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Salmabanu Hatim Jan 2020
Thank you, thank you from the depth of my heart,
Thank you my lovely family from  
Mombasa,Nairobi and Daressalaam,
Thank you for adding colour to my miserable grey year.
Thank you for welcoming me to your home,
For being there for me when I needed you most.
Thank you for taking me on the trip,
For walking beside me,
For holding my hands when I needed support,
It's the little things that you do that mean so much to me.
Thank you for putting up with me,
Thank you for sharing your food with me,
The delicious acharis, yummy jugu paak, mouth watering gorpapdi, exquisite puris, sakarperas and variety of biscuits,
Not to forget everybody 's favourite "popcorn",
And showering me with lovely gifts,
Thank you too, for celebrating my birthday with that awesome black forest cake.
Most of all thank you for listening to me,
And encouraging me in my low moments.
If I ever think of a good family,
You guys are always first on the list,
So many thoughtful things you did for me,
But, one thing is for sure I owe a lot to you.
I also want you to know how much I love and appreciate you.
Thanks is just a small word,
But, for me it has a deep meaning and thousands emotions.
7/1/2020
Achari: sweetened and chilly dry mango slices.
Jugupaak :sweetened groundout cakes
Gorpapdi, puris and sakarperas:Indian savoury snacks.
I went to Kenya to spend December with my family.
Meghna Chatterji Jan 2015
The other sides of the table aren’t that lavish as your side might be,
At the other side of the table there will not be an excess of curry.
The puris and bhajis and the halwas that you so dearly eat,
Please do not throw them in the dust bin as there are others who too want to eat!
Walking down the pink city,
I hear the shehnaais and smell the sweet meat.
I take a turn into the gali just to get a peek,
I do not see the women in shimmery sarees
I see the children with ***** hands.
They have been rampaging through the bins and run helter- skelter on the instance of an intrusive sound.
The dogs are brave,
At least they don’t flee when they see me…
But, those children are embarrassed to be disturbed while they searched the trash for a small bite!
I wonder if the brides and the grooms ever thought
That the amount of happiness they spread through the lavish four course buffets,
Are but, going to be discarded by people who ate too much.
These remnants are then tossed and picked carefully through these bins
The children have an almost mechanical drive when picking and tossing through trash heaps
The food that you waste is but, a filling meal!

Do not waste food; instead, Share it with your neighborhood kid!
Food that has been cooked for too many and eaten by too Few.
Should not be Discarded into the dust bin,
As, its perfectly fine to Reuse, Reduce and Recycle!
-Meghna Chatterji
Voices from Behind the Shining Wedding Pandals!
Vada-Paav, in Aamchi Mumbai, or Maharashtra entire, is definitely the most popular inexpensive dish.

But according to the circumstances that prevail here at  Bombay, been it should have Bhel-puri, I do wish.

There are Maharashtrians, Gujjus, South Indians, Sikhs, Bongs etc. and us Parsis, though very miniscule  

Similarly Bhel has sev, mamra, chevda, puris, onions, potatoes, coriander, chillies, chutneys, you can add more, there is no rule

Just like the ingredients of Bhel, the population mingles, mixes, blends, whatever you can call it,  to be called Bombayites

But but but!!! wait and watch, when they board a suburban local train, just watch their many big & small fights.

To see the Bhel Puri, in this city cosmopolitan, encounter you have to the fisher folk, giving "shivya, our popular Maushi baai"

In our Bhel-Puri population, there are Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jews, Parsis; but in Bombay they are lovingly addressed, Bhau n Taai.

Hope you liked my BHEL-PURI, please do taste and comment.

Armin Dutia Motashaw

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