A Taboo to bust!

Disclaimer: Thought-provoking, uncomfortable, sensitive, "shiva-shiva" or "haaawww"-kinda-reaction topic 

Early this year, the sanitary napkin brand 'Whisper' launched an initiative to bust the myths of periods - Touch the pickle. First, hats off to the company for thinking out-of-the-box and coming up with something meaningful. I mean seriously, who wants to see a blue color liquid poured into the napkin to indicate that it can 'absorb' heavy flow ! Anyways, I must say that they not only picked a good point, they made sure the point was getting across by strategically adding "old maamis" in the commercial indicating an indirect approval of change from the elderly!  Applause! 

This got me thinking, is touching the pickle jar a worthwhile taboo to bust? To me it is the least of the "taboos" to be worried about, I am so short that I can never reach the pickle bottle on the top shelf and my man always gets it for me! The harder one for me is restricting you from having a formal chat with God!

From the time you come-of-age, you are restricted to touch the Quran or pray namaaz. I am not a big religious person, but I have my way of connecting with God, sometimes it's just closing my eyes and meditate and sometimes it's reading a page from the holy book. Till date, I have never really understood the logic behind this restriction. In fact, of all the days, we feel low and moody during periods, why take away the connection with God? May be if allowed to pray, the pain in the abdomen might just lessen. 

Well, this disconnect is mandated across many religions. Not allowed into the temple/church, Not allowed inside the pooja room, Not allowed to touch/clean the idols, not allowed to participate in prasadam preperation either (Thank God, we can atleast eat it!) If you are born or married into a Brahmin family, you're in for a treat - 5 days of the month chutti from pooja room, kitchen, dining room, hall - basically every place except your own room! I have also seen restrictions like, wash your own clothes, sleep in a secluded room, do not share bed with spouse etc.,

What boggles me is not that these beliefs have been passed on to us, the fact that we are religiously following it - like a habit, like a routine, like an unspoken rule. If this is a rule, I would like to see it broken! Am pretty glad that 'Whisper' has actually taken the first step, but I will not be impressed until I actually see the same set of maami's from the Ad allowing the girl to not only touch the pickle jar but to also walk into the temple and touch the idol or open the book shelf and touch the Quran or even get into the church and take the communion. 

Like my better half just said - "Why wait for a maami? Just do it yourself!" I guess I will! 

Oh BTW- Don't risk your life just to prove a point though ;)

Waiting for Gas!!

Ayega ayega ayega aaane waaala ayegaaa ayegaa

Intehaan ho gayi intezaar ki ..ayi na kuch khabar mere….ki

Jaaaanejaaaa  dhoondhta phir raha hu tumhe raat din mein yaha se waha…tum kahaaaan??

Wondering who I am waiting for?  Read on.

For the past few months, hubby and I have been trying to run the household to make sure that the home my in-laws have taken a break from is in one piece when they eventually come back. Part of that responsibility is for me to cook and for him to eat :D.

So far, so good. However, the problem starts when this simple life starts depending on agencies and people who have no flexibility what-so-ever! One such is the insane… sorry Indane gas agency. These guys expect every household to have folks available at any time they feel appropriate to deliver the LPG cylinder. If not, they simply cancel your booking and leave a slip at the door. A slip at the door!? Wow, they actually left a note!? How kind. As if all this kindness was not enough, they also go ahead and cancel the order! (sarcasm alert). We tried to explain to the agency that both of us are working and cannot be at home during the day. The guy just said "sorry" and hung up. Customer service score = -100!

So,  now that we are at the mercy of our agent, hubby and I are taking turns to stay at home and wait for his highness, the cylinder delivery guy to show up! Well, all of you already know how I love working from home (more sarcasm)! It is not just inconvenient, it is annoying at levels I cannot describe.

So to kill this annoyance, I have a playlist full of intezaar (waiting) songs! Here's hoping that this playlist will last till the royalty deigns to put in an appearance! 

The essentials of a bohri house

Lists are so popular these days that half of my news feed on facebook is links to lists about various topics. Since then my mind has been itching to write a list. More importantly a unique one. 

What can be more unique than writing about my own household :). As some of you know,  I belong to bohra community (yes my faith was written when I was born)

Here is a list of things you will absolutely find in any bohri house and is considered to handicap our house in their absence 

1. The universal oil. The healer. The king of balms and pain relief oils. The axe brand oil aka Abu faas. The Axe effect in this case works!

 

2. The wall filled with pillows. We call them 'khaba na takiya'. The most comfortable back support ever!

3. Tiny boxes of saffron in the egg tray of the fridge. There will be one from every possible country :)

4. The famous freshener and cleanser (also acts as a mosquito repellent sometimes). It is our very own 'bukhur'. These days the bukhur sticks are very in.

5. Jhatakwani pinchi. Beats every highend duster or cleaner. Very economical and easy to customize.

Have more to add to this list ? Add them in the comments section :)