The 3 ‘miskates’ of my life.

To err is human, to forgive divine. And that’s why pencils come with erasers! I am sure we all have some regrets when we look back at our lives. Like, just last week, I did not finish my choco-lava cake. Regretting it today. Or rather, missing that leftover bit. 

Well, Life does not come with a manual. So, like you all, even I have made mistakes in life. Several. But I would like to limit my embarrassment to just the top three. 

The first one being: Believing in the romance king of Bollywood, the Don, the Fauji, the Baazigar, the Deewana, Shahrukh Khan. 

Well, he is definitely a culprit to have misled so many ‘girls’ to an outrageously false level of ‘true love’. And the movie that I am referring to is ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’. No prizes for guessing.

My first Karwachauth after my marriage was a rather eventful one. We were staying alone in Bangalore. I was obviously expected to fast. But being a huge DDLJ fan, I demanded from my husband that he also fast with me. He gave me a ‘Have you gone crazy?’ look. I told him that ‘Raj/Rahul’ generally fasts in the movie. He bluntly told me that SRK is paid to do all that. And KJo just glamorises it. Nobody is going to pay him for fasting. And if I feel giddy from the fasting and fall down somewhere, none of our relatives are going to come rushing down to pick me up and even he might be in the office. So better, let both of us eat and stay healthy. He literally forbade me from any fasting of any type, henceforth; much to my mother’s shock. I misjudged his intentions and thought he doesn’t love me enough. I was devastated. He is nothing like my SRK!  

And thank God for that. I kkkkknow by now that if you believe in ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’ then ‘Tum nahi samjhoge’. If ‘Tujhme Rab Dikhtaa Hain’, then, probably, you have cataract. If ‘Suraj hua maddham and chaand jalne laga’, then dude, you are having hallucinations. If ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hain’, then you really need to see a cardiologist. If ‘Jiya jale, jaan jale’, then you have acidity. If you get fooled by a ‘Ra.one’ who is Ba.one, I have a ‘Darr’ that the common man from ‘Chennai Express’ also won’t be your ‘Fan’ no matter how ‘Raees’ you are. No amount of ‘Gerua’ can overshadow my real life SRK!

*****

My second mistake: Taking my juvenile skeletal body frame for granted.

I used to hog like anything during my school and college days and be the envy of my friends for not gaining even an inch or a gram. That went to my head probably and I was led astray by my over confidence. Now, even if I look at the menu of ice creams and pastries or smell the samosa..... bam! I gain a few grams! 

And then started the endless saga of morning and evening walks and Zumba class and power yoga and ashtanga yoga and classic yoga. Pumping iron at the gym stayed quite a fad with me for quite sometime. I ordered the supplements online, much to the dismay of my husband. I tried several crash diets for overnight success, but in vain.

I think the clothes that are hanging in the cupboards are shrinking by themselves. I don’t see any other explanation as to why a whale is the way it is inspite of swimming whole day. Not-so-thin people are hard to kidnap, guys! Besides, dieting is not a piece of cake.

But if truth be said, ‘No fasting, no feasting’ is my mantra now. Not intending to body shame, but with age my goal has changed. I am ready to meet halfway between the skeleton that I was and the zombie that I am now. I want to stay fit now. For me. My family. My children. My asthma.

*****

And last, but not the least; my third mistake: Not learning the art of cooking like my mom.

So, I had this friend in college. Whenever we would go to a restaurant, she would have a spoonful of the food and enlist the ingredients. I know, right?! A bit of a show-off! At home, my mum made me do all the preparations like cutting and chopping and kneading and organising the kitchen. But never cooking, per se. Never. Not even seasoning.

I was never fussy about what to eat as long as I got my veggies. And then, my husband entered my life. He is the most low-maintenance guy that one can ever meet. Having stayed in a hostel for ever, I guess he was used to eating sub-standard food. Whatever I would dish out from my kitchen, if I would, he would relish it! Unlike a few guys out there, he never fancied cooking himself. I take pride in my tea, though!

So basically, first my mom and then my husband, both are equally responsible for my incompetence in the kitchen. But I am going to bring about a revolution. I will make sure that both my children will embark on their life’s journey with efficient culinary skills. Probably participate and win the Masterchef challenges. Go on and become a chef. Work with the likes Of Gordon Ramsay. Oh ok, I think I am getting carried away a bit, now. Probably they would just make food for us at home and learn survival techniques for their future use.

On second thoughts, I can cook up a bit of drama every now and then. Looks like I am sorted. Watsay?! 

So, in a nutshell, these are the three major mistakes of my life.

Acceptance is the first step towards improvement. Declaring it to the world is the next step so that one becomes answerable to all. And finally, moving on is the key to success. 

They say, we learn from our mistakes. Hence, we continue to make so many. Looks like, we are all gonna be geniuses, soon!