday to make sure he actually turns up and has no excuse to, for lack of a better word, 'bunk' the celebrations. And then there's my aunt. She is like the epitome of secrecy. Till now, she's conducted both my cousins' thread-ceremony at the crack of dawn and informed us within the hour to come collect the......alright I'm not too familiar with what it's to be called, so lets just say the stuff they give after such a ceremony. We actually fear she'll even marry them off without telling us and call us out of the blue to come attend the reception. Now, I'm one for family unity so I do wish my family wasn't divided into groups the way it is, but I guess that isn't for me to decide or even change. They're family and they have their reasons. All I can say is, I hope to God I don't wake up to realise my parents and I are in Kanyakumari on vacation while I was sleeping.........

Çiao!

I wrote this a part of a series of stories I wanted to write but I never got round to doing. The plot's clichéd, I admit but the idea of a friend like this was something I always dreamed about....

Taste 1: Sweet

Casey. I will never forget that name ever in my life. You meet many people in life but can’t always remember them. Then are a few people who change your life to such and extent that you can’t help but want them to live forever. Casey was that kind of guy. He was kind, helpful and always with a smile on his face. I still remember the day we met. It was the 7^th of May and I had just entered middle school. And as was my luck, I caught the eye of the school bully. For apparently no given reason, he decided I would be his punching bag for the rest of the term. So after school he cornered me, pushed me against a wall and demanded I give him my money. I thought I would be smart and con him into letting me go. So I asked him why he needed it. All I got in return was a punch in the stomach. Out went my option of being smart along with a bit of my lunch. Just then Casey walked by and asked what this was all about. The bully asked him to mind his own business and focussed on parting me from my money. Casey came between us and stopped him in his tracks. I was afraid they would come to blows when a teacher walked by and noticed all of us in the corner. Guessing what had happened he led the bully of to the principle’s office by the ear. Casey and I stood there, sizing, each other up. All I could think was what would have happened if he hadn’t walked by. I thanked him and we shook hands. That handshake sealed what I thought would be a lifelong friendship. From that day Casey and I became best friends. He was there for me whenever I needed him. The day of my first heartbreak, he consoled me and told me there would be many like such but I would know when I met the perfect one. The day I lost my bike he was the one who helped me scour the neighbourhood to look for it. We laughed, played, fought and lived life together. Casey was also a great animal lover. Every stray he saw on the road, he’d nurse and give to the adoption home. We existed in a world of our own and Casey understood all my fears and desires. We had planned to go to the same college and graduate together. We even planned to build houses next to each other. All these boyish dreams were shattered in just one day. It was the 7^th of May, exactly 5 years since I had met Casey when I heard on the news that there had been a shooting in the local mall. I thought nothing about and was about to go out when a chill ran down my back. I suddenly remembered that Casey had said that he would be going to the mall that day. I rushed to the mall as fast as my legs could carry me. Just as I arrived I saw the police carting off the criminal. I can never forget the expression on his face. It was one of complete calmness, as if he had just come for a shave or a haircut. I fearfully walked into the lobby where they had arranged the bodies. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the familiar outline of Casey’s body. I lifted the sheet and saw that serene face, those eyes closed and that everlasting smile on his mouth. I broke down and wept right there. I felt somebody move me away and saw it was Casey’s mom. She dropped me back home and I told my mom the bad news. We held a midnight vigil for him and in the morning when we received the body held the briefest of funerals. Even then, quite a few people had come to attend the function. A few days later, we got to know through the paper that Casey had not been one of the direct victims. He had died trying to save a little girl and got gunned down in the crossfire. Till the end Casey had stayed true to his nature. Even now, every May 7^th I visit his grave and just stand there, wishing God had not taken a way a boy so sweet and innocent.

   

Kitchen Chemistry

Culinary skills, supposedly the most important weapon a person has against that beast they call "hunger". For me, it's like some unwritten but subtly implied policy that my entire family's set. They're like,"You've got 2 years.......learn to cook or else you'll never amount to anything in the world. You'll never be able to feed yourself whenever you want and will always have to be dependent on others." And the dependent part is like leprosy for my Mom. She simply hates depending or troubling anyone for help, an attitude which she's somehow passed on to me. Not that I regret it or anything; it's just irritating for others apparently. Having a Mom, Dad and Grandmother for brilliant cooks can be a hassle sometimes.... But yes, I have learnt the importance of learning how to cook and have conducted a few experiments in some basic finger food. Unfortunately, I have a feeling the only 'finger' touching would be mine, since my combos tend to get really REALLY warped out. Let me give you an example: I most recently made a very interesting (read: red hot) sandwich which involved the following ingredients: red chillies, green chillies, tabasco sauce, habenero sauce, red chilly powder, Thai red and green curry paste and a sprinkling of black salt. To those with numb tongues, this may seem like a pretty ordinary attempt to reactivate their taste buds, which wasn't actually my aim (I'm not exactly taste-bud deprived but I do like my food hot..). But to any normal person, this may seem like the perfect shortcut to becoming a dragon! And thats exactly what happened when my Dad happened to walk into the kitchen and unbeknowst to me, took a bite out of it. It took me about a half hour to get him back to normal, after extensive milk/sugar/ice therapy. But most of my experiments don't end up this way. I'm a pacifist so I don't actually want to kill people with my dishes. I just get brainwaves which happen to translate to very starnge dishes. I also tried coffee-infused Bournvita which was pretty much bliss and my normal Sunday morning unwinder. But yes, a lot of the things I do involve hot sauce, although I am a pretty good hand in the kitchen. Unfortunately, after my recent destruction of a tablecloth in the absence of a coaster, I'm not legally allowed to enter the kitchen anymore. But there's always my cousin's kitchen where we invent many different cocktails and mocktails together. He's an IT professional so it doesn't happen often but I live in hope. For now, I concentrate on getting past the lock on the kitchen. I wonder where a stick of dynamite is when you need it.... ;)

Çiao!